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The biggest differences between Dirty Dancing and Saturday Night Fever were the actor's chemistry and the dancing.
Patrick Swazey was a warm, emotional, very masculine person, and he radiated that magnetism. Women loved him, but so did men. John Travolta lacks all that, and while he's a pretty good dancer, he was never as good as Swazey.
The dancing in Dirty Dancing wasn't as intricate or as professional as it was in Saturday Night Fever, but it wasn't supposed to be, and it was something any kid could see and think "I can do that."
The dancing in Saturday Night Fever was a dedicated display of professionals, or wanna-be professionals, at work, showing off their best stuff for a big payoff. It was the kind of dancing that shouted "You can't do this unless you work your butt off!"
So while it was fun to watch, the audience left one movie thinking any one of them could have been in Dirty Dancing, while the other movie left the audience feeling admiration for the dancers, but little hope they could duplicate what they saw onscreen themselves at the next prom.
That's the difference. The twists and turns and the plot holes in the romance in Dirty Dancing wasn't the real thing that made the movie such a hit; it was the relate-ability of the dancing and the romantic engagement of the primary actors, which sparkled like fireworks, that did it. No one cared about the plot holes. They just wanted to see Johnny and Baby doing their big number at the end of the movie.
Different movies, different reasons, and different intentions. The music in both appealed to the intended audience of the time, not the false time shown in the movie.
If the real music of the time was used, Dirty Dancing would have lost most of its audience appeal, and Mom and Dad wouldn't have gone to Dirty Dancing. It was a young person's movie.
Saturday Night Fever just took advantage of the disco phenomenon when it was at its height, and it had no big love story. It didn't need one to help make the movie work. It gave all the kids in the heartland a glimpse of what the big-city kids in New York were up to on the dance floor.
The biggest differences between Dirty Dancing and Saturday Night Fever were the actor's chemistry and the dancing.
Patrick Swazey was a warm, emotional, very masculine person, and he radiated that magnetism. Women loved him, but so did men. John Travolta lacks all that, and while he's a pretty good dancer, he was never as good as Swazey.
The dancing in Dirty Dancing wasn't as intricate or as professional as it was in Saturday Night Fever, but it wasn't supposed to be, and it was something any kid could see and think "I can do that."
The dancing in Saturday Night Fever was a dedicated display of professionals, or wanna-be professionals, at work, showing off their best stuff for a big payoff. It was the kind of dancing that shouted "You can't do this unless you work your butt off!"
So while it was fun to watch, the audience left one movie thinking any one of them could have been in Dirty Dancing, while the other movie left the audience feeling admiration for the dancers, but little hope they could duplicate what they saw onscreen themselves at the next prom.
That's the difference. The twists and turns and the plot holes in the romance in Dirty Dancing wasn't the real thing that made the movie such a hit; it was the relate-ability of the dancing and the romantic engagement of the primary actors, which sparkled like fireworks, that did it. No one cared about the plot holes. They just wanted to see Johnny and Baby doing their big number at the end of the movie.
Different movies, different reasons, and different intentions. The music in both appealed to the intended audience of the time, not the false time shown in the movie.
If the real music of the time was used, Dirty Dancing would have lost most of its audience appeal, and Mom and Dad wouldn't have gone to Dirty Dancing. It was a young person's movie.
Saturday Night Fever just took advantage of the disco phenomenon when it was at its height, and it had no big love story. It didn't need one to help make the movie work. It gave all the kids in the heartland a glimpse of what the big-city kids in New York were up to on the dance floor.
I actually think that that "love story" was pretty impactful and realistic, and that the characters really appreciated and "saw" the other person for who they were, in the way that people who love each other should. I didn't like the female character at all at the time (I was 13 or so), she seemed very "hard" and "mean." But as an adult, I appreciate it more, especially since it was based in the '70s when a lot of changes were happening, especially for women.
Aside from all of that, I don't purposefully watch SNF anymore. It's a little dark and depressing for me. I have a copy of DD and watch it often. It's one of my favorites.
The biggest differences between Dirty Dancing and Saturday Night Fever were the actor's chemistry and the dancing.
Patrick Swazey was a warm, emotional, very masculine person, and he radiated that magnetism. Women loved him, but so did men. John Travolta lacks all that, and while he's a pretty good dancer, he was never as good as Swazey.
The dancing in Dirty Dancing wasn't as intricate or as professional as it was in Saturday Night Fever, but it wasn't supposed to be, and it was something any kid could see and think "I can do that."
