I think the TV Gods gathered this fall to conspire to put all of Molly Ringwald's films on their schedules this holiday season. Over the last week or so I have watched "The Pick-Up Artist", "Betsy's Wedding", "Sixteen Candles" and today, "Pretty in Pink". The only ones that were missing were "The Breakfast Club" and "Fresh Horses", but I couldn't find either anywhere.
The thing I like most about watching old movies (and how odd is it that the 80's are considered 'old' now?) is remembering how the film made me feel the first time I saw it, and comparing that to how it makes me feel now. When "The Pick-Up Artist" came out in 1987 I was pretty naive guy. I was horrified that Molly's and Robert Downey Jr.'s characters (complete strangers Randy Jensen and Jack Jericho) would hook up for casual sex in his car. It's still not something I personally would do today, but I have no problem with two consenting adults making that choice. It was quite funny to remember a time when I was so innocent.
The only things I took away from "Betsy's Wedding" were a) that she was wasted in the role, and b) the reminder of how much I despised Alan Alda's work for much of his career. His delivery and humor were SO not my style, mostly a bargain basement version of Woody Allen (whose appeal I never understood, and whose films I still can't sit through if his character has too prominent a role), and the main reason I never enjoyed M*A*S*H as much as most people in it's prime-time heyday. On a side note, I do always enjoy Mr. Alda when I catch him as the host of Scientific American Frontiers, so it's been the acting choices for his characters, and not the man himself.
I think I enjoy Molly best as Sam in "Sixteen Candles". She shows true compassion for Farmer Ted when lending him her underwear to enhance his social status; and as disappointed as she is when her family forgets her birthday (showing a ridiculous amount of restraint of which most 16 year olds would never compare), she doesn't let it affect her older sister's wedding preparations. It's easy to root for her, and many of the characters (including, surprisingly, Jake's girlfriend Carolyn) in the film are relatable, if a bit one-dimensional at times.
Finally, in perhaps the most 'eighties' of the films, "Pretty in Pink" (focusing heavily on fashion {appearance} and money as social indicators of success and worthiness), Molly's character Andie has a chip on her shoulder. She is from a single-parent household, and her father only works sporadically. Add in her offbeat wardrobe choices (making many of her outfits herself from hand-me-downs and thrift store finds), her unusual friends (Duckie, Iona, Simon, et al), and job as a record store clerk, and it makes a hard time for her in the pressure cooker of a Reagan-era high school. Andie's attitude sucks, as she is judging the herd just as much as she feels she is being judged. As a record store employee, someone who is exposed to all kinds of people, cultures and musical styles, she should be a lot more tolerant and adaptable. At times it was hard to be sympathetic. That being said, her mom ran out on her, her dad is a mental case, and Duckie (the idolized nerd in the film) is a lovesick pestilence that has been wearing on her last nerve for years. It's funny, when I was 16 I could relate to him on some levels, but today I found him SO annoying, self-centered and clueless, and with SO little charm, it was hard not to fast-forward through his lines at times. However, he stood up for Andie when Steff was disparaging her; and at the prom he 'let her go', putting her happiness first, and as a result opening doors (Kristy Swanson - yum!) for him elsewhere. On a final note, the music in this film was the best of the bunch. As a result, I have The Psychedelic Furs' "All of This And Nothing" cd playing as I write this.
Thank you for this walk down Memory Lane, Ms. Ringwald! It was quite enjoyable.
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