Amidst the dancing and romance, the surprise 1987 hit depicts the perils and restrictions of pre-Roe America. Its frankness made it an outlier then — but also now.
Funny that movie ad halfway down compare it to Saturday Night Fever, another surprisingly dark drama that only get remembered for dance scenes.
Me will also say that abortion storyline is absolutely strength of this movie. Other movies of this ilk feel like knockoffs, because try to recapture leads chemistry (and, frankly, no one going to top Swayze here), but not underpin frothy romance with serious storyline. Best stories are ones that have story on surface and more interesting story going underneath, and Dirty Dancing understand that.
Also, each time me watch this, me struck by how firmly grounded it is in pre-Beatles 60s... until moment when soundtrack very abruptly switches to 1987 and never look back. My just imagine Johnny Fever scratching needle across Dream Lover, snapping record in half, and putting on Me Know This Much Is True, because movie only one small step away from that.
Funny that movie ad halfway down compare it to Saturday Night Fever, another surprisingly dark drama that only get remembered for dance scenes.
Me will also say that abortion storyline is absolutely strength of this movie. Other movies of this ilk feel like knockoffs, because try to recapture leads chemistry (and, frankly, no one going to top Swayze here), but not underpin frothy romance with serious storyline. Best stories are ones that have story on surface and more interesting story going underneath, and Dirty Dancing understand that.
Also, each time me watch this, me struck by how firmly grounded it is in pre-Beatles 60s... until moment when soundtrack very abruptly switches to 1987 and never look back. My just imagine Johnny Fever scratching needle across Dream Lover, snapping record in half, and putting on Me Know This Much Is True, because movie only one small step away from that.