She's Gone, But the Joke's the Same

Most of the time, I don't watch the DVD special features. I'm not sure why; it certainly isn't that I've lost my love for trivia. Perhaps it's because I find that most of them don't contribute to my enjoyment of the film. I can think of two cases where this did not hold true--the special features to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was practically a graduate course in film studies, and the featurette where the actors try to rationalize why the original ending to Pretty in Pink would not have worked at all.

For those of you who did not grow up in the 80s, and did not mark your teenage years by which character in which John Hughes movie you most related to, the original ending to Pretty in Pink was that Andie would end up with Duckie, and leave Blane out in the cold. Obviously, it didn't end that way. I remember when I first learned that fact, and how outraged I was that the test audiences didn't stand up for the one who really loved her, didn't side with loyalty. And part of me still feels that way, for about two seconds, every time I watch that movie. Mostly because I feel guilty, because I somehow always chased the one who didn't want me, and was oblivious to the Duckies life threw me.

But, watching this feature now, an adult--granted, an adult who loves this movie irrationally, to this day--I realize the actors were right. And what they talked about was the chemistry between Molly Ringwald and Jon Cryer. Essentially, they didn't have any. They were JUST like the characters they played, really fond of each other, but she was not sexually attracted to him in anyway. And you can't force that. Chemistry between two people is a grand and mysterious thing. And sometimes, there are people in your life that you should have every reason in the world to throw down everything and spend your entire life with that person, but all you ever see is a friend. "Like ending up with my brother," is how Ringwald put it in the commentary. And then there are some people in life that you respond to on levels that aren't even measurable. Your DNA quite possibly reacts to them. The way they smell, the way they taste, the way their hand fits in yours. And there's no explaining it. And that was their reasoning. And you know, I get that. Now.

So, in my aged and infinite wisdom, I realize that Andie making out with Blane in the parking lot was the only way it could way. Andrew McCarthy said it best: "It's a fairy tale." And in fairy tales, the prince always gets the girl.

Also, for the record, I am, and always will be, an Andie. Other people think I'm Watts, but I always think Andie first.