Actress Molly Ringwald just outed one beloved ’80s character.
Ringwald starred in a string of hits for director/writer John Hughes in the 1980s, the last of which being Pretty in Pink in 1986. Howard Deutch (Zoey Deutch’s dad, for anyone keeping track) directed the film from a script by Hughes. The plot saw Ringwald’s character Andie torn between two men: the affluent Blane (Andrew McCarthy) and her dorky best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer). The original ending of the film had Andie choosing a relationship with Duckie, though test audiences–and Ringwald–revolted. Now Ringwald shares her theory as to why.
“Duckie doesn’t know he’s gay,” Ringwald said, according to The Huffington Post. “I think he loves Andie in the way that [my gay best friend] always loved me. That ending fell so flat — it bombed at all the screenings. I didn’t realize it then — I just knew that my character shouldn’t end up with him because we didn’t have that sort of chemistry. If John was here now, and I could talk to him, I think that he would completely acknowledge that.”
Ringwald also added that if Pretty in Pink was made today, Duckie would totally end up with a handsome guy at the end.
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On the other hand, actor Jon Cryer, who played Duckie, disagrees.
“Yes, she said that the guy whom Duckie was based on was gay. It’s a different thing. Let’s be clear here,” Cryer told Zap2it. “No, she actually said that if one projected beyond the movie, that Duckie would be out by now. And I respectfully disagree.”
“I want to stand up for all the slightly effeminate dorks that are actually heterosexual,” Cryer added. “Just cause the gaydar is going off, doesn’t mean your instruments aren’t faulty. I’ve had to live with that, and that’s okay.”
Cryer does have a point, and we speak from experience. On the other hand, given the way that the subtle, homophobic humor in the work of John Hughes hasn’t exactly aged well, a gay Duckie would provide a nice counterbalance. Let’s all keep that in mind for a potential long-delayed sequel: Still Pretty in Pink.
Hey, with a gay Duckie, we’d watch.
Monkey1
I think it’s good that it’s open-ended. Some can think he’s gay, other people can think he’s straight, makes the movie unique to them.
Phillip
Good point.
Liquid Silver
Agreed. Duckie was…ambiguous. But my Duckie was kind of gay. 🙂
Cam
No surprise the that same account that has been attacking every out of the closet LGBTQ person, defending Trump and other Republican bigots would try to push the other way.
Even when you try to soften your trolling, we still see you Monkey1, I mean, Roy Ajax, I mean TheREALTruth, I mean caddy, I mean openminded, etc.
gjg64
Duckie was 100% gay. I knew it then…we all did.
DennisMpls
I’m not going to say Duckie wasn’t gay, but I have a big problem with your certainty. And I have a big problem when that same certainty is applied to anyone who isn’t out. That certainty implies that our gaydar is infallible, it implies that anyone who is in any way effeminate is certainly gay, it implies a strict dichotomy between gay and straight, and it imputes to us a right to “know” something that makes us feel better just because we want to.
Jon Cryer makes a great point. There are guys out there who are sensitive or effeminate or who fit in some way the stereotypes, but who aren’t gay. When we insist on assuming they are gay we just feed the need of men to move toward toxic masculinity as a defense mechanism. I think it’s a very underrated attribute to be able to accept and even embrace uncertainty.
ShiningSex
@DennisMpls, our gaydar comes from seeing how we act, how we others act who turn out to be gay as well. Our gaydar is not always correct but I’d bet my life we’re 99% correct and I have been.
Yes there are “effeminate” straight men. I know of three. One actually admits to have been with other men a few times but wasn’t “his thing”. That aside, we’re mostly right.
Donston
I do think the obsession some have with deeming people “gay” or trying to prove how correct their “gaydar” is has become problematic. If we want to say males can be “straight passing” and be “gay”, we also need to acknowledge that men can be effeminate or “camp” and also be “straight”. You can’t be a hypocrite and try to have it both ways. Being an effeminate male typically does mean there’s some type or extent of “queerness” in you. But the assumption making, the desire to deem someone “gay”, or trying to shame people out- it can be incredibly problematic. And it’s turning a percentage of “queers” into ignorant bullies. A lot of people don’t realize how much they’re actively supporting homo shame, gay panic and toxic masculinity by this type of behavior.
