Molly Ringwald can’t believe her mom “f–king forgot” her birthday. The ’80s icon turned 54 on Feb. 18 and had a hilarious exchange with her mother, who seemed to disremember her special day. The moment was reminiscent of Ringwald’s iconic 1984 John Hughes classic “Sixteen Candles” in which her family neglects to remember her 16th birthday amid her older sister’s wedding. The actress took to Instagram to share a screenshot of a text convo she reportedly had with her mother, captioning it, “Actual conversation with my mom today.” In the text, the “Secret Life of the American Teenager” star asked her mother, “That’s it? You don’t have anything else to say to me today?” Her mom then responded, in jest, “I didn’t realize it was the 18th today. Happy birthday! I haven’t got your present in the mail. Will do very soon.” “Life imitates art,” Ringwald then said back, to which her mom replied, “How true. It took me a few more years to forget.” In 2018, the “Pretty in Pink” star penned an essay for the New Yorker in which she re-examined her films “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” following the #MeToo movement. “Back then, I was only vaguely aware of how inappropriate much of John’s writing was, given my limited experience and what was considered normal at the time. I was well into my thirties before I stopped considering verbally abusive men more interesting than the nice ones,” the mother of three wrote at the time. The reflective Ringwald then commented on a scene in “The Breakfast Club” where Judd Nelson’s character John Bender looks up Claire’s (Ringwald) skirt. “I kept thinking about that scene,” she continued. “I thought about it again this past fall, after a number of women came forward with sexual-assault accusations against the producer Harvey Weinstein, and the #MeToo movement gathered steam. If attitudes toward female subjugation are systemic, and I believe that they are, it stands to reason that the art we consume and sanction plays some part in reinforcing those same attitudes.” The Brat Pack member then declared that Bender “sexually harasses Claire” throughout the movie. “When he’s not sexualizing her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt, calling her ‘pathetic,’ mocking her as ‘Queenie.’ It’s rejection that inspires his vitriol. Claire acts dismissively toward him … He never apologizes for any of it, but, nevertheless, he gets the girl in the end,” she said.
