Molly Ringwald Signing Report + Photos

Hello readers of Mike Gets Around… This is going to be a different kind of column, as there is no way to express my feelings in my usual format.  Most of you know I generally don’t say many negative things about celebrities and fandom, simply because I like to focus on the positive aspects and the fun one can have “in the field,” so to speak.  However, after venting to Erica for about an hour and a half about today’s subject,  Erica said, and I may be paraphrasing here, “You have to write something about the bad experiences, otherwise everyone will think that the only people who won’t sign an autograph are Marcia Cross and John Cho!”  (The latter of whom I have since gotten to sign my Star Trek poster…) Sigh… So please bear with me on this…

On Wednesday, none other than 1980’s icon Ms. Molly Ringwald was doing a book signing at Book Soup in West Hollywood for her… literary achievement  Getting The Pretty Back.  Now, I love Book Soup, if there is a signing there I am remotely interested in I usually go, because they are independent, let you bring other items in, and are simply bad ass.  Scotty called me earlier in the day and was like, “Molly Ringwald!  Molly Ringwald!”  I laughed and said I knew about it and was planning to go.  He was going to meet me up there.  I just had a hunch though that Ms. Ringwald might be a diva.  I heard reports from other signings that she wouldn’t meet people, only presigned books, and would not take photos.  However, I always like to think that rumors are rumors and I should see first hand.

Now I am not one to just jump into something without getting the facts, so I placed a call to Book Soup and talked to the manager.  I asked him about the signing and he said, “We have not heard about any restrictions with Molly, and usually people are really nice and will sign other things and take photos.”  I hung up the phone fairly confidant my Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles posters would be signed today, even if I had to buy a couple books.  No big deal, I’m happy to support a person and artist I like.  So, off I went.  I met up with Scotty and we got there around 7:09 p.m. (Still can’t break my usual column formatting… lol…) Molly was reading her book, and we were listening.

I was a tad shocked though.  The book seemed… well… juvenile… Molly was literally reading a section about the “Perfect chopped salad.”  This is what her book is about?  Eating a salad? Okay, whatever.  I then ran into a couple of guys I knew and they said that there was an announcement that there was to be no photos, no other items signed, and no talking about any of her 1980’s movies.  Okay… so during the Q and A I’m supposed to ask what kind of crouton she likes?  I mean, she was going on and on about food.  Although Molly did assure us that there was more to the book than food.  She also writes about cleaning out her closet…Pause… I hate cleaning my closet. Why the hell would I want to read a book about Molly Ringwald cleaning out hers!?  Sigh… but this is not a literary journal, so I will not harp on her prose.

During the Q and A someone had the audacity to ask a question about the Breakfast Club, which received a curt response before she moved on to a question about that infamous chopped salad.  Like she couldn’t answer ONE question about the movies that our generation grew up with?!  Sigh… The thing that really got me was that there were only 20 people there… Not exactly packing them in, Molly.  There were more people for Diablo Cody and Alexander Payne when I went to their book signings… And Molly’s an icon for God sakes…

This is all superfluous to me though… It was the way in which the signing itself took place that bothered me the most.  I would say about 5 people left without buying the book, so for arguments sake there were 18 people there (I’ll throw a few people your way Molly just to be fair).  These 18 people were instructed to put their cameras away because Molly did not want to be photographed.  Okay, okay… Fine.  I elected to watch the line and not join it. I just wanted to observe her interaction, because while I had given up on getting my posters done, I still wanted to see how others faired.  The first guy up wanted to talk to her about some of her films… I have never witnessed such rude behavior from an actor before, not since Francis Conroy has a celebrity been so… unpleasant.  She cut him off and handed him a book to basically shut him up and had her publicist whisk him away.  Wow, 18 people baby and you can’t make conversation for 2 minutes?

Then I saw what really was the straw that broke this camel’s back.  Instead of signing for the people in line, if you didn’t want your book personalized they would hand you a pre-signed copy of the book.  Like she couldn’t sign for the 18 people there?  It was just tacky, obnoxious, and cold.

What I would have gotten signed:

Now, before everyone leaves me comments, like, “Molly Ringwald doesn’t have to sign, there’s nothing saying she owes you an autograph!”  I get it!  Trust me.  Ringwald doesn’t owe me jack.  I may have bought the VHS copies of Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, then re-bought them on laserdisc, then again on DVD, and will buy them once they hit Blu-Ray. This was MY choice.  Molly Ringwald did not show up on my doorstep with a gun in her hand and force me to watch The Pick-Up Artist.  Although if she did, that means my other posters would have gotten signed.  Lol… She didn’t make me come to her book signing, she didn’t make me do anything, and just like any other celebrity, she owes me nothing.

However, when you are out pedaling a book about a freaking CHOPPED SALAD and doing a signing, I think you can give a little back to the fans that have kept you employed over the years.  I mean really, it’s appalling to me when someone takes advantage of fans to sell a book that is clearly crap and then says, “Oh don’t talk about my 80’s movies!”   Especially for someone that is really only known for three 80′s movies because the rest… let’s just say if they were on TV right now, I would opt for that gun.  What also unnerves me is that during their book signings, Michael Stipe (who is on the MGA logo), Brian Wilson, Quentin Tarantino, and more have gladly signed one other item and some even took photos with fans.  They are, for lack of a better term, still relevant while Molly Ringwald is sadly not.

Outside the venue I watched as a couple of guys tried to get her to sign a laserdisc. And again, I just wanted to observe so didn’t approach.  She used the “I have a baby” excuse and had her publicist brush them away.  When she drove off, I couldn’t help thinking about that old adage, “The only time you have to worry about autographs is when people stop asking.”  Well Molly, with only 20 people at your signing, you might want to start breaking out the cold sweats because after a while no one will give a shit.

I will now climb down off my soapbox and return you to your regularly scheduled Mike Gets Around.

Check out the full set of photos from the Molly Ringwald signing (if you want to call it that).