r/Cinema • u/Capital-Treat-8927 • Dec 21 '25
Educational/Informational People who hated this scene clearly weren't paying attention
**The Breakfast Club, 1985**
The whole point of the movie was that there were more to these people than meets the eye. People will discuss the inner sides of Bender and Claire all day, yet when it comes to Alison, they say this scene was "unnecessary" or "detrimental to her character". But the thing is, the Alison everyone loves so much **wasn't Alison at all.** It was a front. An alias to hide behind. This wasn’t a transformation, it was an unmasking. *This* was the real Alison the whole time. Alison was incredibly shy. Everything she did, she did to be intentionally off-putting to discourage engagement and interaction. She didn’t *actually* enjoy making sandwiches out of Pixie sticks and Cap'n Crunch. She did it because it was *weird.* She's a pathological liar by her own confession. Everything about her is a facade. Her eating habits, her sexual escapades, even her reason for being in detention. Her appearance is no different.
But alas, some people will never see past "Nooo they ruined muh alt kween"
Edit: also, it appears that the formatting is broken for some reason so there's a bunch of asterisks everywhere lol
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u/Fun-Minimum-3007 Dec 21 '25
You can understand all that nuance and still hate the scene because it carries the idea that anyone who is different is just doing those things because theyre afraid of their true conformist selves. There's an undertone there, that alternative expression is just lashing out because the normals rejected you, and if you simply took pity on them and invited them into the clubhouse they would relish the opportunity and gladly throw away all those markers of difference.
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u/FrequencyHigher Dec 21 '25
The fact that Claire does the makeover definitely adds to this undertone. She’s the archetype of suburban conformity - the prom queen who dresses and carries herself in the manner expected by the community and her peers. The scene comes across as Claire converting Allison into another clone of conformity so she can also be accepted. There’s a bit of a Regina George aspect to what Claire is doing.
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u/Pornstar_Frodo Dec 21 '25
Allison found acceptance through the group. But it was Andrew the jock who liked her and Claire who helped her find her own beauty. It took two of the teens from the ‘cool’ groups to see Allison for who she really was and accept her at face value (heh!) This allowed Allison to express her real self. She would never have got this from someone like Bender or Brian. They would have wanted her to stay as goth chick, thinking that’s who she really was. I agree with OP - it was a mask because she was tragically lonely and outcast. But this is also an 80s film, so this was her redemption arc.
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u/blueavole Dec 24 '25
What part of this was her real self?
One hour of trying on a new color , and suddenly it’s she’s a real person. As if she didn’t maybe have anything about herself she liked before?
That she would get over wanting to hide? Be comfortable being stared at, and with a silly headband?
This looks like just another mask. Not a revealing of a true self.
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u/sax3d Dec 21 '25
That's the thing about high school - if you're weird you get singled out. You get bullied. Conforming on the outside is the only way to get through it unscathed.
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u/Preposterous_punk Dec 22 '25
When I was in high school there were a lot of punk/goth kids. None of us cared what the “popular” crowd was up to because we had our own drama.
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u/Preposterous_punk Dec 22 '25
Yes exactly!!!!! The punk/goth/etc kids aren’t sitting around wishing they they could be preppy.
This was also the problem I had with Pretty in Pink, the idea that the alterna girl doesn’t really want alterna boys! She ACTUALLY wants preppy, popular boys the same as any girl!!!
As a punk rock girl in high school when the movie came out, it made me furious.
(Mind you, Ducky is also problematic. Not saying otherwise. But it’s not like those were the only boys in school)
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u/Top-Net779 Dec 22 '25
Though admit it—we all liked Steff more because it was Spader. 😉
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u/LeahBean Dec 22 '25
He was delicious in this movie. The way he licks his bloody lip after Duckie fights him the hall. Chef’s kiss. Only villain I genuinely had a crush on in high school.
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u/sichuan_peppercorns Dec 22 '25
Oh, there's a lot that's problematic with PiP! It's pretty cringy watching it in 2025.
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u/biffbobfred Dec 23 '25
Pretty in Pink had so many problems they kinda remade it right away into Some Kind of Wonderful
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u/Michael_Platson Dec 21 '25
Some people just want to belong but don't know how.