The dancing in Saturday Night Fever was a dedicated display of professionals, or wanna-be professionals, at work, showing off their best stuff for a big payoff. It was the kind of dancing that shouted "You can't do this unless you work your butt off!"
So while it was fun to watch, the audience left one movie thinking any one of them could have been in Dirty Dancing, while the other movie left the audience feeling admiration for the dancers, but little hope they could duplicate what they saw onscreen themselves at the next prom.
That's the difference. The twists and turns and the plot holes in the romance in Dirty Dancing wasn't the real thing that made the movie such a hit; it was the relate-ability of the dancing and the romantic engagement of the primary actors, which sparkled like fireworks, that did it. No one cared about the plot holes. They just wanted to see Johnny and Baby doing their big number at the end of the movie.
Different movies, different reasons, and different intentions. The music in both appealed to the intended audience of the time, not the false time shown in the movie.
If the real music of the time was used, Dirty Dancing would have lost most of its audience appeal, and Mom and Dad wouldn't have gone to Dirty Dancing. It was a young person's movie.
Saturday Night Fever just took advantage of the disco phenomenon when it was at its height, and it had no big love story. It didn't need one to help make the movie work. It gave all the kids in the heartland a glimpse of what the big-city kids in New York were up to on the dance floor.
Saturday Night Fever launched the Disco era, turned it into an international craze overnight.
Well I watched the movie again to see if I could see it differently, and there is one other thing, which I didn't get that I didn't pay as much attention too until now.
Why did Baby give Johnny an alibi saying that she slept with him so Johnny wouldn't get fired because they thought he stole someone's wallet?
The boss was going to fire Penny for sleeping with one of the workers they said if he were to find out, so why didn't she think that the boss would fire Johnny for sleeping with her then?
[quote=ironpony;52905294]Well I was discussing the movie with my friends who love the movie so much, and the biggest reason why the story didn't work well for me is how the Johnny character keeps being dumb, and painting himself into a corner.
SPOILERS
Like when Baby's dad asks all the guys in the group, who is responsible for getting the girl pregnant, and Johnny volunteered that he was,...
As I remember, the father asked, "Who is responsible for this girl?" and Johnny said he was. I didn't take the question as asking who impregnated her, but who was, say, her boyfriend or main person or whatever.
That said, I didn't see the movie when it came out, but on TV and was just amazed at what a fine dancer Swayze was. He looked much too old to be the character's age, but I loved watching him dance (and his partner, the young woman who had the abortion- what a dancer!). Also liked the dynamic of the father and Baby, which was rather poignant.
The music from that era, early 1960s, was excellent. Imagine, Solomon Burke singing during the big love scene!
I'm 33. My friends all love it, but I thought it was kind of average, at least on a first viewing.
I see that this thread is old so I may have already responded, but I would say it’s an ok movie and entertaining enough. The best thing about it is the soundtrack. My favorite dance movies are Salsa (1988) and The Forbidden Dance (1990), but they aren’t well known like Dirty Dancing. But I still watch and enjoy both those movies!
I actually think that that "love story" was pretty impactful and realistic, and that the characters really appreciated and "saw" the other person for who they were, in the way that people who love each other should. I didn't like the female character at all at the time (I was 13 or so), she seemed very "hard" and "mean." But as an adult, I appreciate it more, especially since it was based in the '70s when a lot of changes were happening, especially for women.
Aside from all of that, I don't purposefully watch SNF anymore. It's a little dark and depressing for me. I have a copy of DD and watch it often. It's one of my favorites.
I hadn't watched SNF for many years and when I did I really noticed the depth and the angst in the various storylines. You could view it as just a very shallow "disco/dance" movie but all the characters had major issues that they managed to work into the script pretty believably. And all the great music on top of that - fantastic! Those songs were on the charts for months...
But you're totally right that DD you can watch whenever - it's light and fun, but SNL is dark and depressing when you get past the music.
Oh okay. As for the characters not like Johnny because he is not Jewish, since this is never said in the movie, I don't think it was the filmmakars intention, or I think they would have said that being a reason otherwise.
Well I watched the movie again to see if I could see it differently, and there is one other thing, which I didn't get that I didn't pay as much attention too until now.
Why did Baby give Johnny an alibi saying that she slept with him so Johnny wouldn't get fired because they thought he stole someone's wallet?
The boss was going to fire Penny for sleeping with one of the workers they said if he were to find out, so why didn't she think that the boss would fire Johnny for sleeping with her then?
The boss was not going to fire her for that. He was going to fire her if she couldn't do her job. That is why Baby had to do her job pretending to be her while Penny got an abortion.
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