Real reason 80s star Molly Ringwald thinks Breakfast Club is problematic

She was the queen of teen movies in the 1980s, now Molly Ringwald reflects on the modern meaning of some of her biggest hits, as she reveals her newest Hollywood role.

Long before the Real Housewives franchise opened our eyes to the riches and rivalries of today’s glamorous socialites, Truman Capote lifted the velvet curtain on what happens in the higher echelons of New York society.

In “La Côte Basque, 1965”, a chapter out of his then-upcoming novel, Answered Prayers, the Breakfast At Tiffany’s author spilled the most delicious tea on his closest circle of female friends – using thinly veiled pseudonyms – and referred to them all as his “swans”.

That excerpt, which was first published in a 1975 issue of Esquire magazine, proved so scandalous it cost Capote his ties to notable women, including influential fashionista Slim Keith and Barbara “Babe” Paley, wife of then-CBS network head William S Paley.

After the writer had spent more than 20 years cultivating their confidences and friendships, they shut him out completely.

80s icon Molly Ringwald stars in Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans. Picture: Getty Images

The new drama Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans details this high-profile betrayal, and has been promoted as the original Housewives with good reason, says Molly Ringwald, who plays Joanne Carson, the bohemian ex-wife of talk-show host Johnny Carson – and one of the few women who stood by Capote in the aftermath of his juicy tell-all.

“In a way, these women were kind of controlled by and famous because of their husbands,” she tells The Binge Guide. “Yet they were also very strong.”

Franchise creator Ryan Murphy started the Feud anthology in 2017 with Bette And Joan, which detailed the infamous rivalry between actors Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, played by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange.

He’s gathered an equally impressive cast for this instalment, with Ringwald joined by Naomi Watts (Paley), Diane Lane (Keith), Calista Flockhart (Lee Radziwill), Demi Moore (Ann Woodward) and Chloë Sevigny (CZ Guest) as swans, and Tom Hollander as Capote.

Both series have reconsidered the women at their centre through a modern and more sympathetic lens.

Molly Ringwald: “Every part of history is worth looking back on and re-examining and understanding”. Picture: AFP

And they join a swathe of TV biopics that unpack how high-profile women have been portrayed on screen and treated by the media in the past: 2021 series Impeachment: American Crime Story exposed the mistreatment of Monica Lewinsky; in 2022, Pam & Tommy revealed the devastating impact of Pamela Anderson’s stolen sex tape; also that year, Gaslit detailed what happened to Watergate whistleblower Margaret Mitchell.

For Ringwald, it’s important that in the post #MeToo era, such stories are being told more thoughtfully. “Ryan is at the forefront of that.

He’s put women front and centre – women who have long bodies of work and experience,” she explains.

“I’ve been waiting for somebody in power for the longest time to sort of get that and to celebrate women who have experience instead of just looking for the next new thing.”

A teenage Ringwald became that “next new thing” in 1984 when she was cast in Sixteen Candles, starting an era-defining collaboration with writer-director John Hughes that included The Breakfast Club in 1985 and Pretty In Pink in 1986. Inspired by #MeToo and her experience watching The Breakfast Club with her oldest daughter Mathilda, now 20, Ringwald penned a 2018 essay in The New Yorker detailing some of the more troubling elements of that film.

Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald in 1985’s The Breakfast Club.

Having recently watched The Breakfast Club again, this time with younger daughter Adele, 14, Ringwald says she was struck by how it was still able to capture a youthful viewer’s attention despite its flaws.

“In itself, [that] is a huge feat for kids who are weaned on TikTok,” she says, laughing. “To have them watch a movie from any other time isn’t very easy. It held her attention, but [both of my daughters] took issue with the things I took issue with, and they hadn’t even read my article. They were like, ‘Why is he sexually harassing her?’ and, ‘Why did she kiss him at the end?’ To them, it didn’t make any sense. And I was glad that’s the way they took it.”

Confiding that there has been talk of a series detailing the rise of the so-called “brat pack” – the nickname given to rising young actors in the 1980s such as Ringwald, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez – Ringwald says, “Every part of history is worth looking back on and re-examining and understanding.

“So, I definitely feel like [a TV series about making The Breakfast Club] will happen eventually.”

Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans starts streaming on February 1 on Binge.

Originally published as Real reason 80s star Molly Ringwald thinks Breakfast Club is problematic