Baby’s Corner

I Had The Time Of My Life Realizing Dirty Dancing Is A Sci-Fi Movie

How does Johnny know this futuristic song at the final dance?

We’ve all probably seen Dirty Dancing (1987) a hundred times. We love the songs, humor and of course, the dancing. So, this is a Rom Com, right? A Drama? Even a borderline musical? After further analysis I see, they did us dirty by not telling us this was a Sci-Fi movie.

In the final scene (spoiler), there’s the dance. Johnny wants to do the final dance like he does every year, and when he walks in, he’s carrying a record he brought with him. That’s the big clue. Where did he get it and why?

Johnny and Baby do their dance. As this song goes on, Johnny sings the words to her. It’s a song no one has heard of — but him. He’s the only one in the room singing along to it. Baby doesn’t question it. She just goes with the flow. And Johnny punctuates the song & dance with an affirming, ‘And I owe it all to you.’

He did owe her a great thanks. She helped out Penny. She got her medical attention. She covered for the dancing while Penny was away. And then sticking up for Johnny when he was accused of theft.

This is where the Sci-Fi comes into play. Johnny was so moved by this, that he time travels to the future, and finds the perfect song by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes. He then goes back to 1963 and plays it at the dance. A grand romantic gesture.

Did he consult a record store employee in the future? Or did he commission the song to be made? Either scenario means he recruited help in the future to acquire the perfect song. Though we’re not sure which event in the future played out.

He could have walked into a ‘Sam Goody’ or ‘Media Play’ store in the future and expressed how this wonderful woman helped him with everything. Maybe the male employees couldn’t help, but a female employee could. She’d know about gratitude and emotions. Then she recommends this song.

The other scenario is also plausible in the Sci-Fi world. He goes to New York City, an easier drive from The Catskills, and goes to a record company. He then talks to a record executive and says the kind of song he needs to be recorded. Instead of payment, he would agree to take this record back in time, and make a hit.

None of us has picked up on this anachronism for years, until now — as you read this article. Johnny time travels to express his love, and expresses this love through music. A song no one has ever heard of until that very moment, but instantly goes into a wild dancing fervor for. Our hats go off to screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein for pulling off this movie magic.

This becomes the Chicken vs The Egg. Was this a story about the summer of 1963 and a new song for the final dance? Or was this a backstory of a time traveler bringing music back from the future? Think about this the next time you watch this beloved classic.