An Aside About Pretty in Pink

I'm working on a piece about class and YA literature (that is to say, socio-economic class, not the movie starring Jacqueline Bissett and Rob Lowe), and of course it's difficult to talk about such a thing without addressing Pretty in Pink, but I realized that what I want to say about Pretty in Pink is beyond the scope of the other post, so I'm putting it here.

The ending of Pretty in Pink provoked a controversy that tore our country apart, turning brother against brother and causing a rift that has only now just begun to heal.

Okay, not really, but it was kind of controversial.  And I realize now that the Andie-Duckie friendship pretty much precludes an ending that makes everyone happy.  

Apparently the original ending had Andie and Duckie dancing together, and this filled test audiences with so much rage that they re-shot the obviousy-tacked-on, not-set-up-by-anything-else-that-happens ending where Andie and Blaine get together.  

So here's the issue: if the movie is a fantasy for girls (as the director and producers decided it was), then the idea that you can be a smart, quirky girl and have a great-looking guy fall for you and never overcome the obstacles between you probably felt like a sucker punch.

But, of course if it's a fantasy for boys, as I thought it was when I was watching it, then the idea that even the quirky, arty girls are always going to overlook the guys they connect with best in order to throw themselves at a good-looking jerk who treats them badly felt like a sucker punch.

In a sense, the movie is doomed by its own success.  If Duckie were less appealing, then Andie rejecting him and breaking his heart wouldn't have mattered as much.

Here's Duckie lip-syncing "Try a Little Tenderness." Two notes for my younger readers: lip-sync scenes were big in the 80's.  This probably has something to do with MTV, which used to only show music videos such as one now watches on youtube.  Also, the scene takes place in something called a "record store."  These used to be everywhere.  I love gadgets and technology, but I do still mourn the death of these places.