For my movie analysis I chose the movie Dirty Dancing because it examines a passionate and evolving
relationship between the characters Baby and Johnny. The movie involves a
family that is vacationing at a summer country club. The daughter of the
family, Baby, is presented as a young innocent girl who is looking to explore
her sexuality and mature from the young girl that everyone sees her as, into a
young women that is respected among her family and peers. Johnny, the country
club’s dancing entertainment, is from a lower class area and is seen as a sex
figure among all the women at the country club. The movie emphasizes on the
relationship between Baby and her father as she is beginning to become
independent and find herself. It also focuses on the idea that humans are
sexual beings and they highlight on dancing as a way to express a sexual desire
that all young/developing individuals are craving to explore. Dirty Dancing takes the innocence out of
Baby by introducing her to the life of dance, and providing her with Johnny who
will in turn provide her with dance lessons and guide her through this new
journey of life that she is desperate to encompass.
As Baby
arrives to the country club with her family she is a young girl seeking to find
passion and excitement. One of the first nights out, after her parents go to
bed, Baby is introduced to the night life of the club and finds herself
enjoying the dancing that is going on around her. Dancing is seen as a foreign
aspect of life that she has not yet been able to explore. As she walks into this barn she is taken aback by the sexual
dancing that is going on around her. Couples are enjoying themselves as they
grab and feel every part of each others bodies. She watches as couples are
sweating and grinding on eachother to the beat of the music. Her eyes soon
capture the movement of Johnny as he takes his dancing partner Penny out on the
dance floor. From the moment she lays eyes on him she begins fantasizing about
this exotic atmosphere and wants desperately to be a part of this movement with
Johnny.
Johnny asks
what Baby is doing there, and then proceeds to blow her off. Even though Johnny
is showing Baby no affection she is still mesmerized by his appearance and
cannot help but desperately want his attention. He is an older man and she
craves his experienced touch. In the content analysis From Sex to Sexuality: Exposing the Heterosexual Script on Primetime
Network Television, Kim, et al. (2007) refers to eight complementary codes
reflecting four specific elements of the Heterosexual Script: the sexual double
standard, courtship strategies, attitudes toward commitment, and homophobia. In
this scene of Dirty Dancing, Johnny
encompasses the Masculine Courting Strategy. Kim, et al. (2007) describes this
script as, “Active and powerful ways in which men attract and/or court a female
partner. They encompass notions that men are protectors and providers in
romantic relationships, that they assert their power in the courting ritual by
buying gifts or showing off their physical strength, and that they are
responsible for making the first move in dating relationships”. Johnny acts as
a sexual being who feels powerful among the rest of the men and uses women as
his objects of desire. Because Johnny is so physically built and has all these
women praising him because he is so good at dancing, he comes off as tough and
presents masculinity in the sense that he is only out to have a good time with
women and isn’t looking for a commitment in any way. He then notices that Baby
is standing in the corner staring at the dancers intensely and brings her onto
the dance floor.
Johnny gets
enjoyment by watching Baby try to move her hips and in turn he grabs her and
watches her innocence slowly start to slip away. This scene shows that men are
sexual beings who want all kinds of women and find pleasure in dominating the
relationship. It presents women as innocent and awaiting a man’s gaze. Baby is
so intrigued by Johnny yet she stands in the corner and waits until he comes
and gets her to dance. She is seen as innocent, and immediately falls in love
with the way Johnny carries himself as soon as she sees him. It presents the
idea that women are awaiting a man’s affection, and men are allowed to pick and
choose what women they have whenever they please. Kim (2007) emphasizes on a
feminine script called the Good Girl
script, “Women as sexual gate-keepers, and accordingly, holds several
contradictory ideas in tension. It encompasses notions that women are passive
partners in sexual relationships who do not expect, demand, or prioritize their
own sexual pleasure, but who do partake in sexual activities to fulfill the
sexual needs of their male partners under acceptable conditions (i.e., to keep
a relationship)”. The interesting part about this scene is that the women are
actually testing the Good Girl script and Baby is deciding whether she wishes
to escape this Good Girl script and take on a new script where women are
pleased with being sexual beings. That is why I find this scene interesting
because it introduces Baby as having this Good Girl script, but then by the end
of the scene Baby is seen as taking on a more mature and unfamiliar sexuality
that involves wanting to be pleased, and wanting to engage in a sexual manor
with a man. So in this way Baby is actually contradicting typical heterosexual
scripts, yet she is still unsure and innocent when doing so.
