First of all, hi I’m Savannah and I’m still shamelessly waiting to fall in love in a way that feels like an eighties movie unrealistic, maybe but movies are where I learned that you can love in big ways sorta messy ways, big dramatic ways and still come out okay and John Hughes did that absolutely exceptionally well which is why his movies still truly hold up after forty years.
Which brings me to Pretty in Pink. I first discovered it in late middle school, probably around thirteen or fourteen.
I didn’t discover Molly Ringwald in her John Hughes era first she was introduced in my life as Amy’s mom on The Secret Life of the American Teenager a drama that ran on ABC Family from 2008 to 2013, and then one night while I was watching it with my mom she said “I think you would really like her other movies” and my life was honestly forever changed. I dove headfirst into the John Hughes universe. Starting with The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and eventually making my way to the movie I’m talking about today, Pretty in Pink.
This movie stars Molly Ringwald as Andie Walsh, John Cryer as the lovable underdog Duckie Dale, and Andrew McCarthy as Blane McDonough, the wealthy boy who becomes Andie’s love interest.
If you haven’t seen this iconic movie yet that’s okay but here’s a quick synopsis, Andie Walsh grew up working class, she works at the record store to support them while also being a high school student, her dad is unemployed Molly Ringwald’s character Andie Falls for Blane he’s the wealthy rich kid total opposite of Andie and her upbringing caught in the middle of the two is the loveable underdog Duckie Dale I’m team Duckie just to put that out there ok he’s Andie’s best friend whose been in love with her the whole time.
As I think of the movie, the last scene always comes to mind first, the iconic pink prom dress Andie made herself, and if you leave starts to play in my head, but this movie is much more than that, and the real reason the movie remains so timeless is that it teaches you the valuable lesson that who you are is already enough. So whether you’re a wide-eyed thirteen-year-old watching it for the first time for fashion purposes, or maybe you saw it on a first date when it came out in theaters, no matter when you meet it, the movie has a way of staying with you.
The movie turns forty this year. It was originally playing in theaters on February 28th, 1986.
These are my current thoughts:
She should’ve chosen Duckie, and the great eighties hair doesn’t hurt either.
It’s still just a great comfort movie.
It makes girlhood seem magical- at least it still does for me.
This was written by our contributing writer, Savannah Byus.
Image Source: Unsplash, Alexey Demidov
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