This blog discusses the movie Dirty Dancing, which was released in 1987 and starred Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. The articles discuss:
* literary aspects, such as characterization, motivation, interactions;
* the music and dances;
* the production of the movie;
* critical reactions.
Penny loses style points with her dopey belt. With the dress's gingham fabric, the belt too should be made of fabric.
You can see for yourself in the below image that my harsh judgment is correct.
Penny wearing her gold belt with a gingham dress.
Gingham is a fabric pattern that evokes the concept of a plain woman living and working in a rural setting, whereas a gold belt evokes the concept of a glamorous woman luxuriating in an urban setting. Penny's dress and belt commit a conceptual clash.
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Unfortunately, Penny wears that same garish gold belt with her red leotard.
Penny wearing her gold belt with her leotard.
Again, this combination commits a conceptual clash. The leotard is made of stretch material that fits her body tightly, and so the belt does not serve a functional purpose. A belt's functional purpose is to tighten the clothing to the body, but a leotard already is tight to the body.
If Penny wants to highlight her narrow waist, then she should buy leotards that include a stripe for that purpose.
Leotard with a waist stripe
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Penny's compulsion to accessorize foolishly with this gold belt is a psychological means of compensating for her impoverished youth and for her feelings of social inadequacy. She was kicked out of her home by her mother at the age of 16, and she surely dropped out of high school.
In her mind, the gold belt projects an image of achievement, high social status and glamorous wealth.
If Penny had continued to live with her mother for a couple more years, then her mother surely would have had enough time to complete Penny's understanding and application of clothing style.
Thus, Penny's clashing gold belt symbolizes her inadequate upbringing.
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Penny's clashing gold belt gives the movie audience the same subliminal message of low-class culture that Johnny Castle's leather jacket does.
Johnny Castle wearing a leather jacket.
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The following images illustrate tasteful accessorizing with a gold belt. Of course, you will not see any gingham dresses or dance leotards.
Baby Houseman and Johnny Castle became sexual with each other during the night between Thursday and Friday. On Friday morning, Jake Houseman said that the family would leave the resort a day early, on Saturday, but then changed his mind because Lisa wanted to participate in the talent show on Sunday.
On Friday afternoon, it's raining, and so the Houseman family is sitting together in their cabin. Then Baby lies that she is going to the main building in order to play charades. In fact, she goes to Johnny's cabin and gets into bed with him.
Baby Houseman
Have you had many women? Johnny Castle
What? Baby Houseman
Have you had many women? Johnny Castle
Baby, come on. Baby Houseman
Tell me. I want to know.
Johnny Castle
No, no. Look, you gotta understand what it's like.
Before, you come from the streets, and suddenly you're up here, and then women are throwing themselves at you and they smell so good. They really take care of themselves. I never knew women could be like that.
They're so goddamn rich, you think they must know about everything. They're slipping their room keys in my hand two and three times a day -- different women -- so, here I think I'm scoring big, right?
You think, "They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't care about me, right?"
Baby Houseman
That's all right. I understand. You were just using them, that's all.
Johnny Castle
No, no, that's not it. That's the thing, Baby. You see, it wasn't like that. They were using me.
What's your real name, Baby?
Baby Houseman
Frances, for the first woman in the Cabinet.
Johnny Castle
Frances. That's a real grown-up name.
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Baby asks in terms of Johnny's having women. When Johnny becomes sexual with a woman, he possesses and controls her. From the woman's perspective, she is possessed and controlled by Johnny.
In particular, Baby feels possessed and controlled. A short time earlier, she lied to her family and left her family in order to go to Johnny's cabin in order to please him sexually. She enjoys pleasing him, giving him orgasms, even though she herself does not orgasm. He has her as his sexual servant.
As a young feminist in her first sexual relationship, Baby finds herself going along with the conventional understanding that she is being had -- being possessed and controlled -- by the man. The woman satisfies herself by sexually pleasing the man.
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Baby knows that she is merely one of many women who has been "had" by Johnny in such a relationship. Baby is trying to understand her new insight into this common sexual reality.
She does not ask him to specify the number of women. Rather, she asks him only whether his "had" women should be quantified as "many".