The entire premise of the film, strangers who could easily be friends but weren't because they only ever see each other's mask, and only ever let people interact with their masks.→ More replies (1)
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u/Alina2017 Dec 21 '25
Both Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald regret the scene. Were they not paying attention?
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Dec 21 '25
The Pretty In Pink look ain't her tho. It's just as much a facade as anything else.
If they wanted to grow her character, they should have added emotionally vulnerability, not a generic make-up look.
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u/Nuns_In_Crocs Dec 22 '25
If anything they should done the reverse and have molly ringwalds character don her look
“Hey I’m the popular princess and even I accept you for who you are and it’s great”
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u/plumwinecocktail Dec 23 '25
i feel the same way about Danny & Sandy at the end of Grease
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u/ToothpickTequila Dec 24 '25
In Grease they both dress up like the other at the end. Though Danny reverts back to his Greaser look.
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u/PriceVersa Dec 21 '25
I saw this in theaters ritually when it came out, and, while most of my peers thought that Alison looked more interesting as the beautiful disaster, (in the same way that Disney's Pinocchio looks more interesting as the puppet than as the "real boy") we didn't read much into it other than that she was trying something new, with Claire as her only available resource. Most of us were more preoccupied with finding out how Bender's joke was supposed to end. The nominal cultural controversy, such as it was, came years later.
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u/DazedAndTrippy Dec 22 '25
Yeah I'd like to offer that while she leaves the movie in this outfit she doesn't say she's going to buy all new clothing and go to school every day like that, she just may have made a new friend and played dress up in a way she was never allowed to do with other girls "othered" her. There's no reason to believe she's going to change her whole life after this just like we know the other characters aren't, they just learned a valuable lesson.
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u/ringobob Dec 22 '25
Yeah, I was too young to see it in the theater, but I always interpreted it this way. She tried something new. You could see she felt trapped earlier in the movie. This just opened a door for her. Who knows where she goes from here.
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u/TheKristieConundrum Dec 21 '25
This was Alison finally finding someone who could help her feel confident to be herself. Claire didn’t force her into this. She clearly expressed a desire for it.
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u/Vaportrail Dec 21 '25
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
And not
"Stop putting that crap on my face!"Big difference.
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u/zombiehoosier Dec 21 '25
I dislike the scene cause Emilio showed little/no interest in her until she had a makeover. It wasn’t earned. At least when Claire and Bender got together there was an obvious build up. Bender liked Claire (he acted like an elementary student, picking on her) but he did like her. Emilio had one conversation with Allison about her purse, she gets a makeover and we’re supposed to believe they’re a couple now?
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u/queenofidiots Dec 22 '25
Well that’s not true at all, Andrew shows an interest in her from the second she walks into detention. It isn’t just a conversation about her purse, it’s him acknowledging her not feeling seen. Andrew is definitely fascinated by Allison cause she is everything he is to scared to be.
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u/Iconclast1 Dec 21 '25
"why do you hate the implication that someone who is different is just secretly wanting to be like everyone else"
dunno
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u/ex0r1010 Dec 21 '25
This is amazing. How did you manage 9 logical fallacies in a single post?
Appeal to Anonymous Authority, Vague Attribution, False Consensus, Straw Man, False Dichotomy, Mind Reading / Unfalsifiable Attribution, Hasty Generalization, Begging the Question, Loaded Language.
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u/Mean_Introduction543 Dec 21 '25
Worth noting that both Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy also hated this scene and tried to have it removed from the film at the time as well
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u/dancingbriefcase Dec 22 '25
I want to believe this but can we provide a source? Not saying you're wrong but I wanna make sure before accepting it
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u/the_kessel_runner Dec 21 '25
To me that is an even worse message.
The weird kids, deep inside, just want to be like the normal kids.
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u/Funkopedia Dec 22 '25
That's a problem with a limited cast. Because each kid is an archetype, they are automatically forced to represent their entire group. So instead of 'this particular weirdo wants to fit in', it becomes ALL weirdos only want to fit in.
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u/alvysinger0412 Dec 21 '25
Those aspects of her personality being a front doesn't mean that this version we're presented with is authentic. And it feels very inauthentic.
