Nobody puts Baby, or ‘Dirty Dancing’, in a corner
There’s nothing like the imminent arrival of a remake to remind you just how much you appreciate the original property. Case in point…
There’s nothing like the imminent arrival of a remake to remind you just how much you appreciate the original property. Case in point: ABC’s musical event that is Dirty Dancing (airing Wednesday, May 24 at 8 p.m. EST).
Will this be the trainwreck that die-hard fans feared? If you listen to the critical backlash, then yes. Yes, it will. Am I surprised? Of course not. Sure, I had a sliver of hope that maybe it would be a fun way to spend an evening. A cast featuring Abigail Breslin, Bruce Greenwood, Debra Messing and Katey Sagal only supported such hope.
That said, nothing — and I mean nothing — was going to undermine my adoration of the 1987 original. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey were everything to preteen me. I went through two VHS copies before eventually buying the DVD. That film hit the slumber party circuit I frequented back in the day and all of us were in its thrall. We were Frances “Baby” Houseman and we longed for the day we had that connection with someone like Baby and Johnny Castle shared.
We also understood the growing pains that came with that love. The potential of disappointing our parents with our choices and experiencing the look of heartbreak on their faces. The same look Baby sees on her father’s face after the truth of her affair with Johnny, as well as other myriad truths which resulted from their union come to light. The feeling of isolation from keeping such a great secret from the ones we love; even if it’s to be with the one we love.
Then there’s the sheer euphoria of discovering yourself along the way. How meeting the right person at the right time — regardless of the type of relationship that is born from it — can give you the strength to forge a path for yourself that you might have otherwise ignored. This person who can open the world for you. And if you have the same influence on them? That bond between you can make the two of you feel invincible.
But the initial insecurity Baby feels when she’s steps out of her comfort zone and carries that watermelon to the Kellerman’s staff after-hours party is universal. Who never felt out of place at a school dance or a party, where it seemed like everyone had paired up with someone else but you? Of course as soon as the hot guy says something to you, the only thing you can think to say is “I carried a watermelon.” Mortification setting in as the words pour out of your mouth.
The coming together of Baby and Johnny, as inevitable as it seems considering I’m talking about a romantic drama here, is so satisfying to watch. (Mind out of the gutter, people.) As they spend more time together — whether in the early days of Baby inserting herself into the group of Johnny, Penny and Johnny’s cousin Billy where she learns Penny’s been knocked up by that rat bastard Robbie or later when Johnny’s teaching her the routine for the act at the Sheldrake — you witness the evolution of their relationship and how each is having an impact on the other.
And it’s that impact that ultimately unites the fractured Houseman family. Baby and sister Lisa start to repair the rift that occurred before the film’s start, while Baby and her father come to an understanding after Robbie shows his true colors to Dr. Houseman. Oh, and after Johnny returns to Kellerman’s after getting sacked to fight for the woman he loves by standing up for Baby and to the Housemans by giving us that most iconic of lines:
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
Yes! So. Many. Feels.
Which brings us, finally, to the dancing. Dancing as a form of expression is nothing new. It’s the whole of point of dancing. Whether it’s a ballet, a samba or you busting moves in your bedroom, it can act as a means for an emotional catharsis. It’s the joy we feel seeing Baby finally nail the lift with Johnny on the dance floor. Everything is working out. Everything is going to be OK.
I still dance it out when I just can’t keep the energy inside. I even occasionally dance like Baby when she’s practicing on her own.
So even if this new musical version of Dirty Dancing doesn’t hit that same sweet spot for me or other fans of the original, it might for a new generation. I always will be Team Swayze/Grey. That film is lightning in a bottle.
It also will be forever a reminder of the fabulous slumber parties my friends and I had where we talked, sang, danced, ate way too much and stayed up way past our bedtimes.
We had the time of our lives.
Joanne Thornborough is currently a designer at Gannett’s Asbury Park Design Studio. Find her at @cinelitchick on Twitter and Instagram.