Of course, she already knows the answer, which is "very many". Her real reason for asking her question is to prompt him to talk to her about this sexual reality that she is trying to understand -- that many women are had by one man. Johnny does not answer her "many" question, but he does answer her real question by beginning to explain his own sexual reality of having many women.
Johnny begins by talking about women who are significantly older than Baby. These older women throw themselves at Johnny. They come to him and pester him to be sexual with them.
Although Baby is much younger, she essentially is behaving just like those older women -- but Johnny does not say that to Baby. Rather, Johnny suggests to her that she should stop thinking of herself as being a "baby". She is a grown-up woman with a grown-up name, and she behaves herself essentially just like all the very many, mostly older, women whom he has had.
During the movie Dirty Dancing, Johnny Castle's attitude toward Baby Houseman evolves from his sarcasm that she is a "Miss Fix-It" to his appreciation that she is a person who is "willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs her".
In this post here, I will analyze Johnny's initial, sarcastic put-down that she is a "Miss Fix-It". He gives her that nickname in the scene where Baby gives the abortion movie to Penny Johnson. Watch the below video beginning at 1:07.
Johnny Castle
Yeah it takes a real saint to ask Daddy.
Penny Johnson
Thanks, Baby, but I can't use it.
Johnny Castle
What? What's the matter with you? You should take the money. Billy Kostecki (Addressing Baby)
I can only get her an appointment for Thursday.
They do their act at the Sheldrake on Thursday night. If they cancel, they lose this season's salary and next year's gig.
Baby Houseman
What's the Sheldrake? Billy Kostecki
It's another hotel where they do their mambo act.
Baby Houseman
Can't someone else fill in?
Johnny Castle
No, Miss Fix-It. Somebody else can't fill in. ....
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There are two problems in arranging an abortion for Penny.
1) The abortion costs $250 that Penny does not have.
2) The abortion will conflict in time with the Sheldrake performance.
Baby has just fixed the first problem and now suggests a fix for the second problem.
Johnny is resentful because Baby has the resources, practicality and initiative to fix problems that he himself has not been able to fix.
Penny and Billy, however, immediately recognize Baby's practical fix, which is that someone else could fill in for Penny at the Sheldrake. Johnny is compelled to go along with Baby's proposed fix -- and furthermore to train Baby as Penny's substitute.
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Johnny's resentment about Baby's practicality began already earlier in the story. When Johnny, Baby and Billy are going to the kitchen to help Penny, Baby asks Billy a practical question: what is Johnny going to do about Penny's pregnancy?:
Baby Houseman
So, what's wrong? What's the matter with her?
Billy Kosetecki
She's knocked up, Baby. Johnny Castle
Billy!
Baby Houseman (Addressing Billy) What's he [Johnny] going to do about it?
Johnny Castle
What's he gonna do about it? Oh, it's mine, right? Right away you think it's mine.
Here Johnny is changing the subject. He has no idea of what he might do about Penny's pregnancy, so he changes the subject to blaming Baby for implying mistakenly that he caused the pregnancy.
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Baby is a practical person. When she sees a problem that she might be able to solve -- or at least help to solve -- she takes practical steps to do so. If she can get some money from her father, she does so. If she thinks someone else might fill in for Penny, she suggests the idea.
Baby intends to obtain a higher education to learn how to study big social problems and to develop and administer solutions.
Baby is following the example of her father, who obtained a higher education in medicine to become a doctor who provides practical help to people with health problems.
In contrast, Johnny is an entertainer. He does not aspire to solve significant problems of other people.
The Houseman family conformed to the social conventions that worked well during the 1950s and early 1960s. The men attended universities and the developed professional careers. The women married and managed households that raised children to follow those conventions. Such families prospered.
Other characters in the movie followed the same conventions, although sometimes less than perfectly. Neil Kellerman attended a School of Hotel Management and was trying to find a suitable marriage partner. Robbie Gould attended Yale Medical School and dumped a girlfriend who turned out to be not suitable as a marriage partner.
The movie's major characters who failed to follow the social conventions were Johnny Castle and Penny Johnson, who were struggling to make their livings as professional dancers. Neither of them had obtained a higher education as their basis for developing their careers. Neither of them -- while already in their mid-twenties -- were orienting themselves toward marriage and children.
