Dirty Dancing (1987, rated PG-13, 100 minutes) invites you to go deeper than the “ugly duckling/Prince Charming/red hot final dance” story—the powerful elements of the film are Baby’s naiveté, and her ingenuous embrace of the very hot Johnny, and her eager awareness of her new desires…
You can say “dirty dancing” in a nice way…and the dancing is great! Johnny (Patrick Swayze) flamboyantly teaches Baby (Jennifer Grey) how to dance, and there are throbbing dance scenes throughout the movie.
But the main plot line is this: Baby’s hormones are ready to pop.
Alone with Johnny, in the prelude to intimacy scene, Baby suddenly opens up: “I’m scared of everything…I’m scared of who I am, and most of all I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you.”
That’s a heartbeat. You felt it, too.
Request this movie on BLU-RAY through the Minuteman Library Network
Request the DVD through the Minuteman Library Network
Listen to the soundtrack through Hoopla
Read Out of the Corner: a Memoir by Jennifer Gray in print or as an ebook, or listen to it on audiobook
Read The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Nieme or listen to the audiobook
