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| "I think this building should be condemned. There's serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone." |
"Pretty in Pink" and "The Money Pit" were both made in 1986. The 1980's were a time obsessed with money and these films both exemplify this theme. In "Pretty in Pink," Andie is a poor girl who is looked down on by the preppy, rich people at her school, even the guy from "Weekend at Bernie's" who she really thinks she has a chance with.
In "The Money Pit," Walter and Anna are broke enough that they have to borrow money from a rich child to buy what can only loosely be considered a house. Through trial and tribulation, however, the protagonists all get their way and live happily ever after (for richer or poorer) because these are romantic comedies.
Music also plays an important role in these movies, reflecting characters' various social classes (i.e. Ducky the punk rocker in "Pretty in Pink" and the Maestro, Anna's rich ex-husband).
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| Nothing says "Punk" like rainbow socks |
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| Hasn't Tom Hanks suffered enough?! |
Your assignment: In a thoughtfully composed response, compare these two films. You can use the theme of money or music, or stick to the plots and the idea of love itself. What do these movies have in common? How do they portray American society in the 1980's?
Also, think about how these two 80's movies resonate with contemporary viewers. Is today's society obsessed with money as it was in the 80's? Do Oakcrest students form cliques with only students in the same socio-economic class?
One paragraph or so will suffice.
Responses due by the start of class Tuesday, 2/3
The Money Pit is a film about 2 people that really love each other and want to live together and buy a house. So they notice there is a house on sale for $200,000 that normally cost $1 million. So they end up getting enough money by them two both asking 2 people there close to and buy the house. So when they go to set stuff and up and move in everything goes south. The stairs break, there's no pluming, its freezing. So they end up getting very grumpy, annoyed, and inpatient because there house is getting renovated. So then the wife goes to her ex house and gets drunk and gets told she slept with him. So she is very nervous but lies to her husband that she didn't and he gets it out of her that she did. So they fight and end up not speaking and when they finally approve never being together the ex tells her that he lied and they didn't sleep together. so its just very mind boggling. So the girl is poor and the guy is rich and they love each other.
ReplyDeleteThomas Giardino
ReplyDeleteIn the film "Pretty in Pink" the characters are younger than Tom Hanks and his lover in "The Money Pit" and therefore they don't suffer from the same financial responsibilities. Andie is poor and suffers because of it but she lives with her father and it is his fault they are poor. The differences among the kid's economic classes really affects their relationships and who they associate themselves with in "Pretty in Pink". Tom Hanks' character does not allow financial problems to matter in his relationship because he truly loves his girlfriend.
In modern times I don't see economic status having as large of an impact on relationships. Friendships and romantic relationships in this era appear to happen because of similar interests not really because of social status.
Tyler Manno
ReplyDelete"Pretty in Pink" and "The Money Pit" compared in multiple ways such as the plot, music, and the theme of money. However, the main comparison that stuck out to me was love. In both films the characters fell madly in love and winded up fighting and not being so madly in love. By the end of the films the man finally understands his wrongs and fixed things between the two and know how much they love each other. Furthermore, the money stand point also compares in both films because of spending and how they both go about with their money. For example, in "Pretty in Pink" Andie lives with her poor father and it is because of him why they are poor. In addition, in "The Money Pit" I wouldn't say they're poor but they did spend most of there money on a house so they're right on the borderline of poor and middle class you could say because they did buy a 1 million dollar house for two hundred thousand. Therefore, two main ways the two films compare are love and money. Two terrible things to compare.
The 80s and now are two different times, but the one thing that does compare is money. Money is everything in this age. People now need the biggest houses, the nicest cars, and the nicest clothes. So money is spent when getting such things. In the future I would say that friendships will be made because of economic class and not on how people like each other and the same will go for relationships. However, as of right now friendships and relationships are based off of how someone acts.
The 80's classics, "Pretty in Pink" and "The Money Pit" both follow the themes of true love, class and money all to the beat of a sick soundtrack. As with any high school flick, a young protagonist is caught between an ungraceful adolescence and the pressure to be something greater in "Pretty in Pink". Molly Ringwald's character has tasted the bitterness of near-poverty and past heartache from an absent parent. However, her problems increase when she draws the attention of a rich suitor whom is literally on the 'other side of the tracks.' Its debatable on whether or not, Molly's choice was a wise one. The rich suitor may represent the American Dream, but it is obvious that the only character that had Molly's best intentions at heart from the start was Duckie. On the other hand, you shouldn't throw yourself at a guy just because he shows you attention, (looking at you Jon Cryer), so kudos for that Molly.