Johnny and Penny are artists who are struggling professionally and personally. Their economic futures seem bleak. Johnny might have to go back to painting and plastering houses. Penny suffered a close call with an unmarried pregnancy. Johnny and Penny feel intellectually inadequate and lack social self-confidence
Johnny resented the success that the Houseman family enjoyed by conforming to the social conventions. The Housemans either obtained higher educations or devoted themselves to becoming supportive wives and mothers. The Housemans prospered by fixing problems.
Because Jake Houseman had become a doctor, he earned enough money to give $250 to his daughter for some unexplained reason. Because Baby was a trusted daughter of such a prosperous father, she could use his wealth as a resource to fix problems.
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As the story continues, Johnny does not decide that he should follow the Houseman family's example, but he does come to respect the family's capabilities and conduct.
On the other hand, the Houseman family -- especially Jake -- comes to respect the capabilities and conduct of the struggling artists -- Johnny and Penny.
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From the movie's beginning, Billy respects the Houseman family. Billy sees Max Kellerman praise and honor the family when the family arrives at the resort.
Billy never treats Baby disrespectfully -- as the artists Johnny and Penny treat her. Billy supports all of Baby's intentions, suggestions and efforts.
Billy is an intermediary between the story's conventional families and struggling artists. He is employed to help the resort's guest families and to help also the resort's artists. Billy too is a practical fixer of problems, and so he appreciates Baby's being a practical fixer of problems.
Although Baby Houseman was merely one of hundreds of guests at Kellerman's Mountain Home, Johnny Castle felt a special hostility toward her early in the story. Johnny's first interactions with Baby were the following.
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At the "Dirty Dancing" Party in the Bunkhouse
Johnny sees that Baby has entered the room with his cousin, Billy Kostecki.
Johnny Castle
Yo, cousin, what's she doing here?
Billy Kostecki
She came with me. She's with me.
Johnny knows who Baby is because she is the magician's stooge, and the magician is part of Johnny's Entertainment Staff. Furthermore, Johnny knows that Billy recruited Baby to be the magician's stooge.
Johnny is annoyed that Billy has brought Baby into the party, but Johnny does not make her leave. Johnny even dances with Baby for a while.
Not everyone at the party is an employee. Many of the people there are spouses, girlfriends, dates or merely acquaintances of employees.
Surely Johnny does not question the presence of every non-employee at the party. He does question Baby's presence, however, because there is something about Baby that Johnny does not like.
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At the Demonstration of Wigs
Penny Johnson is demonstrating wigs to Lisa and Baby Houseman and to some other female guests. Johnny walks up behind Penny and says:
Ladies, you look very lovely.
Baby and Lisa Houseman trying on wigs
The reason why Johnny has approached the wig demonstration is that Robbie Goldman has approached. Johnny wants to be ready to intervene if Robbie addresses or bothers Penny (who is pregnant from Robbie).
Although Johnny has addressed a group of women who include Baby, he might not even recognize Baby, because she is wearing a wig. Johnny is not addressing Baby personally in this interaction.
Johnny surely does recognize Lisa, however, because Johnny has been keeping his eyes on Robbie, and Robbie is often with Lisa.
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Going to Help Penny
Baby sees that Penny is crying in the kitchen, so Baby goes to inform Billy and Johnny. As Baby, Billy and Johnny are rushing to the kitchen, Johnny complains to Billy that Baby is coming along.
Johnny Castle
Why's she here?
Billy Kostecki
In case Neil comes back.
Again Johnny is annoyed that Billy has brought along Baby into a situation. Johnny had assumed that he and Billy alone would go to the kitchen and find Penny without Baby's help.
However, Billy told Baby to come along, telling her to distract Neil in case Neil came back to the kitchen. Because Billy's reason is good, Johnny reluctantly allows Baby to come along.
The conversation continues.
Baby Houseman
So, what's wrong? What's the matter with her?
Billy Kosetecki
She's knocked up, Baby. Johnny Castle
Billy!
Baby Houseman (Addressing Billy)
What's he gonna do about it?
Johnny Castle
What's he gonna do about it? Oh, it's mine, right? Right away you think it's mine.
