The Makeover of Allison Reynolds

I watched John Hughes’ ‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985) all the way through for the first time this week. For those who have seen it all the way through, you will know that near the end Allison Reynolds – played by Ally Sheedy – who to date has been the somewhat shaggy recluse, is given a ‘makeover’ by Molly Ringwald’s more princess-like character. She changes her jacket for a frilly dress, takes her hair out of her eyes, and puts a pretty bow in it, going from this to this:

Some fans of the film are apparently less than thrilled by this scene. (This article pretty much sums up the views that I read.) The first reason is that Allison looked far more interesting and unique before the makeover and her look fitted well with her personality. I agree with this. The second thing people seem to take issue with though is that the jock Andrew Clark – played by Emilio Estevez – only falls for her after she looks like a conventional beauty.

I didn’t see things that way when I saw the scene. When Andrew sees the ‘new’ Allison, this is what he says:

Andrew: ‘Nothing’s wrong, it’s just … you’re just so different!’ … You can see your face!’
Allison: Is that good or bad?
Andrew: It’s good.

From that I took that Andrew didn’t necessarily think one look was that much better than the other – they were just different, and each had its particular charms, with the charms of the ‘princess’ look being that you could see Allison’s face. And as for the comments that Andrew only fell for Allison when she donned a pretty dress … maybe I misread, but he seemed pretty into her before that scene. So yeah, I liked Allison’s look more before the makeover, but I have no real problem with the scene. I suspect people also feel strongly about Allison’s pre-makeover look because it makes a better costume for those ‘80s parties.