YMMV / Pretty in Pink

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Ducky Entitled to Have You or a Dogged Nice Guy? Some Values Dissonance is at play here. There's also Molly Ringwald's theory that Ducky was gay and Armored Closet Gay (at least to himself).
  • Steff, a misogynistic, stuck up prick or an Armored Closet Gay whose self loathing and unrequited love for his best friend is causing him to lash out at the wrong people? You'll notice his constantly following Blaine around and interference with his romantic relationships isn't that dissimilar to the smitten Ducky's behavior. James Spader has his own Word of Saint Paul that all of Steff's stuck up classicism and abuse toward Andie is due to the fact that he liked her but she didn't like him.
• Broken Base: It has been a subject of decades of debate whether Andie should end up with Blaine or Ducky or neither.
• Director Displacement: It was directed by Howard Deutch, but it's viewed as a John Hughes film.
• Draco in Leather Pants: James Spader at his smarmiest.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Ducky, despite being simply a supporting cast member, is considered by many to be the most memorable character in the film. In fact, a version of the movie was released on DVD as a "more Ducky" version, restoring many deleted Ducky scenes and featuring only Ducky on the cover.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: An interesting example; the test audience disliked the original ending, where Andie ended up with Ducky, because they felt it created a Broken Aesop about not crossing class lines (which was arguably what the film was about). When the film was released, it had a new ending in which Andie ended up with Blaine, but this was also met with a poor reaction, and Ducky/Andie has been a Fan-Preferred Couple ever since.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the record store, we can clearly see a line of records labeled for an alternative rock band named "Hole" - No, not that one. They didn't become active until 1989 and Courtney Love was instead pursuing an acting career when this movie was made.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Ducky beating up Steff was a little too satisfying to watch.
  • Towards the end when Blane finally stands up to Steff, culminating in "The Reason You Suck" Speech
• Retroactive Recognition: You know the kid who almost gets hit in the eye with a staple? That kid grew up to be MC Bat Commander.
• Stoic Woobie: Andie is this when you consider the fact that her mother left the family and that she always knew her mother didn't love them. SINCE SHE WAS FIVE.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Even by 1980s teen dramedy standards, this is pretty damn 80s. So much that if people showed up dressed like these people in a movie today, the audience would assume the characters were satirizing the 80s. There's also a lot of Duckie's dialogue (such as him saying "bogus" unironically).
• Values Dissonance:
  • Ducky is a complete creep by modern standards. When he's not insisting that Andie and he are in a relationship, he's often making crass and sexist remarks towards other female students.
  • Jack smoking at the breakfast table. Smoking in movies gets a warning label now, while in the 80s it didn't raise an eyebrow.

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