Here Johnny is being unfairly angry at Baby. Her apparent assumption that Penny has become pregnant from Johnny is reasonable in the circumstances. Johnny could have simply ignored Baby's question or corrected her false assumption. However, he voices his hostility toward Baby.
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Discussing Penny's Pregnancy in the Bunkhouse
While Johnny, Penny, Billy and Baby are in the bunkhouse and discussing Penny's pregnancy, Johnny remains silent and does not even look at Baby.
Then, beginning at 0:46 in the above video clip, Penny remarks:
Penny Johnson
Jesus! She's going to tell her management boyfriend, and then we'll all get fired.
Why not sky-write it? -- "Penny got knocked up by Robbie, the creep."
Baby Houseman
Robbie?
At that point, Johnny jumps up and interjected, "Look", but he is interrupted by Billy, who begins to tell Baby about Penny's opportunity to get an abortion.
Johnny did not finish his interjection, he intended to tell Baby to keep secret Robbie's role in the pregnancy. As Penny had just explained, if Baby revealed that secret to Neil Kellerman, then Penny, Johnny and Billy would be fired.
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The Houseman family attracted Johnny's special attention and hostility because Baby was Neil's girlfriend and Lisa was Robbie's girlfriend. From Johnny's perspective, Baby and Lisa were not ordinary guests at the resort. Baby and Lisa were the girlfriends of Johnny's two main enemies.
Furthermore, Johnny recognized that Robbie enjoyed special favor from Max Kellerman, because Robbie was a Jewish, single, medical student who was attractive to the resort's Jewish families. Therefore, if some conflict involving Robbie arose among the employees, then Max would keep Robbie and fire Robbie's enemies.
Johnny was hostile toward the entire Houseman family because he feared that some such situation might develop where the Housemans might compel Max Houseman to choose between Robbie, on one hand, and Johnny, Penny and Billy, on the other hand.
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Baby Giving the Abortion Money to Penny
When Baby brings the $250 to Penny, Johnny expresses his hostility also toward Mr. Houseman.
Johnny Castle
Yeah, it takes a real saint to ask Daddy.
Penny Johnson
Thanks, Baby, but I can't use it.
Johnny Castle
What? What's the matter with you? You should take the money.
Penny thinks it is unfair to the Houseman family to burden them with her pregnancy problem.
In contrast, Johnny feels no such qualms about burdening the Houseman family, which he despises. Johnny despises "real saint" Baby and "Daddy" Jake Houseman. Johnny is being unfair to the Houseman family, which has not done anything bad to him.
In particular, Johnny is being unfair to Baby. His hostility toward her is the main reason he does not want to train her to dance for the Sheldrake performance. The circumstances, however, compel him to do so.
The website LSE Review of Books has published a review of Stephen Lee Nash's book Deconstructing Dirty Dancing. The review was written by Penny Montague, who earned an MA in Literary Linguistics and a BA in English Language and Literature.
.... Deconstructing Dirty Dancing attempts to unpack the film and reveal the reasons for its longevity. Stephen Lee Naish sets out to prove that Dirty Dancing ... exposes a great deal about America in the early 1960s and beyond. It is a slim volume of fewer than 70 pages, but the range of information it contains belies its size. Naish is an established writer on film, politics and popular culture ....
Naish ‘deconstructs’ Dirty Dancing though three different perspectives ...
The first section, ‘The Strange Coalescence of Dirty Dancing and Blue Velvet’, compares two films that initially appear thoroughly dissimilar in terms of genre, plot and directorial strategy, but also share some compelling similarities. .... The author presents a number of parallels between the films, such as the depiction of the early 1960s through the lens of the late 1980s, the loss of innocence and the representation of secret sexual relationships. .... This brief comparative study succeeds in pushing the reader beyond superficial romantic interpretations of Dirty Dancing.
The references to Blue Velvet also continue in the central section, ‘Interpretation of Dirty Dancing’, which is a fascinating study for any student or fan of the movie. The chapters within this section are marked by timestamps from 00:00:00 to 1:37:03, when the end credits roll.
The first chapter begins with the description of the Vestron logo, then ‘one minute and forty seconds of uninhibited grinding hips, flowing skirts and stares of intense passion’ ....