ReplyDeleteShifting gears here, "The Money Pit" follows Tom Hanks' character and his wife as they struggle to keep their finances and their sanity after purchasing a house that was doomed to fall apart. The couple desperately try to repair it, sinking money, time and effort into it at every possible chance. This film managed to capture the essence of devotion, loyalty and love between Anna and Walter without shying away from the obvious underlying message. Wait a second....what if the house...was a metaphor for their relationship?! That the real message here was to not let money ruin you. *gasp* Wow. Subtext, much?
In the end, both of these movies draw home the message that money is not everything, (or something equally cheesy). Love and money should never be related or compared, at fear of losing ourselves and each other. Oakcrest, like many institutions in this age of extended-adolescence, is obvious separated into cliques but financial status is no longer a decided factor in this quasi-segregation. Sure money is a factor, but most people choose their friends based on similar interests and hobbies. The need to belong is innate in the human genome, whether it be for soci-economic reasons or not, people will always flock around in separate (but equal) groups.
“The Money Pit” and “Pretty in Pink” are pretty similar. Both are classic love movies. They have high class, money, and of course love. The plot of both is also similar because in both movies have characters fall madly in love with each other than end up fighting and not being so madly in love. But in the end the come back to each other and are better than ever. American society in the 80’s was portrayed to be fun and loving. I feel as if men still had chivalry and that’s what makes both of these movies. Now a days men don’t hold the door for ladies and don’t respect women. It is hard to find a man that is still like that. Both movies though, were great, I actually enjoyed watching them. -Tiffany Valiante
ReplyDeleteBoth “Pretty In Pink” and “Money Pit” both involve love and money. In “Pretty in Pink” There is a girl and who is “lower class” and a boy that is “upper-class” and there relationship continues to be judged because of the difference in money. Various times in the film you hear conversations about the boy being a “richy”. In the film “Money Pit” you see money also tied in with it when it comes to buying their house and all the expenses involved. In a way I puts pressure on their relationship in both of these films. Both of these films portray American society in the 1980’s because all of the issues that are portrayed in each of these films are the same as that time period. This includes jobs, money, relationships and even the judgment. I feel as though our society today is still fixed up and obsessed with money because “money is everything”. Our society has the mindset that money fixes everything and to me all it truly does in ruin great things because of how people use it. Here in Oakcrest you definitely see cliques for all different reason. They can be from race, gender, religion and even socio economic class. This issue I feel will never change because there will always be someone or some group that will look down upon people for not having the same lifestyle as them.
ReplyDeletePretty in pink and money pit are both very similar as the money pit two older people fall in love and buys a house in economically depressed times where every than can go wrong does. The staircase falls down the ceiling leaks but there love still prevailed and in pretty in pink she falls in love with a rich boy and is afraid of what other people will say or think so they have a lot of downs because there society looks at the poor and the rich as two different species but in the end she still ends up with the rich guy that she loves
ReplyDeleteThe Money Pit and Pretty in Pink are two romantic comedies that share a common theme of "money." In Pretty in Pink, Andie was poor and wasn't as financially stable as the majority of kids in her town. Because of that, she was tormented and wasn't considered worthy by her peers. Even the one preppy kid who was interested in her debated on being with her because his friends judged him for associating with Andie. All in all, at the end of the film, Andie and the preppy boy ended up being together and didn't let their social status interfere.
ReplyDeleteIn The Money Pit, Walter and Anna are so broke that they borrow money from a rich kid to pay for a dilapidated, beat down, hopeless home. Even though anyone would have given up on this home, the two had a vision, persevered, and ended up making it into something extraordinary. The two movies both share the them of money and how prominent it was in American Society in the 80s and today. I definitely agree that in some places, people are judged by the amount of money they have, and people with more money may act superior to ones with less. But in my school, I feel as though my peers don't judge one another by the amount of money they have and their social status in society, and I feel as though that's how it should be everywhere in the world. -Jillian Higbee
The movies "Pretty in Pink" and "The Money Pit" follow the themes of love and money. "Pretty in Pink" shows more of a segregation between socio economic classes than "The Money Pit." Andie is a poor girl who falls in love with Blane, a guy from the upper class. Their relationship is looked down upon and made fun of because they are from to totally different classes. Just like "Pretty in Pink", "The Money Pit" money is also the theme. Walter and Anna have to move out of Anna's ex-husbands apartment, so they by a house for themselves. Walter and Anna struggle with the renovations of the house but still don't give up. They fight and bicker about money that eventually takes over their whole relationship. The biggest similarity between these two movies would be that money 'seems to be everything' there are more important things in life, which in this case, would be love.