A lot of people just don’t like acknowledging that these identities are just terms people choose to or choose not to embrace. They don’t like to acknowledge how individual and vast sexuality is. They don’t like to acknowledge how vast mannerisms, sense of gender and gender expression is. They don’t like vast and individual the gender, romantic, sexual affection, emotional investment, commitment spectrum is . They’d rather stay caught up with who is or isn’t “gay”. This is 2021. Grow up and evolve.
amanwithanedge
I love that movie.
Bengali
If Ducky was gay so was Anthony Michael Hall in Sweet Sixteen. And that may be true as well.
ShiningSex
I think John Cusak’s character was a bit implied to be gay by just some of the lines he delivered. You really need to pay attention to see what I mean. I do think it’s implied.
ShiningSex
I ALWAYS THOUGHT DUCKIE WAS GAY. SO WHAT. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. JON CRYER JUST DOESN’T WANT HIS ICONIC CHARACTER TO BE LABELED AS ‘POSSIBLE’ GAY. F8CK HIM.
vancouverdoug
I think Dennis makes an excellent point. Many of us contribute to the toxic masculinity we supposedly abhor.
trsxyz
I feel it was unnecessary for her to project her “assumption” that Duckie was gay. But since she did… I’ll state that I never got that vibe.
rockstop
You forgot some words. The text should say: “according to The Huffington Post in 2012… “
GayEGO
We are everywhere!
johnnymcmxxx
I hated the movie after her character ruined 2 good dresses by cutting them in half to make one hideous dress.
Cam
The dress was hideous, it made her look weird, and the color was bad for her.
azjeff17
It’s really tiresome people speculating on other people’s, or character’s, sexuality. The only time it should matter to you is if you are interested in dating that person.
It’s all part of toxic masculinity. If you don’t present as socially perceived “manly”, your sexuality is up for speculation.
I know and worked with many straight guys I was more masculine than.
nitejonboy
So tired of this gay assumption shit….I live in the south, and have a lot of straight friends who one might think are gay upon meeting them because of the sweet little lilt of their voice which is totally a southern thing, some men down here, even a lot of the rednecks, have that twangy sweetness to their voice which people assume makes them gay..it’s really annoying hearing people over and over ask me behind my back ” is your friend gay “….so F.U. Molly Ringwald. I’d say Jon Cryer got last laugh with all that Three and a half men money…Ringwald ? Not so much.
Openminded
You are so right about the Southern male voice that many guys have. I think it can be tied to the fact that for so many generations, Southern “redneck” men had to be macho and manly. Now we have evolved to realize there is nothing wrong with being a loving man with a kind heart and I think some of us attach the kind & motherly voice to that behavior. Add in a little “honey”, “sweety” and “bless your heart” and you come across as almost flaming at times.
Cam
Or because of the bigotry in the south some of your friends are gay and staying closeted.
nitejonboy
And even before I realized how much homophobia was rampant in his films, I’ve ALWAYS hated John Hughes films, they aren’t funny..in fact even by 80’s standards I find them tacky and annoying. I’ve never understood the attraction. I think people’s standards were lower back then.
8millionandcounting
#FREEMOLLY from herself that is.
Please don’t make me dislike another celebrity. There was no need to even bring this up.
Side note: did anyone notice her daughters character’s name in TOTC?…..Claire. I was the only one who picked up on that in a room full of I Heart the 80’s fans.
renzinthewoods
Duckie was one of my heroes and, no, I don’t believe the character was gay. Both he and Molly Ringwald’s character know who they are and express themselves without fear. His love for her was real. Finally by movie’s end other kids start to recognize and appreciate this. I loved that the hot girls notice him at the end. If ANYONE in that movie is gay, it’s the James Spader character, but that brings us to the gay villain trope unfortunately.