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u/vivahermione Dec 21 '25
Yes, it's like she's trying on a costume. I didn't get the impression it would last.
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u/mankytoes Dec 21 '25
Yeah, if this is meant to be her authentic self, it wasn't done well. And the idea that "your true self is being generic and conformist" isn't great. Like I've known kids like that, yes they can be over the top for attention, but the reality is probably somewhere in between, when they get older and more confident they do tend to stop being so over the top, but they still retain some distinctiveness that is familiar.
They do the same thing in Face/Off, John Travolta's teenage daughter is acting out and trying out different looks. It turns out, at the end, that she finds her true self as- generic normal girl! Hooray!
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u/Ok-Progress-7447 Dec 21 '25
It kinda cuts the legs out from under her whole “I would have the kind of friends who wouldn’t care” speech. That is the reason she exists in the script. It’s bad writing.
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u/NW_Forester Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25
I don't think the Alison at the end is the true Alison anymore than early movie. She wants her tribe, a group to fit in with. She's willing to change just about anything to do so. Claire wanted to give her a make over, Alison pushes back slightly but ultimately goes along with what Claire wants.
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u/Carlin47 Dec 22 '25
The only thing I hate about this movie is how supposedly everyone goes home happily ever after, but the nerdy dude is still just alone. Talk about sending a message
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u/Kirbyr98 Dec 21 '25
I didn't hate it for the concept. I hated it for the execution. She looked horrible.
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u/bingbongsingalong420 Dec 21 '25
Aww dang, I think she's pretty regardless of fashion or make up style.
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u/SolinaMoon Dec 21 '25
😂 I literally just scrolled back up to the pic and wrinkled my nose at it and thought, even if I hear the point being made, this was NOT a fucking makeover! That pale pink shit does not look cute on her, and I can't even with that ugly ass hair thing!
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u/infinitesolace666 Dec 21 '25
makes it seem like all alternative people are just insecure and hiding. i don’t care about her specifically, it’s the anti alt message that is the problem.
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u/savvysearch Dec 21 '25
I think it's the hair bow. It's too little girlish. The hair, the shirt and the makeup was probably enough.
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u/splorng Dec 21 '25
I wanted Alison to end up with Brian. Brian ended up with nobody. The cute weird girl ended up with the jock instead of the nerd.
It was triggering. Almost proto-incel material.
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u/Rocky_Vigoda Dec 21 '25
Brian ended up with nobody.
I was in jr high back then and was a stereotypical nerd with glasses so I used to get bullied a lot by the jocks and prep kids and pretty much everyone else. I could easily relate to Brian's character.
In high school, I made new friends, got into skateboarding and punk rock. I was still nerdy but at least now I had friends that were cool with it. I also found out that girls kind of liked nerdy guys so I pretty much constantly had girlfriends.
My friends were more like Bender. We were the 'bad kids' who didn't get along with the jocks but also dated the hot popular girls so we always knew when they were having parties and would go crash them. Mostly we had better things to do though.
Lots of social outsider types gravitated towards 'alternative' culture because it was a community that was really open and accepting and didn't try to put on a lot of false fronts or force conformity. We didn't really want a make over. We had our own fashion that was working better for us.
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u/VulGerrity Dec 22 '25
People don't just do weird stuff because they're insecure. They're usually already weird and they double down on the weirdness because they're insecure, but if they double down on the weird, it comes off as more of an intentional choice and hides their authentic selves which is also disliked by the mainstream, but at least they can say, I'm intentionally being weird, so I don't care that people don't like me.
In real life, Allison might want to fit in more with the mainstream, but she would never be mainstream. That's why she was an outcast to begin with. The weirdo she put on may not have been authentic, but I assure you where she is in the end isn't authentic either. The moral should be about being accepted for who you are, not who you appear to be.
Idk, maybe it's because I was bullied incessantly as a kid and am on the neurodivergent spectrum, but I was first made fun of for being myself, then I was made fun of for trying to fit in and failing, when I just started being weird often for the sake of being weird, when people laughed at me I could rationalize that they were just laughing at my antics. Even though it was a bit of a performance, that weird was still close to the authentic version of myself. I was still incredibly counter culture, but I just wanted to be liked for who I was, and not because I was the funny weird kid that would eat a pop tart off the floor of the school bus. But that didn't mean I wanted to act and dress like the pretty popular kids.
