Pretty In Pink

How many among us were fans of John Hughes' teen comedies from the 1980's? Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. My own personal favorite was always Pretty In Pink (yes, I am a wuss - deal with it). This was a bittersweet teen romantic comedy where poor girl Andie (Molly Ringwald) falls for wealthy Blane (Andrew McCarthy) much to the chagrin of Blane's rich friends (James Spader is deliciously evil playing Blane's best friend). Sounds like a formulaic piece of pap right? Not if you add Andie's longtime childhood friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) into the mix. Duckie has serious feelings for Andie which ultimately go unrequited as he watches her date Blane providing much of the teenage angst in the film. I won't bore you with a play-by-play of the movie, but having recently watched it, I will share a few observations.

1.) Molly Ringwald practically relishes playing such an intelligent, creative, and strong-headed character. John Hughes wrote this film for her and she definitely delivered.

2.) Why did the girls go for Andrew McCarthy? Yes, Blane wasn't an ass like his rich friends but the lame excuse that he gives Andie for backing out on the prom date proved that he was just as shallow as Duckie said he was.

3.) Was I the only one moved by Harry Dean Stanton? Andie's single dad doing his best to raise his daughter while still (and quite obviously) nursing a broken heart of his own added some nice emotion and pathos to the film.

4.) You cannot mention Pretty In Pink without mentioning The Duckman himself! Looking at fan reviews, I was shocked to see how many people really disliked Duckie. Duckie was my favorite character. A bit Over-The-Top? Yeah. But the Duckman had a kind heart and absolutely adored Andie. As a teen, I related to his plight and his subsequent angst (although I neither had Jon Cryer's sense of sartorial eloquence or that badass hair). Yes, he behaves like a jerk when he realizes that Andie's falling for Blane (as did I when faced with a similar dillema). But he also proves himself to be the true friend to Andie that he always was. The prom scene illustrates this. Andie shows up alone and finds Duckie at the prom alone. When they spot a dateless Blane, Duckie essentially steps aside - Andie's happiness is so important to him, he is willing to set aside his own desires. In other words, he behaves like the truest of friends would behave. Let's not feel sad because Duckie didn't land Andie. Let's celebrate a guy who was the best friend anyone could have.

And besides, Duckman lands a cute blonde hottie and got to break the fourth wall. Still pretty cool, if you ask me.

5. Having said all of that, I learned (from watching the DVD features) that John Hughes and co originally shot a different ending for the film that had Andie choosing Duckie over Blane. However a combination of factors conspired to wreak havoc on this ending. One was Molly Ringwald becoming ill during the shooting of the prom scene, second was a lack of romantic chemistry between Ringwald and Cryer, and thirdly, the "Duckie gets Andie" ending tested very poorly with audiences. So, a new ending was needed and the ending we all know (and a few of us don't exactly love) was written and shot. In retrospect, it doesn't ring true that Andie would fall back into Blane's arms. You're talking about a girl who is smart, hard-working, kind-hearted yet very head-strong. The kind of character who could do whatever she sets her mind to do. And she goes for the Rich Knight In Shining Armour? After practically being insulted by Blane's friends and then Blane himself? Now I would have given a Bronx cheer if Duckie got the girl, but that wouldn't have rang true either. My fantasy Pretty In Pink ending would have been for Andie to tell Blane to go to hell and go to the prom with Duckie as friends. But, I'm not John Hughes. And chances are, that ending would have tested even more poorly than the original ending.

Despite my appearance at this blog spot I remain and will always be,

September Boy