DarkZephyr
I always felt like he was gay and I won’t accept any lectures about how terrible it is to “assume” someone is gay since “straight” is the assumed default to this day for most people and nobody says “How terrible to assume someone is straight!” Sexuality isn’t some shameful thing. Personally speculating about someone’s sexuality isn’t a bad thing and treating it as if it is is inherently homophobic as far as I am firmly concerned, because it implies that assuming someone is LGBT somehow debases them. That is the shameful way to look at it, if you ask me.
Unlike other posters, I don’t look back on John Hughes films and think “My God, how unfunny and homophobic!” I adore those films and always will. I think they were products of their time. They tried to capture the youth of the 80s and yeah, anti-gay slurs WERE tossed around with that level of ease back then. As far as I’m concerned, portraying that doesn’t make the movies homophobic. It makes them realistic.
nathan
I find it absurd that there is even any interest in a 30-year-old fictional movie character possibly being ‘outed’ as gay. The only person who knows whether or not the character was a closet gay is the writer. I am more concerned about real live lgbtq+ people having to still hide from the right-wing bigots and morons.
James26
I’m not sure what kind of guy would voluntarily watch a movie called “Pretty In Pink,” but I am definitely not that guy.
That having been said, Jon Cryer is right to point out that effeminate does not equal “gay.” In fact, the large majority of effeminate teenage boys are heterosexual. According to the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, about 70% of teenage males who exhibit a mild to moderate feminine “gender presentation” and 78% of those with a “very feminine” gender presentation are heterosexual. So while gay and bisexual teen males are over-represented in this area, they are in no way the majority.
Donston
All those types of studies have severe caveats because too many elements are hella subjective. A lot depends on whether the subject sees themselves as “effeminate” or “masculine”, a lil or a lot “fem”. The rest of the study pretty much comes down to self-examination as well. A lot depends on how the subject views sexuality. The subject may be closeted. Or they may not equate being inherently heterosexual and homosexual to being “straight” and “gay”. They may view “straight” and “gay” as more about lifestyle or behaviors or desires or overall preferences. They may not even have a consensus of what “sexuality” is since arousal, attraction, desire, lifestyle, passion, fetish, what you’re willing to do and not do are all different things. The study doesn’t track potential fluidity or contradictions or confusions. Then there’s the romantic, affection, emotional, investment, commitment elements of the spectrum. There’s also the gender elements of the spectrum, which thee study didn’t focus on. And I imagine that a lot of guys signed up for that study to re-emphasize to the world that they’re “not gay”.
I’m not saying the study has no merit. But all that shit needs to be taken with quite a few grains of salt. And the whole approach of the study seems old fashioned.
Cam
Aside from other huge problems with that study, then what you are saying is 22% – 30% of those guys DO turn out to be gay.
A much much larger percentage than the general population. So you just wrecked your own argument.
Kangol2
Gay or not, Duckie was insufferable.
Kevan1
@ Kangol2 Agreed.
Preppy1000
Hated the film mostly because of the stupid ending. I never thought Duckie was gay. A super geek sure but not gay.
Dannyzackery
Only a homophobe would say an effeminate character to be gay. Gosh, I hate it when people make the flamboyant characters gay. Why not masculine gay characters? The world needs more of them.
Cam
So you don’t see the disconnect in your comment do you?
radiooutmike
Let’s see.
When I was a teen in the early ’80s, I’d argue that Boy George was not necessarily gay. Even though, everyone thought he was fag. Just denying myself.
Anyways, when I went to college a few years later, the only people who dressed like Duckie were gay men. “Quirky” or “alternative” has usually been a dog-whistle for describing a character as gay in Hollywood movies. Just like the son in Down and Out in Beverly Hills…
Duckie’s character spoke to me in ways I did not fully understand, or subconsciously did not want to understand.