80s teen icon Molly Ringwald says she can’t watch The Breakfast Club with her liberal teenage daughter because of how dated the classic movie is now.
Ringwald, 55, originally starred in the 1985 coming-of-age drama as the rich and popular princess Claire Standish, who gets detention for cutting class to go shopping.
While it is still lauded as one of the seminal films from the 80s, The Breakfast Club is very much a product of its time.
For example in The Breakfast Club Ringwald’s character is harassed and later sexually violated by the problematic John Bender (Judd Nelson), only for them to kiss in the car park at the end of the movie.
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“There were certain things that were accepted [in the ‘80s] that just wouldn’t be accepted [in film] now,” Ringwald recently told the Guardian.
Discussing misogyny further, Ringwald admitted to the aforementioned publication that it is impossible to watch the iconic Hughes flick with her 13-year-old daughter, Adele.
“She’s very liberal. I mean, I’m very liberal, but she’s another level,” Ringwald said. “Which she should be, and I’m glad.”
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This isn’t the first time that Ringwald has discussed the sexist tropes that feature throughout The Breakfast Club.
Back in 2018, the Sixteen Candles actor penned an essay for The New Yorker in which she revealed the film had some more overtly-sexist moments in its shooting script.
She wrote: “There was a scene in which an attractive female gym teacher swam naked in the school’s swimming pool as Mr. Vernon (Paul Gleason), the teacher who is in charge of the students’ detention, spied on her.
“The scene wasn't in the first draft I read, and I lobbied John [Hughes] to cut it. He did, and although I’m sure the actress who had been cast in the part still blames me for foiling her break, I think the film is better for it.”
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Despite being subjected to sexism, Ringwald says that at the time of filming The Breakfast Club, she did ‘feel protected’ as a young actor.
“I had my parents around, and I felt like they were very protective of me,” she said.
If you want to catch Ringwald in something a little more modern, then she’s currently starring in Netflix’s Riverdale.
She portrays the recurring character Mary Andrews — mother to protagonist Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) and the widow of Fred Andrews (Luke Perry).
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However, despite still being a big presence on our screens, Ringwald worries that she will always be stuck in her teen screen image.
“There will be some people who will always see me that way until I do something that’s as big as one of those movies [The Breakfast Club]— and it would be pretty hard to top those in terms of box office,” she concluded.
You can catch Ringwald in Riverdale season seven on Netflix.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Netflix
Ella Scott