Throughout this section of the book, Naish analyses and illuminates each moment of the film, its dialogue, music, wardrobe, plot and themes, particularly drawing out its political threads. ....
Not only does Naish interpret the film from a historical perspective, his commentary also decodes the film though a twenty-first-century lens, as shown when he describes Neil as ‘mansplaining’ during a conversation with Frances. Later, the discussion of the crucial scenes concerning the unplanned pregnancy of Penny, Johnny’s original dance partner, reminds the reader that the film is set ten years before abortion could be obtained legally in the USA, and so the options available to her as an unmarried woman were to ‘abort illegally, or give birth and become an outcast from society’. ...
The author also engages with existing film scholarship on Dirty Dancing and beyond. For example, he applies Michele Scheiber’s notion of a ‘postfeminist cycle’ of contemporary romance films to the narrative, showing how Dirty Dancing fits the pattern whilst also subverting it with the lack of a happy-ever-after ending.
Furthermore, like a textual film commentary track, the behind-the-scenes information revealed by Naish provides fascinating insights into the crafting of the narrative. For instance, he describes several deleted scenes from the film or early drafts of the screenplay, and reflects on how they might have affected the end result. An example of this is when he reveals a removed scene in which Neil is beaten up by the dancers, which would have made his character more sympathetic.
Lastly, the final section, ‘A Personal Essay’, delivers Naish’s individual perspective on the film. He describes being introduced to the film during his childhood by his older sister and being particularly taken by its soundtrack. Later, as a young adult, he felt that he could never live up to Johnny Castle’s ‘vision of almost-perfect masculinity’. Naish also presents the universality of the film in its evocation of family holidays and the awkwardness of approaching a potential love interest, both of which he compares to episodes from his own life growing up in Britain. The essay is an absorbing account of his uneven relationship with the film, which will resonate with a wide range of readers, whether fans of the film or otherwise.
In conclusion, Deconstructing Dirty Dancing is an idiosyncratic and accessible analysis of this popular film. I would particularly recommend it to fans seeking insight into the historical, political and cultural contexts surrounding Dirty Dancing. It is also an excellent addition to the existing field of scholarship ...
I still intend to read Naish's book Deconstructing Dirty Dancing and to write my own review.
An architect named Liz Jahn comments on the buildings in a series of movies. For each movie, she contrasts architecturally the movie's buildings with the supposed location's buildings.
In the case of Dirty Dancing, she contrasts:
* the buildings at Mountain Lake, Virginia (where the movie was filmed)
* the buildings at Grossinger's resort in the Catskill Mountains, in New York state (where the story supposedly took place).
See the segment from 1:15 to 2:12 in the following video.
In this post I will argue that Baby Houseman suffered from manic-depressive (aka bipolar) disorder, Type 2.
In the following video, Robin Mohilner describes her own first "full-blown manic episode", which occurred when she was 16 years old.
Mohilner was diagnosed as suffering from the disorder's Type 1, which is worse than Type 2.
Mohilner's Type 1 mania began with a Type 2 hypomania ("mild mania"), which she describes in the video's first 4:44 minutes. Mohilner lists the following symptoms of her initial Type 2 hypomania.
* Difficulty sleeping
* Increased sex drive
* Changed appetite
* Increased energy
* Agitation, especially with her family
* Obsession with a goal
* Racing thoughts
After describing her initial Type 2 hypomania -- after 4:44 on the video -- Mohilner describes her full-blown Type 1 mania.
I am not going to argue that Baby displays each of the hypomania symptoms listed above. Rather I am going to group all those symptoms into one general symptom that I call impulsiveness. Based on that general symptom, I now will diagnose Baby Houseman as suffering from manic-depressive disorder, Type 2, in the movie Dirty Dancing.
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During this article, I will refer occasionally to segments of the following video of scenes that were deleted from the movie.
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Baby is a Danger to Herself
The segment from 4:17 to 5:11 was supposed to begin the movie. The Houseman family is voting whether to go to the Catskills Mountains for their family vacation. Baby is the only family member who votes NO, and she is so angry that she breaks her pencil-point while writing her vote.
