Ten Reasons Why I Hated "Dirty Dancing"

An essayist named Sadiya Ansari has written an article that was published on the Chatelaine website and is titled The Problem With Johnny, And 9 Other Reasons I Hated Dirty Dancing.

Sadiya Ansari's avatar

Her article includes the following passages:

I’m probably the only person on earth who saw Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights without having seen the original — or caring to. I was convinced to give it a try this week, after being egged on by superfans waxing nostalgic about film’s 30th anniversary. It wasn’t too hard a sell — I love rom-coms and have devoted an embarrassing number of hours watching middling ones like Under the Tuscan Sun.

I went into it knowing only three things about Dirty Dancing: that “nobody puts baby in a corner,” that there was an abortion plotline, and that it featured some unwholesome dancing. Since then, I’ve learned it’s been lauded “a great, brave movie for women” for featuring a strong female lead, and is well-regarded enough in the American cultural canon that the internet lost its mind when ABC aired a poorly-done remake earlier this year. ...

Ladies, I hate to break it to the 14-year-old inside you whose heart beats only for Johnny Castle, but this movie is trash. Mostly because of Johnny, but not exclusively. Here are the 10 most urgent reasons why:

Frances’ nickname is … Baby
I find this utterly revolting, especially because the character is 17 years old, while her love interest was in his mid-20s (and Swayze was 34, and looked it, when he played the part).

Johnny only has three speeds
Indignant, mean and sexy dancer.

Baby is annoying
I get that she was a headstrong, idealistic young female character in an era where there were few to choose from. But let’s all just admit we wouldn’t want to ever hang out with her.

The rest of Ms. Ansari's gripes are labeled as follows:

Baby (still gross) and Johnny’s first dance is awful

The awful first dance

The abortion plot line is thin

Baby and Johnny’s love trajectory is non-existent

Why isn’t there more of Kelly Bishop?

Non-white characters basically never talk

That dramatic goodbye scene

‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner’

Before Ansari watched the movie, she had thought that the famous words "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" were spoken by Baby herself. The article concludes:

This was the ultimate disappointment for me — in a film celebrated for its strong female lead, Johnny steals the best moment — providing one last example of his awful tendency to strut crotch-first in a room, looking for women — any woman! — to save. While it’s not the first time a man has ruined a classic cultural work for me, my disdain for Johnny left me unable to enjoy any of the heart-stealing scenes (yes, even the lake lift) and most tragically, any of the actual dirty dancing.

You can read the entire rant there.