Welcome to Weekend Rewind where every weekend I take a look back at some of the good bad and so bad they are good films of 2000 of the past. We start off with a brief history lesson before I talk about my favorite (or least favorite) features of the film. This week we are taking a stab at one of John Hughes’ films Pretty in Pink.
History
The year is 1981 and a new style of music is rocking the UK and is heading west towards the U.S. with artist and bands like Billy Idol and Blondie who found their footing in the 70s taking over the radios of the country. Following the birth of the Punk rock movement of the 70s, many alternative sub genres were born: post-punk, new wave, and new romantic just to name a few. These music subcultures were all characterized by their exotic hairstyles, DIY/reused clothing and a whole lot of synth. A UK band, The Psychedelic Furs, would find mainstream success with the release of their debut album Talk Talk Talk. Young and popular actress Molly Ringwald would show one of the album’s singles, Pretty in Pink, to director John Hughes who would be inspired to write a screenplay. Fast forward to 1986 Hughes would release a movie with the same title featuring an exclusive rerecording of The Psychedelic Furs song as the opening and closing theme of the movie. The movie would debut to an audience with mix reactions. It was the 22nd most highest grossing film of 1986 making $40.6 million in during its time in theaters. However, it would gather a cult following and become a staple piece of media of the 1980s.
Review
Pretty in Pink is a romantic comedy that follows High School Senior, Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) who lives in the Elgin Illinois just outside Chicago. Andie is a part of a highschool group of kids who don’t come from money and embody post punk culture. She and her best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) face constant bullying from the schools group of rich kids aka “richies”. The movie focus is on Andie’s journey as she falls in love with rich kid Blane McDonnagh (Andrew McCarthy), while Duckie struggles to confess his love to Andie. All of this leading up to their Senior Prom.
I was obsessed with John Hughes 80s films when I was growing up in high school. Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, Sixteen Candles, and of course Pretty in Pink. I loved these films because it felt like they simplified the coming of age experience which is something I needed with my lack of simplicity in my experience. In a world with pandemics, wars, college applications, and scholarship essay’s, it felt good to be able to watch a movie where the biggest problem was you don’t have a date to prom and no one can comprehend just how amazing your fashion is. That is what made me fall in love with Pretty in Pink. It has a simple and easy to follow plot while also making a statement on 1980s classism. As a child of poverty I always loved how the poor kids dressed better than the rich folk in this movie. I loved that most of the characters wore repurposed clothes from decades earlier. I love it now. New wave fashion is one of my favorite styles. The crazy hair, the 50 layers of exotic patterns, topped with 5 different ties. It looked like a whole wardrobe fell on one person but somehow still looked good.
The original ending of the movie Andie ended up falling for Duckie, but after test audience expressed that this ending didn’t feel earned, they reshot the ending. I prefer the ending where Andie and Blane end up together, for two reasons. One, we see spend the entire film watching Andie and Blane develop this relationship and Blane fight the social stigmas his peers hold towards Andie; so an ending where Duckie wins Andie kind of feels like they just throw the whole movie away. And two, when I was watching the film I felt like Duckie was a gay boy scared in 1980s America confused and so he latched to Andy mistaking his deep platonic love for romantic passion. After I watched the movie I discovered that Molly Ringwald agreed with this, claiming that Duckie reminded her of her best friend who was gay. So I say keep Duckie gay.
The Soundtrack
Along with the fashion, I also love the soundtrack it features not only The Psychedelic Furs but some of my other favorite bands like New Order, as well as Echo and the Bunnyman. It was featured in The Rolling Stone’s 15 best movie soundtracks of all time. Most of the songs were Post-Punk/New Wave to correspond with the New Wave culture depicted in the film. Despite Pretty in Pink being the the theme and inspiration for the movie, it would only chart #41 on Billboard’s Hot 100s. While another song featured in the film, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s song If You Leave, would reach #4 in the U.S. I find this to be blasphemy as Pretty in Pink is one of my favorite songs but whatever.
Final Review
Pretty in Pink will always be a great movie I will watch over and over and over again whenever I need to feel good. I need modern movies with John Hughes feels but with a diverse queer cast, would see me at the theater every single time. On my -5 to 5 scale it is a 3. Amazing soundtrack, amazing plot, amazing style, but it is slow sometimes and despite how much I love the brat pack, it needs a more diverse cast.
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