(Gaby Wood’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 8/28.)
Among the many revelations and lacerations in David Hare’s memoir, The Blue Touch Paper, perhaps the most unexpected is the assertion that he identifies with the heroine of Pretty in Pink. Hare was a successful playwright nearing 40 when John Hughes’s high school comedy was released. How did he come to see himself in Molly Ringwald’s character?
“Stephen Daldry always says I’m an honorary homosexual,” Hare replies with a smile, citing his frequent collaborator. “I have all the equipment – including the absent father and the loving mother. And as an honorary gay, my favourite films are Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club…” He pauses, then resumes, deadpan: “I don’t think – and this will come with the force of revelation to readers of The Daily Telegraph – I don’t think St Elmo’s Fire has aged very well.”
View THE BLUE TOUCH PAPER on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Touch-Paper-Memoir/dp/0393249182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441040017&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Blue+Touch+Paper
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