In the
article “”There are a lot of things about me that aren’t what you thought”: the
politics of Dirty Dancing”, Oliver Gruner talks about different points in the
movie Dirty Dancing. Gruner first states that that he will address
what he believes “to be a significant gap in historical film studies.” He says that there is a huge lack of
attention paid to Dirty Dancing’s “highly politicized narrative of the recent
American past.”
The writer
of Dirty Dancing, Eleanor Bergstein,
made her “first significant contribution to the feminist debate” in the making
of the movie Dirty Dancing. Eleanor made sure the film was set in a
certain time to address the key feminist issues in a historical context. This time was chosen to be the summer of 1963
which is seen to be an “innocent time”.
Bergstein explained that “this film couldn’t have been set a few months
earlier or later, because two months are the movie is over JFK is assassinated.
Then the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. And after that it’s all radical action.” Bergstein picked a very specific time in
history for this movie to be set in.
In the
movie, Baby portrays the life a woman in 1963.
Following her father’s beliefs and being told what to do was the life of
the average woman during this time the movie was set in. Throughout the movie, Baby starts to realize
the intense grip that the men have on her and other woman. Gruner explains an
example, when Baby sees the owner of Kellerman ordering his higher class
workers to wait on the daughters and then his lower class workers to keep their
hands off the daughters. This is one of
her first realizations of grip that is being held on women.
Gruner also
points out the stereotypes that Dirty
Dancing portrays. In the original draft,
Neil was serious and less condescending character. Bergstein changed Neil into
a “little boss man”. Robbie was also
changed into a “sneering and snobbish” college boy. Both of these characters were meant to be representations
of what Dr. Houseman’s generation was raising as their children.
Dirty Dancing incorporates the ideas of
feminism and female identity. The movie does
this by the music they choose. The songs
that were chosen were songs that let teenage women have a voice. Baby was a representation of women during
this period of time. Music was their escape
from the boundaries that were placed on the women because their family and
society. Another representation of women
was with Penny and the subplot of abortion.
Bergstein said that this was done to “show a generation of girls who
have grown up post-Roe what could
happen without legal safeguards.”
Berstein thought that adding this to the film would create a serious
political debate.
Gruner
discusses the final scene in Dirty
Dancing. That Baby finally stands up
to her father and breaks the limitations that have been set on her since
birth. She finally is independent and
creates her own beliefs. She doesn’t
follow the “good” middle class behavior of a woman. As Baby does this, one would think that she
wouldn’t be accepted back into her family but the movie says just the opposite. She is accepted back into her family and this
is one of the criticisms that is set upon Dirty
Dancing.
Yet another
criticism of Dirty Dancing was the
song “Have the Time of Your Life” that is played in the last scene. Critics see this is has a down play on the
seriousness political issues that were incorporated into the plot. Because of this last scene, women became emotionally
attached to the movie. Feeing the joy of
having “the time of your life” while watching Baby and Johnny, overlook the
seriousness of the issues in the plot. Critics
stated that, “Dirty Dancing failed to enter political debate to any significant
degree.”
Critics who
liked the movie thought the film was subversive. Overlooking the last scene in the movie,
viewers thought the women portrayed in this era of time were not depreciated. The film was subversive in the way that Penny
was not punished for getting pregnant, and also for not getting an abortion. Again it also challenged society in the way
that Baby didn’t open her father and all of the values that he shaped her to
follow.
In Gruner’s
conclusion, he discusses that Baby’s character challenges the relationship between
Dr. Houseman’s generation and the feminist movement. Gruner feels as if the political side of
Dirty Dancing is not talked about in the way that other movies made at this time
that had political issues, are talked about.
Gruner’s article can be paraphrased into “Baby, there is a lot more to Dirty Dancing than was initially thought.”
This article
talks about topics that we have discovered in our Women Studies class. The two main topics that I saw portrayed are
gender roles and male dominance. Gender
roles are found in each of the characters in Dirty Dancing. Having Baby
break out of these roles is where politics comes into play. Baby, her sister, and her mother are seen to
be under the dominant role of Mr. Houseman.
He gives these women their values and they answer to him. When Baby starts to realize this when
spending more time with Johnny, she becomes pessimistic to her father. This is showing how breaking out of your
gender role is frowned upon, especially in this time period before a wave of
the women’s movement. Thinking about
these different points that Gruner points out, it adds more critical thinking
that can be thought about while watching Dirty
Dancing. Some of the political
points are downplayed because of the love and romance between Johnny and
Baby. Looking beyond this perfect
romance, we can see the general roles and male dominance that is incorporated
into the plot. I agree with Gruner and
the points he made about the movie. Dirty Dancing is a film that is not recognized
for its political statements. People
like Gruner, who make them known to the public I am thankful for. Bergstein put effort into the plot to make it
cover issues that are very controversial, especially in 1963.
