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Molly Ringwald watched 'The Breakfast Club' with her daughter. Her thoughts were epic.

Molly Ringwald was basically the face of my adolescent years.

I was 10 years old when “The Breakfast Club” came out, and by the time I graduated from high school, I’d probably seen the film a dozen times.

“Pretty in Pink” was one of my go-to sleepover flicks with my girlfriends, to the point that we wore out our VHS copy of it (here's an explainer about VHS, for you young'uns).

[rebelmouse-image 19532297 dam="1" original_size="426x245" caption="GIF from "Pretty in Pink"/Paramount Pictures." expand=1]GIF from "Pretty in Pink"/Paramount Pictures.

John Hughes' films served as both a mirror and a map of the turbulent teen years for my generation. Many of us saw ourselves in his quirky, awkward characters and appreciated teen life being portrayed at least somewhat realistically.

But 30-something years later, as a full-on adult, the mother of two adolescent girls, and a human being in the age of #MeToo, I'm starting to view those movies through a different lens.

As it turns out, so is Molly Ringwald. She shared her thoughts on her roles in iconic '80s films in an essay published in the New Yorker, and it was epic.

After Ringwald watched “The Breakfast Club” with her tween daughter, she couldn’t get the sexual harassment scenes out of her head.

In the film, Ringwald plays the role of Claire, the popular girl. In her essay, she opens up about how a scene where Judd Nelson’s character, Bender, hides under Claire’s desk and looks under her skirt — and then presumably touches her inappropriately.

[rebelmouse-image 19532298 dam="1" original_size="500x241" caption="GIF from "The Breakfast Club"/A&M Films." expand=1]GIF from "The Breakfast Club"/A&M Films.

She also shared how some scenes from her other Hughes movies now strike her as "troubling":

“There is still so much that I love in them, but lately I have felt the need to examine the role that these movies have played in our cultural life: where they came from, and what they might mean now. When my daughter proposed watching “The Breakfast Club” together, I had hesitated, not knowing how she would react: if she would understand the film or if she would even like it. I worried that she would find aspects of it troubling, but I hadn’t anticipated that it would ultimately be most troubling to me.”

As an example from “Sixteen Candles,” Ringwald points out how “the dreamboat, Jake, essentially trades his drunk girlfriend, Caroline, to the Geek, to satisfy the latter’s sexual urges, in return for Samantha’s underwear.”

Yeah. Eek.

[rebelmouse-image 19532300 dam="1" original_size="500x281" caption="GIF from "Sixteen Candles."" expand=1]GIF from "Sixteen Candles."

In the age of #MeToo, many of Hughes’ storylines come across as normalizing unhealthy sexual dynamics at best and condoning flat-out misogyny at worst.

Perhaps Hughes was simply a product of his time. But that doesn’t make his films immune to scrutiny.

As Ringwald points out, one of the major issues with Bender and Claire’s storyline in “The Breakfast Club” is that Bender basically verbally abuses Claire throughout the film, calling her names, yelling at her, intimidating her — in addition to sexually harassing her.

[rebelmouse-image 19532301 dam="1" original_size="500x269" caption="GIF from "The Breakfast Club"/A&M Films." expand=1]GIF from "The Breakfast Club"/A&M Films.

And yet, in the end, he still gets the girl.

What message does that convey to young audiences? That depends on who you ask, but reading through Ringwald’s essay, Hughes appears to have had quite a history of misogynistic expression — far deeper and darker than the teen movie scenes we’re talking about and far more than what we might expect for a "product of his time."

“It’s hard for me to understand how John was able to write with so much sensitivity,” Ringwald wrote, “and also have such a glaring blind spot.”

[rebelmouse-image 19532302 dam="1" original_size="500x330" caption="GIF from "The Breakfast Club"/A&M Films." expand=1]GIF from "The Breakfast Club"/A&M Films.

I think she was being kind. Seriously, if you’re feeling protective of your favorite teen film or defensive on Hughes’ behalf, read her essay in full.It's an eye-opener.

Ringwald’s mixed feelings about her films reflect the tension we all feel when we realize things we love are also problematic.

“I’m not thinking about the man right now but of the films that he left behind," Ringwald wrote. "Films that I am proud of in so many ways. Films that, like his earlier writing, though to a much lesser extent, could also be considered racist, misogynistic, and, at times, homophobic.”

[rebelmouse-image 19532303 dam="1" original_size="3000x1916" caption=""The Breakfast Club" actors Antony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, and Paul Gleason accepting a Silver Bucket of Excellence Award at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images." expand=1]"The Breakfast Club" actors Antony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, and Paul Gleason accepting a Silver Bucket of Excellence Award at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

In the simplistic narratives that define our age, that last sentence alone might be enough for many to abandon Hughes’ films altogether.

But, as Ringwald points out, it’s not that simple. She has heard from countless fans over the years that Hughes’ films helped them feel less alone as teens. She shared a story of a black, gay man who told her that “The Breakfast Club” saved his life. He said the film showed him “that there were other people like me who were struggling with their identities."

