So this should settle with some finality the lingering question of whether or not I am really unhip: the other night I went to see Step Up, a movie that many teenage Yahoo users have declared the BEST MOVIE EVERRRRRRRR!!!!!! And I didn't go to this movie because someone coerced me. No, I saw this movie because I wanted to. You hear that? I wanted to.
I love dance movies and luckily I have two sisters who also love them, so we go to every one. Ok, we missed Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.
Why do I love the dance movie?
1. The plot. Boy dances. Girl dances. Boy and/or girl feels uncertain about life and self. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl dance. Boy and girl find new certainty. Boy disappoints girl (or vice versa). Boy and girl no longer dance. Uncertainty returns. Boy dances, girl dances--alone (but what about the dance, all the steps they were learning together?). Camera moves from girl dancing, to boy dancing, to some climatic plot device, the camera moves faster, the music crescendos. Boy and girl realize they need each other. They dance. There is joy.
2. At the end of dance movies, people in the theater dance. They dance badly. And no one cares.
3. The one thing that I really wish I could do but cannot is dance. In my dreams, I am a tap dancer, break dancer, ballerina, fly girl. It all sounds good to me.
4. Because I watched Breakin' too many times when I was a kid. I think this is where it all started. We watched it all night once at a slumber party, so many times that by the morning I had every line memorized. I can still remember the pivotal scene Kelly and Ozone on the beach. The drama! (I never did see, however, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo)
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9 comments:
I think is indicative of the difference in our ages: for me it was Fame, Flashdance, Footloose. The "F" dance movies. I never saw "Breakin" and frankly I didn't like "Dirty Dancing." But I do love a good dance movie, especially if it involves a person from a lower class moving up. My favorite (though there wasn't enough dancing in the movie): Billy Elliot.
don't they always involve a person from the lower class moving up?
loved Billy Elliot, but I think it transcends the genre.
Proof that "Dirty Dancing" really resonated with those of the Three Tarts generation: in a catalog, I saw a onsie outfit (for an infant) proclaiming "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." Brilliant. I'd buy it if I had a kid.
Did you watch the tv show "So You Think You Can Dance?", then?
I must allign myself with the older generation and the three Fs--those were the dance movies of my day. My teenage self loved Fame for the music, Flashdance for Jennifer Beals' body, Footloose for its stance against authority.
Here is my review of Step Up, which I enjoyed immensely with my daughter. I thought the former model/lead dancer was hot, also:
Step Up: Dance movie, plus teenage girl company for watching it, equals viewing pleasure! I'm sure there are some sourpusses around who would dispute this math, and, really, go for it. You won't ruin my good time
You've been served, Unhip...
served? what? I have no idea what you're talking about Sleepy-E.
and yes, Sarah I did watch "So You Think You Can Dance?"--although not much of it because I was never home. but I love it--more than American Idol, I think.
Sorry, it's you GOT served...
Oh, assertively, please blog again!
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