Webchat with Hadley Freeman, Tuesday 26th May, 9-10pm

[SandyMumsnet]

We're delighted to announce that Guardian columnist and author Hadley Freeman is joining us for a webchat this Tuesday 26th May from 9-10pm.

Hadley will be chatting about her new book, Life Moves Pretty Fast, a love letter to the American films of the 1980s. In the book, Hadley discusses how the 80s flicks once seen as “junk” - Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller, When Harry Met Sally – were a formative influence on her ideas and way of thinking, and explores the life lessons that can be learned from them.
Join us on Tuesday evening at for the webchat, or post your early-bird question now!

Once you've marked the date in your diary or posted your question on the thread take a look at Mumsnet Films. You'll find threads on all the best of the 80s movies so you can jog your memory, or feel free to start one of your own.

Is there room in this conversation for Weird Science? My then boyfriend was obsessed with this film and its star Kelly le Brock.

I think it's very much second tier, possibly third tier.

StupidBloodyKindle I direct you to some perfect dialogue from Cheers:

Diane: 'You know Sam, just because a man and a woman find themselves alone together, it doesn't mean they have to have sex'.

Sam: 'But sweetheart, we're good looking!'

In a nutshell :)

Hadley, how are you so awesome?x

Hadley you've pointed out that 80s films have a much more enlightened attitude to abortion than current Hollywood productions, but are there some films you simply can't watch because of the change in attitudes? I'm thinking of the obvious (rape and Sixteen Candles) but are there any others?

morris I grew up with Cheers. Thanks for making me smile this morning.

Hadley, adore you but NO amount of individuality warranted that prom dress!!! Pretty in pink, isn't she? Erm...no.

No real questiin here. Just pove your writing (and 80s movies) and cannot wait to read your book. Thanks for all your thought-provoking articles in the Guardian.

Ok, so this may sound as an excuse, but my spelling is better when I am not hurriedly typing on a phone on a train in a foreign country.

I am totally your demographic -looking forward to reading your book! My question: what is your favourite 80's movie soundtrack?

Hadley, from some heavy hints dropped in your columns recently, I surmise that you are up-duffed. Will you be joining us on Mumsnet for baby tips when it arrives?

PS I would ask you a question about 80s films, but the 80s were a bit of a lost decade for me and I didn't watch (m)any films.

Love your writings on fashiony stuff and womeny stuff Hadley. Will you admit to frequenting the S&B board here? Your debunking of the must-have and championing of the Breton makes me feel like you're a regular.

Hi Hadley, loved your recent piece on Judy Blume (and love your writing generally). What's you're favourite Blume book and why?

Hi Hadley, I'm a big ran of yours, and I especially admire the way you combine intelligent and insightful commentary with humour (and the way you use humour to deflate btl trolls).

Recently I read an article of yours on racism in 80s films, pointing out how much passed under the radar that we now look at in horror. I was wondering whether you had some analogous thoughts about sexism in films. In particular, are there any 80s films you look at now and think "that's really unacceptable"? And would it be a fair comment to say that while Hollywood is possibly a less overtly racist place than it was 30 years ago, in terms of sexism it has stayed still or even possibly gone backwards?

Really looking forward to reading your book! I'm 38 so grew up with John Hughes films. Was always baffled at how the 'poor kids' from the wrong side of the tracks could still afford cars!

I really loved your recent piece on Judy Blume and it brought back so many happy memories. I wonder if the books are still relevant for young girls today or do they seem dated now?

Now, can we all agree that Andie's dress in Pretty in pink was a monstosity?!

Hadley, I'm also an American long term living in the UK, and I've been teaching a class on adolescence. I'm really excited to read you on John Hughes and John Cusack (I hope!) in your new book. Watching The Breakfast Club again I noticed "I don't like Mondays" is graffitied on the lockers at the beginning. Do you think there's a dark underside to John Hughes movies? And isn't it interesting that Heathers has so much more bite than Mean Girls when it comes to satire?

Hi there,
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the thread so far.
We are thrilled to give a very warm welcome to Hadley who is now here to answer all your questions. Please do keep them coming and Hadley will answer as many as she can.
Over to you Hadley.

Hi Mumsnetters, thank you so much for coming tonight! I apologise in advance for any typos - I'm eating my supper while I do this so there is a chance i will slosh some soup all over my keyboard. It wouldn't be the first time. Bring on the questions!
H

Yay!!! Evening!

@cornflakegirl

Hadley, I love your writing and read your columns every week. Despite being the same age, I feel that my film education was woefully lacking in comparison with yours. However, I am attempting to remedy this, and have just bought Steel Magnolias because of your column.

