Pretty in Pink
Dec. 20th, 2006 11:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxFor whatever reason, I switched channels and watched the last half of Pretty in Pink.
Molly Ringwald's prom dress still is (and always was) hideous. And I'm still as confused as ever about how this movie was supposed to have a 'root-for' ending. Is it me or was Andrew McCarthy's character utterly spineless? I never believe that a guy "earns a girl," so I'm not saying that she should have turned to Ducky in the end. I just never understood the Molly Ringwald/Andrew McCarthy reunion at the end. So, he basically dumped her before the prom, ostracized her in school, Ducky shows up and escorts her... and Andrew McCarthy gets the girl... why, exactly? I'm reaching here. Was there any dramatic plot point that advanced that ending, because I just don't see it. Basically, he was just too spineless to stand up to a hot James Spader (and Spader was hot in a nasty, over-priveleged, what-an-asshole kind of way). Exactly how intimidating was stoned-out-of-his-mind Spader supposed to be? Hell, even a dork like Ducky beat Spader up in the movie! We're not talking oooh-so-scary here. Meanwhile, the best Andrew McCarthy could do was get weepy and manage one half-assed comeback that James Spader's Alan Shore could wipe the floor with without a second of thought... and most of his wits tied behind his back.
Truthfully, watching the movie, I wonder what Hughs was thinking when writing this one. The cues keep pointing to Ducky being the "one to choose" (and I don't say that because as a kid I gave a damn about either Ducky or Andrew McCarthy's character. I remember disliking Pretty in Pink when it came out.) But, just looking at it from a writing standpoint, even years later, I don't quite get the cues in this movie. They don't build up Andrew McCarthy's character. They actually build Ducky's unrequited love. Why? There was no reason to keep cutting to Ducky longing for Molly quite separate from Molly. McCarthy's character doesn't get that kind of build-up. McCarthy sort of just sulks away after Spader talks smack about her... leaving it to the school dork to 'defend her honor' as it were. Was it a test audience thing that determined the ending? Was it studio dictated with the love of BratPack creeping in? I seriously don't get it. From a writing point of view... well, McCarthy's character is basically Leah Thompson's character in Some Kind of Wonderful (A character who got dumped in the end). Heck, even if she didn't 'choose Ducky' (which, he was Ducky after all so I can see where she wasn't all up on that choice) a better ending would have been Molly's character telling McCarthy that he was several days late to the party and she didn't need or want him any more.
Anyway, I still don't get this movie after all these years. I will say, it has a great soundtrack though. That they got right. Plot-wise, meh. How did this become a quasi-classic anyway?
ETA: Googling you can find everything. Turns out that, yes indeed, in the original script and in the original way that the movie was shot, Molly's character did indeed 'Choose Duckie' and it was changed at the last minute. I'm happy to read this because (unsatisfactory ending and all) at least now the rest of the script makes sense because it was so setting up Duckie. I wasn't being hammered over the head with story anvils for nothing (even if they went with a different ending).
Molly Ringwald's prom dress still is (and always was) hideous. And I'm still as confused as ever about how this movie was supposed to have a 'root-for' ending. Is it me or was Andrew McCarthy's character utterly spineless? I never believe that a guy "earns a girl," so I'm not saying that she should have turned to Ducky in the end. I just never understood the Molly Ringwald/Andrew McCarthy reunion at the end. So, he basically dumped her before the prom, ostracized her in school, Ducky shows up and escorts her... and Andrew McCarthy gets the girl... why, exactly? I'm reaching here. Was there any dramatic plot point that advanced that ending, because I just don't see it. Basically, he was just too spineless to stand up to a hot James Spader (and Spader was hot in a nasty, over-priveleged, what-an-asshole kind of way). Exactly how intimidating was stoned-out-of-his-mind Spader supposed to be? Hell, even a dork like Ducky beat Spader up in the movie! We're not talking oooh-so-scary here. Meanwhile, the best Andrew McCarthy could do was get weepy and manage one half-assed comeback that James Spader's Alan Shore could wipe the floor with without a second of thought... and most of his wits tied behind his back.
Truthfully, watching the movie, I wonder what Hughs was thinking when writing this one. The cues keep pointing to Ducky being the "one to choose" (and I don't say that because as a kid I gave a damn about either Ducky or Andrew McCarthy's character. I remember disliking Pretty in Pink when it came out.) But, just looking at it from a writing standpoint, even years later, I don't quite get the cues in this movie. They don't build up Andrew McCarthy's character. They actually build Ducky's unrequited love. Why? There was no reason to keep cutting to Ducky longing for Molly quite separate from Molly. McCarthy's character doesn't get that kind of build-up. McCarthy sort of just sulks away after Spader talks smack about her... leaving it to the school dork to 'defend her honor' as it were. Was it a test audience thing that determined the ending? Was it studio dictated with the love of BratPack creeping in? I seriously don't get it. From a writing point of view... well, McCarthy's character is basically Leah Thompson's character in Some Kind of Wonderful (A character who got dumped in the end). Heck, even if she didn't 'choose Ducky' (which, he was Ducky after all so I can see where she wasn't all up on that choice) a better ending would have been Molly's character telling McCarthy that he was several days late to the party and she didn't need or want him any more.
Anyway, I still don't get this movie after all these years. I will say, it has a great soundtrack though. That they got right. Plot-wise, meh. How did this become a quasi-classic anyway?
ETA: Googling you can find everything. Turns out that, yes indeed, in the original script and in the original way that the movie was shot, Molly's character did indeed 'Choose Duckie' and it was changed at the last minute. I'm happy to read this because (unsatisfactory ending and all) at least now the rest of the script makes sense because it was so setting up Duckie. I wasn't being hammered over the head with story anvils for nothing (even if they went with a different ending).
