MAGGI PICAYUNE

This was the movie accompanying the Andrew McCarthy book-signing. Andrew didn’t stick around after the Q&A since he says he doesn’t really watch himself. I can agree with that. I would find it unnerving. Before the movie started, he explained how he landed the role of Blane. Hughes originally wrote the character as a jock, probably a star on the school’s football team. Despite not bearing any resemblance to such a person, Andrew auditioned anyway. Molly convinced John Hughes to go with Andrew because she said she would be more attracted to him than a “sporto.”

Of the six John Hughes films focusing on Eighties’ teenagers, Pink has a super special place in my heart even though Weird Science is my favorite. Pink was the only one I saw on opening weekend in an actual theater (most of Hughes’ stuff flourished through cable and rentals). It was released while my dad and I were living in Beulah, ND. The closest movie theater was in Hazen and they often got stuff about a six-to-eight weeks after they were shown in larger communities. For North Dakota, “larger” would be Bismarck. So Dad went through all the trouble to take me to see Molly’s last Hughes’ role on opening weekend. We did other things before seeing Pink of course, namely activities you wouldn’t do in Beulah: grocery shopping, playing games at an arcade and dining at a chain restaurant which wasn’t Dairy Queen. I think Dad knew I had a huge crush on Molly Ringwald too.

One thing Hughes mastered was how petty and mean teenagers are to each other. Andie and Duckie were tormented by the rich kids since they were the “affirmative action” students. There was a similar divide at Beulah HS except it wasn’t over money, it was more NoDaks v. Outsiders. I never let it bother me much because I knew I was leaving for greener pastures. Pink‘s story and soundtrack is also timeless thanks to Hughes having a hand it. Sure, you see Andie working at a record store (an endangered species today), calls being made through landlines and notes being taken in spiral-bound notebooks but the emotional resonance it has is why Pink will continue to be loved by multiple generations. In the soundtrack department, Hughes struck gold again via OMD’s “If You Leave.” We continue to hear it to this day, especially in Eighties’ mixes alongside the Simple Minds hit.

The one thing I picked up this time when watching Pink were the cameos of people who went on to other memorable roles: the bouncer at the club was Andrew “Dice” Clay; the girl who Duckie meets at the prom is Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Annie Potts is rather obvious; Gina Gershon is a mean girl during the gym incident; and Andie’s primary antagonist is Kate Vernon, Ellen Tigh from Battlestar Galactica.