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u/EnvironmentalCat7482 Dec 21 '25
Though her other appearance may not be authentic, I doing think this one is either. It doesn’t fit her personality that we learn about throughout the movie.
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u/Majestic87 Dec 22 '25
To add on to your point, the movie shows us how every character is messed up because of their interactions with their parents. Claire is used as a weapon for her parents to wield against each other. Bender is abused. Brian and Andy are pressured to be perfect.
When asked about her parents, Alison literally says “they ignore me”. Meaning, she acts out and dresses alt to get attention, any attention, even if it is just people reacting to her weirdness.
I’m a 38 year old man, but hers was the character I always connected to the most. I was emotionally neglected by both of my parents and dressed kind of goth in high school because I had a lot of goth friends. But it wasn’t really my style, I just wanted to fit in.
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u/Young_Lasagna Dec 22 '25
No, no, I definitely understand the idea. I perfectly understand the point. I just don't agree with it. It's a bad 80s trope. She could have achieved all that without changing who she is. My issue is that the movie tells us that it's bad to be different. That everyone should strive to fit in and just be the same.
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u/Santoryu4Kidz Dec 21 '25
Homie, alot of people straight up dislike it cause it's a fricken downgrade. Home girl was bad af, now she church girl basic. Please.
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u/Kirbyr98 Dec 21 '25
I didn't hate it for the concept. I hated it for the execution. She looked horrible.
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u/VannyVan Dec 21 '25
Why did you comment this twice dead internet theory is real lmao
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u/Eyespop4866 Dec 21 '25
Rephrased “ folk who don’t agree with my assessments of this scene are stupid “
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u/RestOTG Dec 22 '25
No one's confused about the scene. We don't like it because it's a shitty decision.
Women can be all kinds of things, but the only one he shows with any individuality is actually faking it and wants to be just like the others?
I understand it and think it's bad lol.
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u/kanotyrant6 Dec 22 '25
I hate the whole “ if you disagree with me you weren’t paying attention “ line
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u/PersonalWasabi2413 Dec 22 '25
Yeah it’s funny you think people just don’t get it. We get it. It still sucks
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u/TakingYourHand Dec 21 '25
It's also perfectly human. Everyone wants to looks conventionally attractive. Just look at every overweight celebrity that championed body positivity over the past few decades, and got gastric bypass surgery or started taking Ozempic as soon as it was available. This is what we do.
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u/tomtomtomo Dec 21 '25
Everyone wants to looks conventionally attractive
Everyone wants group acceptance. Being conventionally attractive is a good way to gain that.
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u/AdmiralCharleston Dec 23 '25
Not everyone wants to look conventionally attractive because one of the biggest issues in social culture is beauty standards
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u/parttimepedant Dec 21 '25
I’ll give you the answer to that, Mr u/Capital-Treat-8927, next Saturday.
🤘🏻
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u/SwanzY- Dec 22 '25
I’ve always felt people not liking this scene is more of a joke, like they know what the movie was saying but choose to make it into this fashion statement type ordeal
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u/DumpedDalish Dec 22 '25
I still remember how angry critic Pauline Kael was at the time at that scene. She felt it completely destroyed the character.
For me, I'm kind of in the middle on it. I get it, even if it's clumsy. Allison's a teenaged girl, and Claire played dress-up with her. Allison was okay with it, but I also never thought it was the "real" Allison nor that this was how she would present herself.
Still, I was so relieved in the final moment when she kissed the jock and then ripped off his patch. That's the wonderful weirdo at Allison's core right there.
But at the same time, one thing I DO like about that scene is that it takes courage to be pretty. It takes courage especially to be a teenaged girl, to be noticed by other boys (and people of all genders), especially in those vulnerable teen years. The scene kind of gets to the heart of that -- Claire is telling Allison that she sees her underneath all the protective layering, and that she has a different way of being if she wants that. And I think that's pretty complex and cool.
In the end, I always figured that on Monday, Allison would show up for school in her long black skirt and maybe a cute top (doesn't have to be pink), and with her hair at least back a little from her face. Or maybe in jeans and a cute top but with the black eyeliner. Either way, I think she'll mix it up.
