Reader Response

 

            After looking at reviews of Dirty Dancing, they can all be summarized in three words. “I Love It!”  The main reasons people love this movie is because of the soundtrack, dancing, famous lines, social issues, and the fact that a person can watch it over and over and the movie still has that “spark”.  People said that the storyline is pretty predictable but they said that doesn’t matter to them. They looked past the predictability and saw it as an amazing love story.  A lot of the responses explained that they could not pinpoint why they can watch the movie over and over.  They thought it had something to do with the chemistry between Johnny and Baby or the terrific choreography in the last scene.   

A quote of one of the reviews from “Rotten Tomatoes” reads “essential viewing, unfortunately- even for guys like me who don’t want to admit it.” I found this quote very interesting because this reviewer feels victimized as a man if he likes this movie.  This is where gender roles come into place when thinking about this issue.  As if men aren’t allowed to express their opinions or feelings, especially if they like something that is “girly.” This is society yet again playing a part in how we express ourselves as people.  It is more socially acceptable for a woman to like a love story than a man.  I think it is great that this man expressed his thoughts on the internet, where the whole word can see his review.  I feel as if we need more men who express their opinion regardless of how the stereotype is going to portray them.

            A quote from a review on “IMDb” is about Johnny Castle in the movie. “ First, Patrick Swayze plays a 20 year old, but he looks like he is 35. And the premise of the movie is him seducing some underage teenager, wooing her with his dance moves. Really Creepy.”  This person clearly is not a fan of Dirty Dancing.  First, the way Swayze looks is personal opinion.  Everyone has their own opinion of what the age 20 or 35 looks like.  The person who wrote this possibly thinks of this as a way of looking at girls as sex objects.  When Johnny first dances with Baby, he barely even talks to her.  He just dances with her and then leaves her in the middle of the dance floor.  Acting as if the teenage girl isn’t worth the time to have anything good to say. Male dominance can be seen in that seen where Johnny is dancing with Baby.  He can pull her onto the dance floor but if it was the other way around it wouldn’t be acceptable in society of gender roles. 

            A review from Amazon says, “It is awfully hard not to get swept up into the nostalgic heat and sentiment of this unabashedly, and well-done, teen romance.”  Reading this statement brings up the questions, “why?”  How is it that this film can have such a big impact on the viewer?  Women from every generation have at some point in their lives been shown a representation of a woman who is happily married and a man to take care of her.  I think this is what society is brainwashed to women what happiness is.  Seeing the love between Johnny and Baby gives women hope everywhere of this happening to them. They can live through Baby and hope one day a Johnny can come and sweep them off their feet.  I think this is something that will never change and is always going to be part of the description of a women’s perfect world.