Later on in
the movie the relationship between Baby and Johnny continues to evolve and the
previous heterosexual scripts begin to fade. Baby volunteered to help Johnny
with a dancing gig at a hotel in a few days, because Johnny’s partner last
minute needed to be a doctor and would be unable to accompany him. Johnny
teaches Baby everything he knows about dancing, and Baby’s innocence is
diminishing and she finds herself filled with excitement on every step of the
way. Johnny guides Baby’s movement with his hands, and is determined to teach
Baby to be an amazing dancer. He keeps calm the entire time and never tries to
get Baby in bed with him. He is extremely respectful and each day he finds
himself enjoying his time with Baby even more.
It is evident that Johnny is interested in Baby as well, but does not
show his emotions. One night after Baby’s parents had gone to bed, she goes
over to Johnny’s room for comfort. She is the one who finally presents her
feelings for Johnny and breaks down the unspoken barrier between them. This
contradicts the previous script because Baby is the one who craves a sexual
touch and wants to take their relationship to the next level. At the same time
she is communicating typical scripts of women which present that women are
emotional and hopelessly in love. Johnny holds his masculine script by not
showing much emotion but he then gives in and they both go in for the kiss.
The following
scene shows Johnny taking Baby’s shirt off and proceed to dance with her and
release the sexual tension that has built up. Johnny presents how men are
supposed to act by initiating sex and showering Baby with passion and desire.
In the scene you can tell that Baby craves his touch as well, and the sex is a
mutual decision initiated by Baby. It is evident that the two are enjoying this
moment together, and the love between them is powerful. This is an interesting
concept because in previous readings and typical heterosexual scripts it is
always the older man who initiates sex, where as in this scene it is the
innocent woman who desires this sexual drive which she has not yet experienced.
This scene inserts
scripts of virginity loss in which Kelly (2010) discusses in her content
analysis Virginity Loss Narratives in
‘‘Teen Drama’’ Television Programs. Kelly (2010) emphasizes on three
scripts of virginity loss to describe sexual scripts in TV dramas and how they
are typically represented. The Urgency
Script tends to relate to Baby and Johnny’s relationship the most. This
script implies that virginity loss is desired and a highly enjoyable activity
that increases an individual’s social status after sex. Baby is greatly
intrigued by her sexuality and in turn desires to share this moment with
Johnny. She doesn’t necessarily wish to increase her social status by having
sex, but she wants to release her innocence and become a part of the mature
club of adults. By wanting to be pleased by a man, and seeking sex, she is
escaping the typical ideal of women her age which is to be innocent and pure,
which is what her parents wish of her. This virginity loss scene shows that any
relationship can differ, and it is very powerful because it shows the opposite
of what a typical sexual script is supposed to look like, even though Johnny
has many stereotypical masculine traits (emotionless, physically strong,
dominant) he does not over power Baby sexually; she enforces it. This scene
also shows that virginity loss can be a mutual enjoyment and it presented when
two individuals are in love. There are positive consequences following their
sex and is evident that sex between them is passionate. It presents the idea
that in a relationship even though men seem to be emotionless and tough, they
can still find pleasure and love in a women.
By the end
of the movie Johnny is forced to leave the country club because he is accused
of stealing. Since he is not wealthy like the rest of the families, and because
it is evident that he is seeing Baby, he is no longer accepted among the
community. There is a final show at the end of the trip that the country club
puts on as a final goodbye. Johnny unexpectedly shows up after he is told to
never return and grabs Baby by the hand and pulls her on stage. He proceeds to
grab the microphone and let the entire audience of the country club know that
Baby has changed him, and shown him love in many ways. By doing this the movie
is showing that men can be emotional and fight for what they want. This scene is
promoting the idea that men are fearless and powerful when it comes to love and
they will never let anyone or anything stop them. This is evident when Johnny
speaks in front of everyone because everyone in the club, including Baby’s dad disapproves
of him because they think he is unsuccessful. By disregarding Baby’s dad’s
opinion and publicly sharing his emotions he is showing how men should act in a
relationship when they are in love. He is proving that love finds a way no
matter what; which is contradictory with how he acts previously in the movie.
This scene is showing that men can evolve and in turn crave the affection of a
women just as much as women do for men.
