Movie: Dirty Dancing

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Spendy "Free Love"

Plot Overview

In 1963 Dr. Jake House­man (Jerry Orbach) is to enjoy a well-deserved three-week vacation with his wife and two daughters Lisa (Jane Bruckner) & younger Frances “Baby” House­man (Jennifer Grey) at the exclusive Keller­man's Mountain House, a Cat­skills resort. These blue­stocking babes, it is hoped, will meet some eligible college men, although the enter­tainment staff is dis­couraged from frater­nizing. Baby exploring the grounds stumbles upon a side venue (“Kids are doing it in the base­ments back home”) featuring dirty, i.e. suggestive, dancing. It's as author Benjamin Markovits describes, “we were all sexy people having a party, the kind of party you see in a movie [!], where debauchery is taking place, and the good times are rolling, and this is the place where every­body wants to be” (65). Surprisingly or not, in this any­thing-goes atmos­phere, Baby does a couple slinky steps there with hand­some enter­tain­ment head Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze.)

When Johnny's professional partner Penny Johnson (Cynthia Rhodes) falls pregnant—not by him—she can't miss an obligated performance on the only day the abortionist is available. Miss Goody Two-shoes Baby volunteers to let Johnny train her to take Penny's place. A lot of miscuing occurs. Anthro­polo­gist Desmond Morris describes the human interaction of “Intention Movements: … small, preparatory movements … act[ing] as clues, revealing what we intend to do” (173). He says dancing takes it to an extreme: “Nearly all human dancing is basically a long series of varying Intention Movements. To put it another way, dancing is locomotion that gets us nowhere. We take to the dance floor and we move, and we move, and we are still there when the music ends. We turn and we sway and we tilt, back and forth and round and round. Viewed objectively, the dancer is rather like a parrot in a small cage, bobbing and weaving on its perch but unable to fly away. With us the condition is voluntary. We find it comforting to perform and even comforting to watch. The rhythm of the alternating Intention Movements has become an end in itself” (176–7). Here it must get sorted out (“I guess we surprised everybody”) in the end.

Ideology

Romance is typically full of surprises, but here they get projected along the lines of (Prov. 30:18-19) “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.” Trying to track boy-girl relations is like following the course of an eagle floating on air currents, or a slithering serpent on a rock, or a ship tossed on the sea. It just doesn't follow the obvious.

“The way of an eagle in the air” is here represented in closeup of a 45 rpm record dropping down on top of the previous one on the turn­table. There's a change of music from what their parents were used to. Negro music has infil­trated the music scene of the youth.

“The way of a serpent upon a rock” is here represented by instructor & student balancing along a log across a creek. The former has to balance his teaching with his required distance from his pupil; the latter her respect for her dad with the attraction to her guy.

“The way of a ship in the midst of the sea” is here represented by Johnny's Chevy in a down­pour. He had locked his keys inside and had to break a window with a stanchion to get in with Baby. There will need to be a break­through for his relation­ship with her to progress.

Production Values

“” (1987) was directed by Emile Ardolino. It was written by Eleanor Berg­stein. It stars Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Jerry Orbach. It also features Kelly Bishop as Marjorie Houseman, Charles “Honi” Coles as Tito Suarez, “Cousin Brucie” Morrow as Magician and Wayne Knight as Stan. All their acting was exemplary. The screen couple was very convincing.

The film was certified PG–13. Older daughter Lisa does a home­spun hula routine with a lot of hip gyrations, but hers are sideways—traditionally acceptable—clean dancing as opposed to her sister's forward-and-back thrusts—tradition­ally unaccept­able—dirty dancing. At a raucous dance, their parents are waiting for a waltz to play before joining in. The waltz back when it was introduced was scandalous for its intimacy; it has since became de rigueur in American & European dance halls. The music in this flick is timeless sixties numbers. It is edited to the hilt. Runtime is 1 hour 40 minutes.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

Depicted is a full-service family getaway with lots of harmless activities the public is growing tired of. A sea change is taking place with the titular dirty dancing. They have clean dancing, dirty dancing, and dirty deeds, the last with consequences. A child of the fifties becomes a babe of the sixties with no regrets. Temptations abound, not only with intimate dancing on the floor but with abundance of privacy in the cabins. Parental guidance could be taxed.

Movie Ratings

Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.

Markovits, Benjamin. The Sidekick. © Benjamin Markovits, 2022. London: Faber & Faber Limited, 2022. Print.

Morris, Desmond. Manwatching. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1977. Print.