Molly Ringwald is best known for her string of big-screen hits in the 1980s, including such classic teen comedies as “16 Candles” and “Pretty in Pink”.
Back in 2018, Ringwald wrote an essay for The New Yorker discussing how those movies were also very much of their time, and in hindsight are now notable for ingrained homophobia, racism, and sexism.
Appearing on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, Ringwald told host Andy Cohen that she dreads the eventuality of watching her old movies with her “woke” 12-year-old daughter.
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“It definitely is a different time. People ask me if I’ve watched them with my kids, and I did watch the first one — which was the impetus to write that article — with Mathilda,” she said of chronicling watching “The Breakfast Club” with her oldest child, now 18.
“And it was such an emotional experience that I haven’t found that strength to watch it with my two other kids,” she said of her 12-year-old twins, Roman and Adele.
“My 12-year-old daughter Adele is the most woke individual that you’ve ever met, and I just don’t know how I’m gonna go through that, you know, watching it with her and [her] saying, ‘How could you do that? How could you be part of something that….'” Ringwald continued.
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While Ringwald does see the “troubling” elements in those films, she also feels the overall message they promoted was a positive one.
“On the other hand, they’re also about people that felt like outsiders. They speak to a lot of people. They’re complicated. I feel like that’s what makes the movies really wonderful.
“That doesn’t mean at all that I want them to be erased,” she added. “I’m proud of those movies, and I have a lot of affection for them. They are so much a part of me.”