As much as we might want to make it so, this is not an easily defined issue.

Ultimately, Molly Ringwald reminds us that our views on art and culture should be ever-evolving.

It’s easy to brush off "troubling" elements of music, film, art, and other creative works as products of their time. But we need to remain aware of how ongoing enjoyment of such works affects our culture as well as our subconscious.

[rebelmouse-image 19397943 dam="1" original_size="1024x794" caption="Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy at "The Breakfast Club" 30th Anniversary Restoration at SXSW in 2015. Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images." expand=1]Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy at "The Breakfast Club" 30th Anniversary Restoration at SXSW in 2015. Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images.

Toxic ideas about women, race, sexuality, and other identity elements are always toxic, even if we don’t recognize them as such at the time. And when we do recognize those things in hindsight, it's important to give them the analysis they are due.

The good news is that we are recognizing and analyzing those things as a smarter and more sensitive society. That's progress.

We can still enjoy a film like “The Breakfast Club" — we just need to be honest about its flaws. And I, for one, am really glad Molly Ringwald was the one to go there.

Family

Help is on the way for a desperate mom who couldn't find size 23 shoes for her teenage son

Her son Eric Kilburn Jr. is a 6'10" freshman in high school.

via GoFundMe

A size 21 Nike shoe made for Tacko Fall.

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It's a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

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Dog does the ‘pick a card’ challenge and we get to live the dream with him

Suddenly dogs everywhere need teddy bear robes.

Opie the Pit Bully|TikTok

Dog does the 'pick a card' challenge and it's adorable.

There are a few kinds of dog parents: ones that only have outside dogs, those who have inside dogs but they're absolutely not allowed on the furniture and dog parents who treat their dog as if they birthed them themselves and give them every luxury invented for four-legged fur children.

Clearly, people are going to have feelings one way or the other about dogs and their place within a household, but I think everyone can agree that seeing a dog be pampered will always be adorable. Opie the Pit Bully is one of those lucky doggos who wound up living in the lap of luxury, and the pooch got to do a "pick a card" day to showcase that his owner loves him the mostest.

In a video uploaded to TikTok by Opie's owner because...ya know, opposable thumbs and all…Opie is faced with two cards that he can't read: 1) because he's a dog, and 2) because the cards are facing toward the camera. That doesn't stop the sweet puppers from playing along, though.

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Korean mom has a perfect response to the teacher who called her son's lunches 'disgusting'

Good for her for standing up for her child's culture.

via Roman Harak/Flickr

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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90-year-old tortoise is a hero to his species by becoming a first-time dad to 3 hatchlings

Way to go, daddio!

Photo by David Cadenas on Unsplash

What we imagine the look on Mr/ Pickles' face to be after becoming a dad.

It’s been an exciting time for a couple of tortoises at the Houston Zoo—and really, for tortoises everywhere.

The zoo announced on its blog that their oldest resident, Mr. Pickles, a 90-year-old radiated tortoise, and his 53-year-old companion Mrs. Pickles (that’s quite an age gap there sir, but no judgment) recently welcomed three new hatchlings.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, here are the new baby names: Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño.

Clearly, Jalepeño is the spicy one of the bunch.

While this news is certainly momentous for Mr. and Mrs. Pickles, it’s also a huge achievement for the entire species, which is currently critically endangered.
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Education

100-year-old woman's speech against book bans in Florida school district goes viral

Grace Linn speaks for millions of Americans.

Jodi Picoult/TikTok

Grace Linn, 100, speaks at a Martin County School Board meeting on March 21, 2023.

Four hundred years ago, copies of William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible were publicly burned by the bishop of London, with church authorities insisting that the Bible should only be read in Latin (and only by the clergy). In the centuries since, many books we now consider classics such as Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," Jack London's "Call of the Wild," Walt Whitman’s "Leaves of Grass," Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables, Charles Darwin’s "Origin of Species"—even Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and "Benjamin Bunny"—have been banned or censored in one way or another in various countries.

Battles over books are nothing new, but once in a while, they become particularly ugly or absurd, prompting people to speak out against book bans.

People like 100-year-old Florida resident, Grace Linn, whose speech at a Martin County School Board meeting has gone viral.

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Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler have the cutest friendship, and she has the receipts to prove it

Plenty of teasing. Lots of love.

The Tonight Show/ Youtube

Jennifer Aniston appearing on "The Tonight show"

Let’s face it, platonic relationships between men and women rarely get the same amount of attention as romantic ones, to the point where we debate whether or not they can actually exist in the first place.

That’s what makes a clip of Jennifer Aniston gushing about her decades-long friendship with Adam Sandler so cool to watch. There’s no Harry-Met-Sally-ing here, just one pal talking about another pal.

Aniston sat down with Jimmy Fallon to promote the film “Murder Mystery 2,” starring both Aniston and Sandler, but the conversation quickly veered into several anecdotes about “The Sand Man,” including how the two first met at a deli in their 20s.

As with any healthy friendship, there’s plenty of ragging on each other.

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