No-one can forget the last scene where Johnny Castle grabs Frances “Baby” Houseman for the last dance of the summer, where we see them dance the night away to ‘I’ve Had the Time of My Life’. As a self-professed romantic film connoisseur, this is one of the best film scenes of all time. It is a scene that especially brings me joy. Nevertheless, Dirty Dancing is clearly not only dear to me, as you can see looking back on its legacy as champion of the romantic film genre.
Dirty Dancing was actually a low-budget film but it appeared to capture the hearts of women across America, catapulting the film to heights of success unforeseen by the writer, Eleanor Bergstein. With Bergstein at the helm of the story, she made sure this story was written with women at the forefront. From the emotions, touches to the glances and the highly significant abortion story-line, the female gaze was present in every scene. Although it is classed as a romantic drama, we see Baby gain her confidence through this summer of her life. Through this all, she explores who she is outside of her familiar surroundings.
The film is set in the summer, in the words of Baby, ‘before Kennedy was killed’, 1963. However, the distinct features of the 1980s can’t help but ooze throughout the film. The soundtrack, most especially the famous last song and even fashion could actually still place it in the ‘80s. It speaks to the timeless quality of Dirty Dancing that brings people back to it time and time again.
Like all films I hold close to my heart, I take special care to re-watch Dirty Dancing. I don’t just re-watch Dirty Dancing frivolously and constantly like other favourites. I carefully select when to watch so in a way, it will feel like the way I felt when I watched it for the first time. I can remember the first time I tried to watch Dirty Dancing was at my aunt’s house. I was about 10 or 11, I took my older cousin’s DVD and put it in to watch in the living room like a fool. It got to the scene where Baby first witnesses the ‘dirty dancing’ and meets Johnny. Cue Somali mum dramatics, as I hear my aunt shouting to us to take that nastiness off, I was cracking up and had to take it off immediately. Fast-forward a couple of years to teen me watching it finally, in the comfort of my own room on my laptop, I was captivated right from the start! As I grew up loving romantic films in all its glorious forms, Dirty Dancing reigned supreme for me. I savoured every moment of emotion, from the moment Baby is enamoured with the secret camp dance party to the last scene of the Johnny and Baby’s dance. With every viewing and re-watch, I find something new in each scene that replenishes my love for this film. I still get excited as I hear the stripped down melody of the John Morris Orchestra’s rendition of ‘I’ve had the Time of My Life’ tinkling when Baby first arrives at and explores the camp.
This time around, I was drawn to the subtleties and the little things. I loved every time Patrick Swayze’s Texan drawl peeked through, especially as he is introduced to Baby. I laugh as I watched the transformation of Baby’s dancing in the practice montage on those camp steps.
I know it is cliche to present the location of a film or TV series as its own character, but it is especially true of Dirty Dancing. You can see how the director, Emile Ardolino and the cinematographer, Jeffrey Jur, collaborated to utilise the luscious green surroundings of North Carolina and Virginia to accentuate each scene between the actors. For me, every scene in these settings became a cinematic moment I had to mentally save, even small moments you’d usually miss. I relish the gorgeous scene where Johnny and Baby are practicing for their upcoming performance in the midst of pouring rain outside their cabin as Johnny grows frustrated and leads to the beautifully shot scene of them practicing the famous lift in the water. That scene captures my heart especially. There’s something ethereal about the vast green from the trees amidst the emptiness of the water, with no-one but Baby and Johnny. I have recently discovered the concept of mindfulness and watching these scenes again, I couldn’t stop thinking about being able to surrender your senses to nature. To breathe in the scent of the trees after the rain; to feel the water on every part of your body; to feel the grass between your toes and to hear no-one but the natural sounds of the forest. For me, the settings and how the director and oft-forgotten cinematographer is able to intertwine it around the emotions of the characters is what makes the film.
The premise of Dirty Dancing where rich girl meets poor boy could have easily slid into a condescending tale of the rich girl pulling up the poor boy from his woeful life into her world. People aren’t just blank slates, we have identities ascribed to us as soon as we’re born and we’re treated as such. The relationship between Baby and Johnny called to attention to significance of class in our lives and how it plays out in interactions between people. Baby aspires to study the economics of underdeveloped nations and join the peace corps and as a middle-class person, that can be taken with a grain of salt. Their class differences are most stark in the moment when Baby hides her and Johnny from her father. Class is not shied away from as Johnny confronts Baby about hiding. In turn, Baby looks inward about her intentions, as she calls out her father, who she looked up to, and perhaps herself for his treatment of Johnny and his friends, in one of the most poignant scenes. This film is about two people, one who grew up in a sheltered and middle class life and one who has had to work for everything in his life, encountering each other. In encountering each other, as cliche as it sounds, they both learn lessons.
One of these lessons was vulnerability. In being around Baby, Johnny sheds his gruff and tough layer he puts up around her. We see him become more of the tender and caring character we see earlier as he helps his friend and dance partner, Penny through her horrific abortion experiences. Through the act of dancing, they gave each other space to be vulnerable. The tenderness of Johnny and Baby was most especially felt when Baby was able to lose herself in her dancing. To have someone you don’t know that well touching and holding you closely, it’s a matter of building trust. It reminds me of an especially fitting quote said none other than by Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing 2 (yes, I watched the sequel, yes we exist!): ‘It’s scary as hell for a person to see that part of you’.
Dirty Dancing manages to pull us in year after year, women of all ages. This isn’t to say it’s not without its faults, this is my appreciation of a classic. This is a quintessential summer romance we love to watch repeatedly, which I hope to enjoy this summer in an outdoor cinema experience.