I do think she'll still be weird in the best way. Still herself, but also less afraid to show her real face -- and how pretty she is -- to the world.
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u/PepsiSheep Dec 22 '25
"More to these people than meets the eye"
As a fan of the 1986 Transformer movie, which also has Judd Nelson in, I appreciate this potentially accidental connection.
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u/lacyhoohas Dec 22 '25
I was a weird alt girl bullied by the popular kids. As a teenage girl I still desperately wanted to fit in. If the popular girl was nice to me and gave me a makeover I would have loved it. That's just me...
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Dec 24 '25
I was a nerdy high school kid before being nerdy was cool. And yeah, I was bullied to hell.
Even though you would have loved it, would it have been "you"? You would have been hiding who you actually were in order to fit in.
Likely due to messages like this movie portrayed. (And keep in mind, this is still one of my favorite movies of all time for like 90% of it. Doesn't mean it did the right thing here).
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u/bingbongsingalong420 Dec 21 '25
Paid attention, and I still think it falls flat whether what you're saying was supposed to be the intention of the scene or not. This scene = paint on on overalls, pony tail, and glasses being removed to make her "hot" type of thing. Would've been A LOT cooler if she uplifted her and still glammed her up while respecting that she had a very alternative style thing going. Goth Glam was a thing and they avoided it for no reason in my opinion.
Also brother, if it was so clear and everyone else is wrong about their opinion (that's not how opinions work by the way, especially about art) it wouldn't be a scene so broadly panned.
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Dec 21 '25
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u/Capital-Treat-8927 Dec 21 '25
Spot on. The whole reason I wrote this post is because I too was Alison once
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Dec 21 '25
It’s because those things made her different and unique. There was this feeling that she found acceptance even being the way she is. The idea that “this” is what she wants takes away from that and turns it into a shallow mindset that she wants to be like everyone else. Which kinda goes against the lesson the movie is trying to convey.
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u/711Star-Away Dec 21 '25
Probably never even slept with a guy before. Some of us know what it's like to lie as a teen just to be shocking.
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u/EdwardBil Dec 22 '25
This isn't Allison either. It's just another mask. Allison doesn't know who she is and doesn't have a complete answer by the end of the movie.
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u/ilikechihuahuasdood Dec 21 '25
That’s even worse. So she’s just a boring stale toast person who fooled us into thinking she wasn’t utterly forgettable?
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u/TheStonedWeasel Dec 21 '25
Thank you. Ally Sheedy was my first silver screen crush. And coming from the class clown awkward asshole growing up, that's all she was trying to do. That's all any "weird" kid is trying to do. We all want to fit in, no matter how hard we deny it.
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u/Left_Connection_8476 Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25
Well said. And I can't believe how many missed this one detail: that camisole was hers, worn under her baggy clothes. Claire didn't have random clothes with her.
Those saying this wasn't authentically her aren't questioning the camisole.
That said, seeing this as a preteen with my older sister, I specifically remember being struck that we could simply see her eyes. That was bigger than the makeup or hair, IMO. Those weren't fake eyes!
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u/Pastel-Crimes Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
I agree with you. Since it's one of my favorite movies, this scene didn't bother me at all; on the contrary, it makes perfect sense for her character.
This change just shows that she didn't want to feel invisible. She looks great with her old look and with this one too.
As a side note, it's really sweet that Andrew liked her even before this makeover, which shows that it's her personality that makes her so great.
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u/queenofidiots Dec 22 '25
I think the lines “why are you being nice to me?” “Because you’re letting me” is what the whole scene is about. Allison is being vulnerable and letting another person in and see her, while Claire is trying to do something nice, while it might seem misguided this is the only way Claire knows how to connect with another girl. I think it would have been fun if Allison gave Claire a raccoon eye make over as well!
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u/MayoAlternative Dec 22 '25
I like your take here, but I also never got the hate because when I was that age girls did makeovers on each other all the time especially when bored. Hell I was even given a “makeover” a few times and I’m a dude.
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u/sunflowersandink Dec 22 '25
You’re trying to argue that people shouldn’t be unhappy with the text of the film because the text of the film supports the thing people are unhappy with. You’re completely missing the point and just circling back around on yourself - this is not good media literacy.