In the research done by Lippman,
Ward, & Seabrook (2014) the idea of romanticism arises. According to the
article Isn’t It Romantic? Differential
Associations Between Romantic Screen Media Genres and Romantic Beliefs by
Lippman, Ward, & Seabrook (2014), Romanticism is, “a term that refers to
the endorsement of romantic ideals”. The purpose of this research is to analyze
whether romanticism has positive or negative effects on individuals in
relationships, and also touches on single individuals as well. The study goes
into much larger detail on different genres of TV shows and movies but the important
result of this study found that there was a marginally significant positive
correlation between romantic movies and endorsement of romantic beliefs. This
is important to study because the effects of romantic beliefs on individuals
can be significant. This study also explains how it is shown in previous
studies that an increase in romantic beliefs can have a positive effect on
relationships, thus proving that individuals are more content and happy in the
state that they are in after containing these romantic beliefs. This relates to
Dirty Dancing, specifically the last
scene because this movie contains many signals of romantic beliefs. Since this
movie promotes these ideals, it is important to understand that it may have
positive effects on individuals and their personal enjoyment in their own
relationships. Since Johnny is seen at the end of the movie reaching out to
Baby and showing the entire community their love, he is promoting the idea that
true men do endorse these romantic beliefs; which is not a common trait found
in stereotypical masculine men. Because Johnny is a masculine man and is
willing to express his love, this movie promotes positive consequences which
might have a large positive effects on individuals in relationships.
In conclusion this film portrays the
journey of young and innocent love. Dirty
Dancing as a whole, expresses specific romantic beliefs (found on the
romantic belief scale) expressed in this research by Lippman, Ward, &
Seabrook (2014), such as Love Finds a Way and Love at First Sight. These
beliefs are specific forms of romantic beliefs that are found in romance films
and are shown to have effects in individuals (as presented in the previous
paragraph). This movie communicates many ways in which women and men should act
in a relationship but the underlying message of the movie tells the audience
that love will find a way, and women can fall in love at first sight. In the
final scene where Johnny expresses his love towards Baby, he is touching on the
romantic belief stated in the article that Love
Finds a Way. Even though he got fired from the club, and Baby’s dad does
not approve, he is showing that nothing else in the world matters, and that
love can make it through anything. In the first scene when Baby lays eyes on Johnny
it is shows that love at first sight exists and even though she didn’t know
anything about Johnny, she knew he was the one for her. These romantic beliefs
found in the movie allow the audience to assume how women and men are supposed
to act in relationships, specifically focusing on the idea that men will always
make love find a way, and women will fall in love at first sight.
Dirty Dancing communicates these ideals of relationships by
initially presenting women as innocent, and men as tough and dominant. It
enforces the idea that women are supposed to be innocent, but crave the touch
of a man, and men are supposed to be emotionless and want to only enjoy
themselves. As the movie unravels is becomes evident that in a relationship men
are supposed to hold their ground, while women are supposed to pursue the man
in order to get pleasure sexually; this is not a typical trait found among
women in film. By the end of the movie it becomes clear that once a man is in
relationship, he should present his love to the world and not be shy to let
everyone know. It promotes the idea that in the beginning of a relationship men
are supposed to be physically strong, emotionless, and present dominance by
teaching a woman all she needs to know about love. While women are supposed to be
intrigued by a man, crave his touch, fall in love immediately, and allow the
man to teach her everything she knows about love. Although by the end of a
relationship, it is shown as a sign of masculinity for a man to show his
emotions in front of an audience because it means he is fearless and mentally
strong. It also shows that women are supposed to stand and smile at men showing
their emotions and stay quiet, knowing that their love is powerful. Dirty Dancing emphasizes on the
different stages of a relationship, and the different ways men and women should
act through each stage. I believe this movie is powerful because it contradicts
as well as enforces stereotypical aspects of men and women in relationships in
order to acknowledge that love may vary depending on the individuals.
References:
Kelly, M. (2010). Virginity
loss narratives in "teen drama" television programs. Journal of
Sex Research, 47(5), 479-489.
Lippman, J. R., Ward, L. M., & Seabrook, R. C. (2014). Isn’t it romantic? Differential associations
between romantic screen media genres and romantic beliefs. Psychology of
Popular Media Culture, 3(3), 128-140. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000034
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