Dirty Dancing 30th anniversary - question

[SKL]

I never watched it either.

 

My mom saw it and gave a very negative review, which she doesn't usually do as she likes movies.  I don't remember the details, but it was about immorality rather than religion.  It just really offended her.  Since I have never had much time for movies, I never put that one at the top of my list.  Maybe I'll watch it in my retirement when I have little else to do.

[poppy]

Oh, that's interesting.

 

I guess the way I'd turn that around is to say - why should whiteness really be the deciding factor, rather than a different religion?  Or perhaps more importantly, a culture with elements, like a special diet, that tended to differentiate them or sometimes even make it difficult for some to do simple things like eat together?  Those things kept Jewish communities in many cultures quite separate from the other people who lived in them.

 

If we go back to the first half of the 20th century - it was just changing at the time the movie was set - you can see even among "white" people there were often clear cultural gradations and differentiations made.  Religion was one thing - my grandmother, for example, was Catholic, my grandfather from a Protestant background though he wasn't religious.  His dad, however, refused to come to the wedding - he actually belonged to an Orange Lodge.  Cultural elements for many were tied to this - a lot of Catholics here were Irish, and they were despised.

 

There's a book I'm fond of set in Ontario, and the narrator describes his town when he was a boy as a layer of ethnicity and religion.  The Metis (Catholic) at the bottom, then the French and Ukrainians (also Catholic).  Above that were the Irish (Catholic) and at the top the Scots (Presbyterians).  The Anglicans (English) thought they were at the top and more cultured, but the Presbyterians knew that they were more practical and also, more rich, and the Anglicans were just deluded.  So - yes, the brownest people were at the bottom, and the non-English speaking more generally, but there were all kinds of layers of differentiation there which many of us are unaware of today, even in towns like the one he was describing.

 

Every culture has lots of gradations.  You could say the same about wealthy people... Baby's family was one kind of wealthy, Emily Gilmore is another kind of  wealthy , different cultural norms and expectations in play (same actress in both roles). 

[Ellie]

I have only seen it once, as an older teen. What I remember:

I remember a lot of sexual content and a lot of lies. 

`Illegal Abortion and a doctor (don't remember if the doctor was the one who did it or helped her)

`A lot of Jewish references/characters. 

`I thought it was odd that people would go to a dance camp for That long!  A week or two, maybe but I could remember wrong, but I think there were supposed to be there all summer.

`Old people who are thieves.

 

It wasn't a dance camp. I'll give you the other stuff, although I didn't notice any Jewish references. I must be dense, lol.

 

[Guest]

We've changed so much regarding how we are entertained. Can you imagine going to a camp, having dances, watching a talent show as your vacation?? Ugh, no thanks. My grandparents loved Lawrence Welk--kill me, please!! That is not my idea of fun.

[MFG]

Hanging out in the Catskills with Johnny Castle? I think I could handle it. [emoji1]

[Bluegoat]

Every culture has lots of gradations.  You could say the same about wealthy people... Baby's family was one kind of wealthy, Emily Gilmore is another kind of  wealthy , different cultural norms and expectations in play (same actress in both roles). 

 

Wel, that was kind of what I was getting at - though not so much gradations as cultural divisions.  

 

There isn't really any intrinsic reason white or non-white has to be the only reason people would differentiate, even if that's what seems most visible to us.  A few generations ago a lot of divisions people thought were really fundamental were based on other things.

 

In a way, Jewishness has some features that seem more significant to me, since it has historically tended to have a way of life that meant there were barriers to operating as a totally integrated community with those who surrounded them.  People won't forget that those people, who perhaps look the same, can't eat dinner at your house, for example. (Some people have suggested that was part of the reason for such rules.)

[Bluegoat]

We've changed so much regarding how we are entertained. Can you imagine going to a camp, having dances, watching a talent show as your vacation?? Ugh, no thanks. My grandparents loved Lawrence Welk--kill me, please!! That is not my idea of fun.

 

That sounds like a lot of fun to me.  Especially the dancing.  We always dance at family parties.  And sometimes sing or even do karaoke.

 

What do people conventionally do on vacation now?  Camping I guess, or visiting things, but don't people dance?

[Guest]

Hanging out in the Catskills with Johnny Castle? I think I could handle it. [emoji1]

RIP Patrick Swayze :(

[milovany]

Thinking a little more about it, whether or not the Jewish aspect was recognizable might depend on where you're from. I doubt dh's family from the Tennessee mountains would have been able to see it...

 

This is completely me.  I had no idea until this thread that there were any religious aspects to this movie whatsoever.  I grew up in a small town in western Washington state.