Baby is disagreeing vehemently with her family because she wants to go to Washington DC to participate in the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King will speak. The Houseman parents are afraid that Baby might be harmed at the event, and so they are taking her to the Catskills in order to prevent her trip. They fear that if Baby will be at their home in New York City, she will travel to Washington DC by bus or train, without their permission.
Although Baby usually has been an obedient and reliable child, the parents have been alarmed during the past year by Baby's episodes of disobedience and recklessness. Even if the March on Washington will be peaceful, Baby's personal recklessness might cause her harm.
So far, Baby's parents attribute her episodic impulsivity to her adolescence. After all, she is 17 years old, an age when a young woman naturally tries to assert her growing independence from her parents. Nevertheless, Baby's parents worry that without their constant supervision she might be in danger if she travels to Washington DC.
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Baby Is Going to Change the World
The Houseman parents observed that Baby was obsessed with a grandiose goal -- "changing the world". Both parents even joked to other people about Baby's obsession.
Marjorie Houseman
Look at all this leftover food. Are there still starving children in Europe?
Baby Houseman
Try Southeast Asia, Ma.
Marjorie Houseman
Right.
Jake Houseman (Addressing Robbie)
Robbie, Baby wants to send her leftover pot roast to Southeast Asia, so anything we don't finish, wrap up. (Addressing Max)
Max, our Baby's gonna change the world.
Max Kellerman (Addressing Lisa)
And what are you gonna do, Missy?
Baby Houseman
Lisa's gonna decorate it.
Although Baby jokes that her sister Lisa likewise has a grandiose goal, the entire Houseman family knows that Lisa's goals really are ordinary and modest. The one family member who is obsessed with unusual, grandiose goals is Baby.
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Baby Intends to Read a Lot of Books During Her Vacation
Baby has brought about a half-dozen books along on her vacation. These are serious books. For example, one of them is titled Plight of the Peasant.
The pile of books by Baby's bed
Samantha Adams, who suffers from manic-depressive disorder, Type 1, says that a person in a manic phase "will want to read ten books" at once (5:05 to 6:00 in the video).
Samantha suffered a Type 1 mania, whereas Baby suffered only Type 2 hypomania, but Baby's big pile of books is one of several indicators.
Manic Baby eating a breakfast platter instead of a grapefruit-half
The Every Day Health website has published an article, written by Dennis Thompson, Jr., and titled Eating Disorders and Bipolar Disorder, that includes the following passages (emphasis added):
Research has found that many people with bipolar disorder have eating issues like bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. A recent study found one in five bipolar patients in its group of participants met the criteria for a lifetime eating disorder. ...
Binge eaters tend to compulsively overeat, but unlike bulimics, they do not purge afterward. They tend to feel shame or guilt over their eating and often eat by themselves and very quickly. Many bipolar patients report periods of binge eating, although whether they have a full-fledged disorder is not certain. Some medications for bipolar disorder promote binge eating.
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Baby Remains Alone for a Week
The Houseman family arrived at Kellerman's Mountain House on Saturday, August 10, 1963. That evening, Baby danced with Neil Kellerman in the ballroom. The next time Baby is seen is on Sunday, August 18, when she is walking alone through a woods. (See the segment from 0:00 to 0:55 in the above video of deleted scenes.)
A week has been skipped in the story. During that week, Baby has been involved with Neil Kellerman, but she has not socialized significantly with anyone else outside her family.
For several days during that skipped week Baby perhaps suffered a depressive phase of her manic-depressive disorder. That is why she is essentially alone after an entire week at the resort.
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Baby Chases After Johnny
By the evening of Sunday, August 18, Baby has passed completely through a depressive phase and has entered a hypomania phase. She has become impulsive. In particular, her sex drive has increased.
In the segment from 0:00 to 0:55 in the video of deleted scenes, Baby notices Johnny Castle engaged in some sexual activity with a woman in the woods. The sight arouses Baby sexually.
After Johnny parts from the woman and walks away, Baby follows him impulsively. She will follow him all the way to the area of the bunkhouse, where the "dirty dancing" party is taking place. When she sees Billy Kostecki carrying three watermelons, she will grab one of the watermelons as a tactic to continue following Johnny into the bunkhouse.