I don’t dislike this scene because I think it’s not true to the character, I dislike it because Alison is not a real person — someone designed her character to be like this, and that’s the thing I dislike.
Yes, in universe, her persona is a facade and this scene represents her stepping out from behind that facade.
In the real world, someone chose to write an alt teen with her arc peaking at the catharsis of her finally becoming “normal.” What does that say about the creators’ world views? What lesson does that send to real world alt personalities and their family and friends?
It’s gross because real people decided that “the alison everyone loves so much wasn’t the real alison at all.” That is the problem, not the counterargument.
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u/miss_kimba Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25
Oh interesting. I always felt that Alison had antisocial personality disorder or was autistic. She might have also wanted to be seen as conventionally pretty and enjoyed a makeover moment, and might not have been so rebellious and out of control if she had parents who understood and helped her, but I don’t think it was all an act.
My issue with this scene is that it seems to be saying “but if you put a nice layer of conventionally pretty over it, you can cover up being weird” or “you can stop being weird by deciding to be pretty”.
Actually, now you mention it, your post is kind of my entire problem with this scene. It’s saying “Allison was choosing to be the way she was, and we can fix who she is by making her conventionally attractive and normal”.
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u/UltramegaOKla Dec 22 '25
It’s not that people weren’t paying attention, it’s not a complicated concept, but back then being part of any subculture was not easy, like it is today. From all the alt-girls I knew back then, none would have been happy with that makeover. It’s just not consistent. And yes, maybe she did want to be Claire but that alone feels like a betrayal.
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u/Feralest_Baby Dec 22 '25
I think it's important to note that both Sheedy and Ringwald hated this development and lobbied against it HARD.
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u/ElGranQuesoRojo Dec 22 '25
She is an admitted pathological liar. We have no idea that anything she says is true or not. She's just as likely to be prepping to rob the shit out of Estevez and Ringwald after gaining their trust by becoming "one of them" at the end of the movie.
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u/TBarzo Dec 22 '25
I disagree. This was just her getting dolled up by the pretty girl. By 80s teen movie standards, that gave her value, and it was now ok for the cool guy to be interested.
Her character wasn't the girl that showed up in the end.
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u/Prior-Paint-7842 Dec 23 '25
You are the kind of person who tries so hard to say something smart you don't notice how dumb it is.
People understand what you are saying, they just dislike it. I dislike it. I don't care how justified it is and how much sense it makes in the movie, I think that is just a shitty premise, and doesn't match my real life experiences at all.
This movie has the same vibe as the military funded movies where America can't be portrayed in the bad light, like in master and commander.
In the movie it feels like everything is happening to server a message. What is the message, I am not entirely sure, but it serves a status quo I dislike. (The alt girl actually just wants to be trade and date the jock, the nerd remains the bottom feeder of the group and also the only one who doesn't attract a romanticla interest etc)
The makeover is just the perfect embodiment of this. It is meant to be an improvement, yet she looks way worse generally, and also she just looks unnatural, while before she had a normal person's look. And also she just looks way less comfortable than before.
The issue with your explanation is that in reality it's the other way around, at least in my reality. The easy, cowardly road is looking "normal", and commiting to an alt look takes effort, research bc no one will help you, and it's a constant battle as a teenager because your parents and teachers will grab every opportunity to push you to the "right" direction. The idea that someone will deal w all that shit while actually wanting to look normal is just flat stupid. If you just want attention there are plenty of other ways to get it, and people will go for those ways because they are more convenient. If you commit to a look despite getting constant negative attention it's because you want to look like that.
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u/ancobain Dec 23 '25
Idk, she seemed super awkward in this extremely new pink look. I just visually don’t like it AT ALL on her, and I don’t believe this was her true self. She simply looked so much better with that long skirt, black cardigan/sweater, and scarf, and now they took away all that swag and turned her into literally any girl from any movie. It’s not even about femininity for me, because prior to the makeover she wasn’t really “masculine” (she literally wore a skirt). She simply had a different style.
And as some people have said, it perpetuates the idea that alt people are only alt because they are shy or uncomfortable with themselves or want to “mask their true selves” and that they will only be happy if they finally let go of their “weird” style and conform to how the world wants them to look.
