Molly Ringwald Reveals Her One Gripe With ‘The Breakfast Club’ On ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’: “My Character Was Sexually Harassed Through The Whole Thing”

Molly Ringwald has “a lot of feelings” about The Breakfast Club nearly four decades after it was released. While the actress “loved the script” of the 1985 classic, she said there are some aspects to the film that she “takes issue with as a grown woman,” including the fact that her character was “sexually harassed” throughout the whole movie.

On Tuesday’s (Feb. 6) episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Ringwald revealed that she recently watched The Breakfast Club with her 14-year-old kids Adele and Roman.

“The conversations that we have afterwards are so amazing,” she said. “And what’s really amazing to me is that they didn’t pick up their phone once. It’s a testament to the fact that it still speaks to people.”

Ringwald continued, “But the conversations about what worked for them — what they took issue with and what they didn’t. Like, the fact that I was basically, my character, was sexually harassed through the whole thing and then I go for him at the end. They did not get that at all.”

In the John Hughes-directed flick, Ringwald’s character Claire spends her Saturday detention with a rag-tag group of teens played by Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy. Nelson’s rebellious character, John Bender, spends the day mocking Claire, sexualizing her, and, at one point, even peeking up her skirt without her consent.

“I was really happy that they didn’t like that — that that was not a turn-on for my daughter,” Ringwald told host Drew Barrymore. “I said, ‘Well, yeah. Back when I was making those movies, that was a turn-on. Like if anybody treated you badly, that’s the one you wanted.'”

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Despite the problematic elements in the movie, Ringwald said there’s “still so much” that she loves about it.

“The fact that it really breaks down these characters and says that there’s something that we all have in common and we’re all feeling the same thing no matter what we look like and our social stratum is and that kids have a voice and your voice is important and it’s important to speak up,” she said. “So all of those, to me, make the film really meaningful.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Ringwald also dished on what she “hated the most” about her 1986 rom-com Pretty in Pink.

“I burst into tears when they showed me the prom dress because it was nothing like what I had imagined,” she said, to which Barrymore replied, “It’s a very weird dress. It’s a very unique dress. But I will never forget it because I’ve never seen a cut quite like it!”

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.