Baby will grab a watermelon from Billy
in order to continue following Johnny.
The Bipolar Lives website has published an article, written by Sarah Freeman and titled Bipolar infidelity, which includes the following passages:
The cause [of bipolar infidelity] is the hypersexuality, impaired judgement, poor impulse control, and grandiosity – scary bipolar symptoms – all brought on by mania. ... This behavior is a bipolar symptom and is also generally part of the mania – or the hypomania – infidelity is an issue for Bipolar Type I AND Bipolar Type 2. ...
A 1975 study that looked at lifetime sexual experience found extramarital sexual experiences to be more frequent amongst bipolar people – 29% had had 10 or more experiences.
According to figures quoted by Goodwin and Jamison, hypersexuality was reported in 57% of manic individuals, based on averages across seven studies, with a range of values from 25% to 80%!
A female reader of the article commented as follows:
Hello, I am recently diagnosed Bipolar Type 2 and I have struggled with bipolar infidelity ever since I was 18. I just couldn’t stop having sex with random people, many of whom I didn’t find attractive. I thought I was just going through my young years of hooking up. I was wrong.
When I entered my first relationship, I cheated. I did it with a smoker. How gross! I was honest and told my boyfriend. We broke up after because of that
Then, I entered another relationship and things were fine for about three months. And then I lost control and cheated again. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I figured it was just personal and a sign that he wasn’t my type. So I broke up with him.
Next, I entered a relationship with a really cute and caring guy. Again, about three months into it, I cheated. It was very frustrating. I broke up with him.
At this point, when friends asked me how many guys I’ve been with, I couldn’t give an honest answer. Should only be three, right? I really wanted it to be three. But it wasn’t -- it was over 100. I lost track. And so many of them were unwanted. I really just couldn’t control it.
When I graduated, I figured it was a sexual addiction. I chose to stay single to work on it. So I started taking steps to end that. But then I noticed that my sexual behavior was getting riskier. I was scared a few times of an STD.
But then I met a really great guy, who I am now with. I am worried because I am getting the urges again, and I really don’t want them. He knows I have Bipolar and we’re still in the relationship. I started taking a mood stabilizer from a psychiatrist, but I’m worried it’s not helping with the hypersexuality.
I don’t want this! So I made some appointments with a counselor to talk about everything. I really don’t want another relationship to end because I chose to cheat during a manic episode (although honestly it feels like I have no choice).
Allison Shearmur, the executive producer of the ABC original movieDirty Dancing, died on January 19, 2018. The Variety magazine's obituary begins:
Veteran Hollywood producer and executive Allison Shearmur, who produced the Hunger Games films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story, died Friday at UCLA Medical Center of complications from lung cancer. She was 54.
Shearmur worked as an executive at Disney, Universal, Paramount and Lionsgate before becoming a producer in 2011. Her producing credits included Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, Cinderella, Nerve and the upcoming The One and Only Ivan. She was an executive producer on Power Rangers, What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Abduction and a co-producer on the upcoming Chaos Walking.
She was an executive producer on the 2017 television movie Dirty Dancing through her Allison Shearmur Productions company. ...
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In the following video, Shearmur talks about her 2015 movie Cinderella.
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In the following video, Shearmur talks about her 2016 movie Nerve. That movie's screenwriter was Jessica Sharzer, whom Shearmur assigned to write the screenplay for the ABC original movie Dirty Dancing.
Keep watching (or jump forward) until at least 2:30.
Google Translate indicates that Amor Doce means Sweet Love in Portuguese. The video's first part is the dialogue from the scene where Baby comes into Johnny's cabin for the first time.
In this post I will write about a series of romantic relationships, in which the movie and stage musical differ.
1) Billy Kostecki and Elizabeth
2) Jake and Marjorie Houseman
3) Neil Kellerman and Baby Houseman
4) Johnny Castle and Baby Houseman
Other relationships -- involving Lisa Houseman, Penny Johnson, Robbie Gould, Lisa Houseman and Vivian Pressman -- are essentially similar in the movie and musical.
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Billy Kostecki and Elizabeth
In my previous article about the musical's race aspect, I pointed out that Billy frequently sings with a Negro female co-worker. I perceived that he looks at her longingly, but I did not notice his saying anything romantic to her. According to the musical's program, the character is called Elizabeth.
