Sunday, January 15, 2012

WWotD - 15 January 2012

Today I was watching Pretty in Pink again, the touching story of a strong, quirky young woman who falls for a preppy guy from the right side of the tracks (aka Blane, emo before emo was cool)... cue star-crossed lovers scenario. Rounding out the cast of characters is Andie's father (in a deep funk since his wife left him), her punk friend and co-worker Iona, and everybody's favorite troll Duckie (who's not so quietly jonesing to hook up with Andie).

As is true with most stories, I wonder what happens after the story ends. Did I think Andie and Blane would stay together? My answer: no. When I thought about why she would ditch his ass after college in the fall, I had a revelation: everyone that Andie surrounded herself with was in some form of arrested development.

  1. Andie's father stopped living after his wife left, forcing Andie to become the adult in the relationship.  
  2. Iona was in her 30s and working in a record store, in destructive relationships typical of youth.
  3. Duckie was afraid of the end of high school and what comes next... so he finds himself "in love" with the girl who represents his childhood.
  4. Blane was afraid of what all people thought of him. Afraid of not living up to what his parents wanted, and craving the approval of his "friends". 

At the end of the movie, Andie's father makes his first steps to move on, Iona puts on her "mom" clothes and dates a normal guy, and Duckie finds his Duckette. But Blane? I don't think he's really grown. Andie has her shit together, the people in her life are finally getting their shit together, and she's not going to want to play mommy to her boyfriend.

Maybe I'm just overthinking a John Hughes film.


pu·er·ile

 adj \ˈpy(-ə)r-əl, -ˌī(-ə)l\

Definition of PUERILE

2
: childishsilly <puerile remarks>
— pu·er·ile·ly adverb
— pu·er·il·i·ty noun

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