Please keep writing forever!

Ahh, that's so nice to hear, thank you. I feel pretty safe in predicting you will love Steel Magnolias - let me know how you get on with it

@LaundryFairy

Hi Hadley - I love your writing in the Guardian and I 'm looking forward to reading your book.

I was a teenager in the 80s and very influenced by the music from 80s films. I'd like to know how important you think those soundtracks were to the success of the films and what legacy have they given the film and music industries.

P.S. - whenever I here a present-day song that John Hughes might haved used (like Echosmith's 'Cool Kids') I wish that he was still around and making great films about being a teenager.

The soundtracks were and are definitely a big part of the movies' appeal. I can't even imagine Dirty Dancing, The Breakfast Club, Beverly Hills Cop, Working Girl, etc etc without the soundtracks. I wish movies today still invested so much in soundtracks.

But 80s films weren't just about the soundtracks, which I think some people believe. One of my favourite movies from the era is a little teen film called Lucas, starring Corey Haim, Charlie Sheen and Winona Ryder, all pretty much making their film debuts, and there's no soundtrack at all. Yet the film is completely magical.

@StupidBloodyKindle

Evening Hadley

Enjoy your articles. Sorry you didn't get the Oscar party gig this year

In no particular order

1. Princess, athlete, brain, basket case, criminal...which were you?

1. Did you really want a hyper-feminine nail-painting ghostbuster or were you just trolling?!

1. Ghostbusters aside (and I am trying to reserve judgement but omfg why are they doing it ) which 80s flick/teen movie would you like to see remade (or God forbid, 'reimagined') ?

Good luck with the book. I am probably your demographic

1. At school? Definitely a basket case. And now? Um, probably a basket case. If I could, I'd eat a sandwich made out of Cap'n Crunch for lunch every day.

1. I don't know what you mean by "a hyper-feminine nail-painting ghostbuster", but if you're referring to the upcoming all-female Ghostbusters remake, then yes, I am totally psyched about that. There would be no point in remaking Ghostbusters - a perfect film as it is - unless there was an interesting twist, and making the Ghostbusters women is a terrific twist. It will be directed by Paul Feig, who made Bridesmaids and The Heat, so you know it will be great.

1. I'd really rather they just left all the other 80s films alone and simply re-released the originals, to be honest. That's what everyone wants to see anyway, right?

Two questions (they are sort of linked, so hope you will answer both (!) 1 Where are you on all the Pitch Perfect movies?? (major Breakfast Club link there)

Where are you on the Greek System???

@southeastastra

in the 80s i watched all those films and wondered why my school life was nothing like those portrayed in these films. I did realise that I lived in Watford.

i was watching pretty in pink the other day and noticed that the working class kids had a separate recreation area than the richer kids and i read that rich kids wanted to go to the local 'public' schools so they could enjoy proms etc. is that true or bollocks?

My school life was nothing like those movies either, and I grew up in the US. But I think the trick to those movies is that even though they portray a life exotic to all of us who didn't go to a big suburban public (American for "state") school, the emotions are so universal we all related.

I don't think the working class kids have a separate area in that movie - it's just that they hang out in a different part of the yard (those American suburban schools are HUGE.) And that's always a key point, and a really interesting one, in John Hughes' teen films: that class determines which clique you hang out in. American movies really don't talk about class anymore, especially ones aimed at teens, but 80s movies did all the time.

Er, that sounds like bollocks to me. Private schools in America definitely had and have proms, too. Americans can be weird but they're not THAT weird.

I met my best friend in 1985, when we both started high school. We were geeky teens obsessed with all the American films. Did you ever read the magazine 'Young Americans', which was aimed directly at us (then), with lingering shots of all the Brat Pack boys? Pure teen filth! The pages from that covered our walls in the late 80s.

Thank you for creating the perfect Christmas present for my friend (that I hope she also gets me - we've done that before...). Good luck with the book!

(ps my username is for Ponyboy from The Outsiders book! I am totes 80s teen girl still in my heart!)

@choccyp1g

Hadley, I have enjoyed your writing for many years. Where does your name originate? I recently learned that Ernest Hemingway's first wife was named Hadley and wondered if you have a connection to her?

That's so nice of you, thank you. You're eagle eyed: I am named after Hadley Richardson Hemingway, but I have no connection to her. My parents just liked the sound of her. I wrote about this in the Guardian here: www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/10/hadley-freeman-richardson-ernest-hemingway