I loved this article - since I love this movie! Now I must rewatch! I even have a piece of art hanging above my writing desk with a picture of a watermelon and the words "I carried a watermelon" written below it 😂
I was working at a ten-bed, co-ed, juvenile detention centre back in the '80s and '90s. We had a constantly changing population of kids coming in and out of our facility, and "Dirty Dancing" was one of their favourite films to rent from the local video store, along with "Grease", "Rocky", "The Warriors", and a bunch of others.
Like you, I first saw it on video about a year after it was released and identified a lot with Baby, even as a guy. I was about 17 and while I still think Jennifer Grey is gorgeous, I admired her idealism and the way she stood up for Johnny against all the misjudgement he received from others. Seeing Baby triumph over injustice and blossom into a young woman was appealing even to me as a guy, partly because it is so well-written, and directed with so much heart and emotion. The choreography is another major element to its success, and of course, the soundtrack is perfect. I was very fortunate to see the live stage version, "Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage", which opened in Sydney in 2004, when I was an usher at the theatre. The audience reaction was ecstatic every night. The screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein also wrote the stage version, and she was there for the first show! You could tell she was the real Baby.
I think it's one of the few movies from my youth that really holds up well. Lord Patrick of Swayze is very much missed.
Also, I wasn't aware that grown men over 40 who had never seen Roadhouse was a real thing. Amazing. Has he watched it yet?
I loved this article - since I love this movie! Now I must rewatch! I even have a piece of art hanging above my writing desk with a picture of a watermelon and the words "I carried a watermelon" written below it 😂
Kudos to you for getting him (finally!) to watch Dirty Dancing! 👏💙
I was working at a ten-bed, co-ed, juvenile detention centre back in the '80s and '90s. We had a constantly changing population of kids coming in and out of our facility, and "Dirty Dancing" was one of their favourite films to rent from the local video store, along with "Grease", "Rocky", "The Warriors", and a bunch of others.
Like you, I first saw it on video about a year after it was released and identified a lot with Baby, even as a guy. I was about 17 and while I still think Jennifer Grey is gorgeous, I admired her idealism and the way she stood up for Johnny against all the misjudgement he received from others. Seeing Baby triumph over injustice and blossom into a young woman was appealing even to me as a guy, partly because it is so well-written, and directed with so much heart and emotion. The choreography is another major element to its success, and of course, the soundtrack is perfect. I was very fortunate to see the live stage version, "Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage", which opened in Sydney in 2004, when I was an usher at the theatre. The audience reaction was ecstatic every night. The screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein also wrote the stage version, and she was there for the first show! You could tell she was the real Baby.