A-Z #61: Dirty Dancing

You can pick up hundreds of DVDs for a round-pound each - it doesn't matter. It's never about quantity, it's about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and understanding why I own the films ... or you can tell me why I should sell 'em...

#61 - Dirty Dancing 

Why did I buy it?

Pretry simple really - Sarah and I set ourself challenges. Sarah had to purchase a DVD for me and I for her, ot be viewed as double bill that evening. Sarah bought me Rocky whilst I bought her Dirty Dancing. Strange how both are hyper-masculine and hyper-feminine. Nevertheless, I had never seen Dirty Dancing until that evening and, upon watching it ... my, oh my ...

Why do I still own it?

Well, the vast majority of why I like this was discussed on 'The Simon and Jo Film Show' way back in June but to highlight the main points - its fair to say, its not your average 'chick-flick'. On the one side, yeah, its dancing and a girls 'awakening' but it shows this through the a rose-tinted 60's pop soundtrack. It shows these aspects by showing the upper-class 'visitors' and lower-class 'workers' and through "Baby" visiting the resort with her affluent family, whilst Swayze is the dancer - used and abused by women. The film even tackles abortion! Hardly your average 'chick-flick'.

What is great about this film, is the positivity and celebration of femininity - Jennifer Grey perfectly captures the naive innocence of a young woman whilst she also begins to enjoy and fight for her independence. The celebration as she achieves this is incredible - so it is strange to think that though she is having "the time of her life", she is ultimately beginning her life as a free and independent woman ...

On a sidenote, it is interesting to note that the director, Emile Ardolino, died young at the age of 50 ... shortly after directing Sister Act in 1993.

Maybe this film is actually lame and I should shift it ASAP... what do you think?