For people of a certain age, Molly Ringwald was the ultimate girl-next-door. The problem was, she didn’t live in my neighborhood. Ringwald starred in some of the most memorable teen comedies of the 80s. “Pretty in Pink,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Sixteen Candles” are still part of the zeitgeist. Though some of the themes and comedy might be borderline cancelable now, the movies are still in regular rotation for parents and kids alike.
Ringwald had some harsh yet accurate criticism of the climate in America and called the cancel culture movement “unsustainable,” stating Americans are ‘basically a bunch of Puritans.’ Via Fox News:
“a lot of people have gotten swept up in ‘cancelation,’ and I worry about that,” she told the Guardian. “It’s unsustainable, in a way. Some people have been unfairly canceled, and they don’t belong in the same category as somebody like Harvey Weinstein.”
“What it ends up doing is make people roll their eyes,” she continued. “That’s my worry. I do want things to change, for real. Workplaces should be places where everyone can feel safe – not just in Hollywood, but everywhere. Particularly Americans. We can never do things incrementally; we’re so binary, so all or nothing. We’re basically a bunch of puritans.”
"We're basically a bunch of puritans." Get more of Molly Ringwald's view on cancel culture. https://t.co/cjgSC8R8a2 pic.twitter.com/BKaPC3Hq3N
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 25, 2023
She is not wrong. Just a few short years ago, women were stacking victories as the #metoo movement swept the country. Now men are taking women’s pageant titles, athletic victories, and endorsements. America truly goes zero to sixty way too fast.
Ringwald, who gained fame with roles in “The Breakfast Club,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “Sixteen Candles,” said she didn’t “feel comfortable” with the level of stardom she had at the time, which likely led to her departure from Hollywood and subsequent relocation to Europe.
Despite her massive success at the time, she didn’t relate to the characters she portrayed. She continued to the Guardian via Fox News:
“It’s hard to grow up under that. I don’t want to overdo this – and boohoo, I fully recognize my privilege – but I needed to get out from under all that scrutiny. Some people are really good at it. Taylor Swift is amazing! But I didn’t feel comfortable with that level of stardom. I was projected as this perfect, sweet American girl next door. Which wasn’t me, but I was figuring out who I was, too,” she said. “I was pretty young.”
While Ringwald wanted more serious roles, she also made some enormous career mistakes. She didn’t get the role in the Harrison Ford movie “Working Girl,” and she passed on “Pretty Woman,” the role that shot Julia Roberts to superstardom. It is hard to imagine how both actresses careers would have played out had Ringwald accepted the titular role of Pretty Woman. However, she had her reasons and still sticks to them.
Ringwald continued: “Julia Roberts was wonderful in it, but I didn’t really like the story,” she explained. “Even then, I felt like there was something icky about it.”
Even though she is no longer in the public eye, eschewing Hollywood for a family, Molly Ringwald has learned from a career and life full of mistakes and privileges, and missed opportunities. Leaving Hollywood has centered Ringwald, and more celebrities would benefit from an outside-in view like hers.
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