social class and dirty dancing

A detailed Summary of social class and dirty dancing

Gender And Sexuality Play A Key Part Within The Film Dirty Dancing. Discuss.

The film is set in the year of 1963, John F Kennedy was still president and the Vietnam War was not considered a threat, the Beatles had yet not reached America and the Freedom riders were on. In reality the well known and loved, cult girly film, and 'classic' romance was made in 1987. There have been many attempts throughout the film to represent the time in which it was set and yet there are clear indications that the film is of a more modern make. Essentially the film could be classed as both a dancing film and a romance in its genre. It aims to demythologise the myth of the American dream by portraying fundamental rifts within societies thinking. The idea of a relationship occurring between the workers (working class) and upper classes is not a new subject, yet it is obvious that many issues raised within the film, show a deep argument about moral ideas posed by sex.

The film opens with a stirring sound track with the montage of suggestive images in black and white gyrating across the screen. The viewer from the opening scenes maybe has an idea why the film is called dirty dancing. Right from the beginning it is clear that the maj

Baby is shown throughout the film as a virginal young girl dressed in the majority of scenes in white, baby blue or pink. Often covered up by a large pullover. She is also shown in two separate scenes curled up in a foetal position, asleep. As she progresses and gains maturity the character removes more clothes. Whilst dressing for the dance she reveals her bra to Penny revealing trust and a friendship. Previously the only view of her bra was in the water when her wet top slides over her shoulder. She places the top back up to its position after seeming embarrassed slightly. It is only when she fully trusts Johnny that she allows her bra to be seen fully by him. The rest of the film has specific moments where confident women reveal their chest or bras. Many dancers have tight accentuating clothing. One particular dancer has her bar strap on show and swaps dancing partners frequently. A woman described as a "Bungalow bunny" because of her sexual freeness has an extremely revealing dress revealing nearly all of her chest. This expression denotes an idea of almost prostitution and whores. This is echoed in the dancer Penny. She is always seen wearing red and her room is covered in red drapes. Her illegal abortion also raises the moral question posed to both Baby and the audience on the idea of sexual expressiveness and promiscuity rather than monogamy. The sound track even includes the song "Will you love me tomorrow?" and "She's like the wind" both hinting at the idea of wanton activities. 'Robbie-the-creep' is a good example of this. The Jewish upper class visitors, namely Baby's family, dislike him because he sleeps around. . Lisa taunts Baby with the threat of "humping" the entire army. The waiters are told, behind closed doors, to show the daughters a good time and the entertainment staff are strictly warned that "nothing else" should happen. They are all examples of Sexual promiscuity being seen in a bad light throughout the film.

Baby is witness to both rigid dance moves of dances such as the m

Some common words found in the essay are:
America Freedom, Baby Penny, Dirty Dancing, Vietnam War, Dancing Discuss, throughout film, dirty dancing, John Kennedy, rest film, baby audience, raised film, sound track,

Approximate Word count = 1374
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies