Molly Ringwald Critiques The Breakfast Club in Light of #MeToo Movement

In a new article she wrote for The New Yorker, actress Molly Ringwald revisited her beloved film, The Breakfast Club, and was highly critical of the film and how it looks in the modern era and during the #MeToo movement.

Ringwald portrayed Claire Standish in the beloved 1985 John Hughes film. However, in revisiting the picture, the star noticed many problematic elements about how the film handles LGBTQ characters, minority characters, and relationships with women.

Commenting on the film’s use of homophobic slurs, Ringwald stated, “The words ‘f**” and ‘f*****’ are tossed around with abandon.” She added on how the film portrays women, “If attitudes toward female subjugation are systemic, and I believe that they are, it stands to reason that the art we consume and sanction plays some part in reinforcing those same attitudes.”

However, Ringwald did acknowledge that members of the LGBTQ community and other minorities did speak to her over the years about how they loved the film. Those people saw their struggles in the main characters in the film. Ringwald stated, “These kids were also ‘finding themselves and being ‘other’ in a very traditional, white, heteronormative environment.'”

She continued, “Whether that’s enough to make up for the impropriety of the films is hard to say.”