When I think of great cinematic fathers, I think of Harry Dean Stanton as Jack Walsh in Pretty in Pink. Sure, he’s a bit of a mess financially and emotionally, and his daughter Andie (Molly Ringwald, in her best role—I said what I said) is single-handedly keeping their household going with her record shop salary while also maintaining her perfect GPA, fighting off classist mean girls and falling in first love. But in the hands of an actor as grounded and poetic as Stanton, Jack transcends Cinematic Dad Tropes, both positive and negative, to become one of the realest, most complex—and quite frankly, heartbreaking—characters to ever grace the teen film silver screen. MEG
Few frames get me misty faster than the one of Harry Dean Stanton in Pretty in Pink, sheepishly presenting a thrifted prom dress to his seamstress daughter Andie just before they have the kind of cataclysmic, cleansing fight that defines a relationship for decades to come. As an emotionally immobilized ne’er-do-well, Jack can’t hold down a job or even remember whether Andie likes eggs or not—but eventually, his defenses crumble, along with Stanton’s heart-worn, hound-dog face. Watching Jack weep in Andie’s arms as they both finally acknowledge just how devastated they are after being abandoned by Andie’s mother is one of the most honest moments of mutual understanding between parent and child in any movie. We all know how profoundly our fathers can fuck up and fail us, but sometimes, they also surprise us, and ask what size shoes we need to match our handmade prom dress. KH