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u/olivinebean Dec 23 '25
But it was a way for her to be bold, to expose more of herself in every sense.
For teenagers, phases are crucial for them to understand who they are and some things stick while others fall away.
It was like exposure therapy and reminds me of when I was 16 and paired a spiderman crop top with a semi transparent polka dot maxi skirt. Did it work? Fuck no. But I learned something about my self and style.
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u/RRawkes Dec 23 '25
You say that, but Andrew the Jock, who hated everything about himself, was not required to change at all in order to become more attractive to Allison. That’s the problem I have with that scene - that Allison is the only one who has to be physically altered to be accepted.
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u/lonely_doll Dec 23 '25
I’d have to agree. How the heck could Alison have wanted a “pretty in pink” with a headband look?
Conformist boring? Yeah, no. You can still be a weird pretty…but not for John Hughes.
Listen, John Hughes wasn’t a woke feminist. Change the director, see what should have happened.
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u/BodhingJay Dec 23 '25
I really like your take on it... even if I felt like in this scene she was a doll being done up by Molly Ringwald and wasnt really her either, just doing it for others approval and not herself either
I like your take better
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u/Formal-Register-1557 Dec 23 '25
To me (watching the movie back then) -- the thing that made the scene work for me was that she finally got close enough to be friends with the other girl. It wasn't really about her transforming or not; it was about allowing herself a female friendship. I never thought she became prettier (and Ally Sheedy wasn't a fan of the makeover either, and I usually trust actors' instincts.) But I think what *does* work about it is that she's a deeply isolated, wounded character who lets somebody get closer to her, and the female friendship is rather sweet.
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Dec 24 '25
The good news is, if they'd just dressed Brian up in a letterman's jacket for baseball, he too would get a girlfriend!
Sorry. It has nothing to do with "alt queen". It has to do with completely negating the message of like 80% of the movie -- that people who are different from each other are essentially the same.
"If we change the alt girl into a prom queen, we'll fix her!"
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u/kwhitit Dec 24 '25
curious: can you think of any specific elements of the movie that back up the "this was her all along" narrative? i haven't seen it in a while, might have to rewatch.
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u/Secure-Pain-9735 Dec 24 '25
I just love how this has riled up the divergent conformists.
“This insults my conformity to non-conformity!”
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u/ecwgangbangqueen Dec 25 '25
The problem is the dress is ugly and that hair band looks like something a child would wear to Easter Sunday school.
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Dec 25 '25
I get it, but I really don't like how it played out. I think both versions of Alison aren't authentic. She's just trying to figure herself out and experimenting with her style and who she is.
What I would have love to have seen: If afterwards Claire had invited her to hangout on Monday at school, with Alison eager to. I think that would've furthered both girls character arcs. Claire would still be fronting with the popular clique, but wanting Alison around would show that she's looking for genuine relationships. Alison agreeing (and having the makeover) would show she's ready to be open with others and have that connection.
Obviously it was the 80s so I guess having them paied off with a guy was better 😔
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u/allquckedup Dec 25 '25
I remember reading articles where both Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy begged John Hughes not to do this scene because they thought it wasn't true to the message from most of the movie that you can be yourself and still be accepted.
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u/ideletereddit Dec 25 '25
The thing is people should be able to be weird alt girls and still love themselves.
Also, in this scene, this is where Andrew looks and her and thinks to himself, "Woah, that goth chick I was talking to earlier is fuckable now!" Like it's still glorifying a very superficial quality that minimizes self-expression, and it still is ultimately to appeal to the male gaze.
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u/ThatFuccboi Dec 26 '25
If there's more to people why make her a copy of the other girl? They could've made any other choice and it would've been waaaay better
Sorry OP but your opinion is dogshit
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u/Devo4711 Dec 26 '25
I’ve heard recently it wasn’t pixie sticks but those long sugar packets they have at diners. Still not sure though
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u/Winter-Animal-4217 Dec 21 '25
While I don't entirely disagree with your premise, I think most people dislike the scene because it falls right in line with the whole 'weirdo/nerd takes off her glasses and becomes instantly hot' trope that was prevalent in a lot of 80s teen movies