ReplyDeleteThe world today still 'revolves around money'. If you don't have the biggest most popular brands then your not cool. If you don't dress nice or live in the nicest house you don't fit in. There are cliques and there will always be cliques because of your economic state. Oakcrest defiantly has cliques. You have your popular people who basically get anything they ask for then you have everyone else. The wealthy will stick with the wealthy and the poor will stick with the poor. And no matter how much people try to change it will always be the same. I don't mean to sound so negative but it's true even though some of us don't want to admit it.
"The Money Pit" and "Pretty in Pink" are very similar in that they both encompass the idea that money plays a big role in ones lives. It's evident that money can either make or break a relationship and both movies make that statement known. In "Pretty in Pink," there was a huge social divide and that ultimately made it difficult with both social classes to ever come together. As for "The Money Pit," it showed that the lack of money poses great threat not only financially but also emotionally. The couple underwent some serious relationship issues and, at that time, during the 80's, money was a huge issue in relationships. But as all romantic comedies end in, both couples in both films ended up reuniting just as any cliche romance movie would. Sure there are still cliques in highschool but the presence of cliques based on economic status is fairly slim. Cliques are merely based on personality now a days but even here I don't see significant cliques that refuse to associate themselves with other people because they think they're above them and all.
ReplyDeleteMoney controls people. The two movies, The Money Pit and Pretty in Pink are two prime examples of why money controls people. In The Money Pit, the couple is financially struggling trying to get their home fixed. The couple are so involved in the home that they forgot they had each other. They fought to the point where they practically break up. In the end after the whole disaster of the home, they got back together. The newly finished house is sorta like a symbol of the relationship. In Pretty in Pink, two love birds fall in love but one major problem affected them. Money status. She didn't feel as if she is right for him because she wasn't at the same level of class as her love one. In the end, they both didn't care how much money they had.
ReplyDeleteThe movies are similar to each other loosely. I like Pretty in Pink, but Money Pit was kind of depressing. In Money Pit, they get this seemingly amazing house, its huge and beautiful, but it all falls apart, and they just lose money. I didn't think it was funny at all it, I was stressed out for them! They break up because of this stupid house too. In Pretty in Pink, it just makes sense. Teenagers are under a lot of pressure from their friends so it makes sense that although they like each other things would be rocky. I liked that he broke the social barriers for her, when she didn't. The only thing I really saw in common between the two is that money is part of the plot
ReplyDeleteIn both film, money has a huge impact on the relationships of the main characters. In Pretty and Pink, the relationship between the two young teens is seen as unfit because of the huge difference in social class. The couple is shamed for the idea that the young girl is poor. It reflects the financial struggles of the 80's and the stereotypes in that era. Likewise, in The Money Pit, the struggle for money causes the couple too much stress. They get to the point where they split up. This demonstrates the true financial struggles, things were way undervalued and had a lot of work needed. It also shows the toll financial stress takes on relationships. When lacking money, it seems that everything can fall apart.
ReplyDeleteIn our times, it doesn't seem that economic situations play a role in social status. Being that majority of people are "middle class" or lower, we're all in the same boat. There isn't much room for discrimination based off of income. We are free to build relationships with out being judged.
Hey I'm sorry I know it's super late but I wasn't here for the movie and I just watched it the other day when I gave you money pit back... I thought you might have wanted my wii game instead but I guess not haha
ReplyDeleteBut the two movies are actually really similar it's scary. What else is scary is how it's like Oakcrest like how we stay In our own cliques and do t really talk to other people unless there in our group. Both 80s film are like this but the two groups are rich/poor and these two groups don't intermix. It took the wife so long to finally marry the man of her dreams In money pit even though there life styles are poor and rich. This I how log was in the 80s though the poor didn't mess with the rich and vise versa. In today's society I think we have over come this problem and have great diversity in what friends we have.