Well, this is just adorable. Molly Ringwald's daughter has gone and struck the ultimate Sixteen Candles pose! The photo below shows her standing next to a DVD display where Samantha Baker is shown pining over an unseen Jake Ryan. Ringwald shared the photo herself, captioning it, "She can't escape her mom, even when 'Back to school' shopping at Target."
It's not a bad ad for Target, that's for sure. Those of us who spend too much time wandering aimlessly through the store have likely seen this very display, which offers very reasonably priced DVDs, among them the Brat Pack classic, Sixteen Candles. The sight of Samantha Baker causes us to flash back to Samantha Baker's hard crush on Jake Ryan, mixed with the angst of what's likely the most celebrated ignored American Sweet Sixteen in 80s pop culture history. Combine that with the surreal sight of Ringwald's young daughter rocking a similar pose, minus the angsty expression, and there's a very surreal quality to that photo. That's especially apparent when we do the math and realize this little girl is much closer to her own Sweet Sixteen than we are from the year Sixteen Candles hit theaters. Thirty years ago.
Here's a better look at Ringwald's Samantha Baker pose...
Sixteen Candles stars Molly Ringwald as Samantha Baker, a teen living in the immediate shadow of her sister's wedding, whose sixteenth birthday goes completely unnoticed by her family. While Samantha pines over Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), Anthony Michael Hall's Geek character pines over her. And so it goes in 80s High School, USA. File this movie under Classic 80s, Classic Teen Movies, Brat Pack and John Hughes Masterpieces.
In addition to Sixteen Candles, Molly Ringwald's credits include The Facts of Life, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and the part of preggers Frannie Goldsmith in the TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand (which is getting the feature adaptation/remake treatment).
These days, when she isn't being a mom to her own almost-teen daughter and young twins, Molly Ringwald still gets a bit of acting in. She played Shailene Woodley's mother in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which wrapped up on ABC Family last year. Ringwald is expected to appear in the feature adaptation of the iconic 80s cartoon Jem and the Holograms.