In an earlier post titled The Resort Hotel's Employees, I reported -- based on Eleanor Bergstein's commentary in a DVD -- that the an early draft of the movie's story was supposed to include a scene showing that Negroes were allowed to use the resort's swimming pool along with Caucasians.
When the producers were selecting a resort as a location for the movie, they looked for a resort with a swimming pool, because the movie was supposed to show that the swimming pool was racially integrated. The author Eleanor Bergstein in her running commentary mentioned that the Jewish-owned resorts racially integrated their swimming pools before the other resorts did so, so apparently her original script included a reference to that fact.
However, the producers could not find an available resort with a swimming pool (we do see guests swimming in a lake). Therefore none of the movie’s dialogue refers to the racial integration of the swimming pool, although the dialogue refers several times to the Civil Rights movement that was developing in the South in the early 1960s. We can suppose that the African-Americans in the planned swimming-pool scene would have been the orchestra members, who were idle during the days.
Based on the stage musical, I now speculate further that the swimming pool scene was supposed to introduce a subplot about a romantic relationship between Caucasian Billy and Negro Elizabeth.
(In 1963 the polite words were Caucasian and Negro, and so I use them here.)
If there was some relationship between Billy and Elizabeth, then perhaps Elizabeth was involved somehow in Billy helping Penny getting an abortion. Below is my list of speculations.
* Elizabeth herself or a close relative or friend had had an abortion.
* Elizabeth remarked that Negroes were disadvantaged in getting legal abortions.
* Elizabeth helped cover for Billy or Penny while they were gone from work for an entire day.
The Billy-Elizabeth subplot was eliminated, however, as clutter around the time that the producers failed to find a resort with a swimming pool.
Years later, when Bergstein had the opportunity to retell her story as a musical, she restored Elizabeth into the story. Elizabeth sings with Billy, and he seems to be attracted to her, but their relationship is not elaborated further in the musical.
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Jake and Marjorie Houseman
Marjorie Houseman is much more prominent in the musical than in the movie.
They have a long conversation while they are playing golf. Unfortunately, I did not grasp that conversation's essence. I perceived that there was some tension between them. They seemed to be making biting remarks at each other.
(I did not take notes or record sound while I was watching the musical. I do not have access to the musical's script. Although the musical's sound system was superb, my hearing is becoming worse, and I could not understand every word. My account of the dialogue is based only on my memory and might be mistaken in some details.)
My perception might be based on the ABC original movie, in which they are approaching a divorce.
After Penny recovers from her abortion in the musical, she is so grateful to the entire Houseman family that she takes the initiative to give private dance lessons to Marjorie. During such a lesson, Penny mentions that Jake had treated her after her an abortion. Penny assumes that Marjorie knew about this, but Marjorie knew nothing until Penny mentioned it.
Marjorie is angry that Jake has kept this secret from her, and so she goes and confronts Jake about it.
Afterwards Marjorie confronts Baby. This scene in the musical is similar to a scene that was filmed for the movie but was deleted (8:17 to 9:02 in the following video).
In both the movie and the musical, Marjorie insinuates that Baby's actions have been wrecking the Houseman family. This insinuation makes much more sense when we understand that Marjorie fears that her marriage might be breaking apart.
Since all the marriage problems have been removed from the movie, Marjorie's insinuation is puzzling. How exactly has Baby been "wrecking everyone else's lives"? As far as the movie audience can see, Baby has only disappointed her father by lying to him about the borrowed money. Even in regard to Jake, Baby has not wrecked anything.
In the musical, however, Baby has caused a serious argument between Marjorie and Baby, because Penny unwittingly revealed to Marjorie the secret of Jake's involvement in the abortion. Since Marjorie and Jake have been having marriage problems, this revelation might be the straw that breaks the camel's back of the marriage. In that regard, Baby might have wrecked her parents' marriage.
The scene deleted from the movie was a superb, and it was acted superbly by the actress Kelly Bishop, who played the character Marjorie. Since the marriage problems had been eliminated from the movie, however, Marjorie's insinuation that Baby was wrecking everyone else's lives no longer made sense. That might be why this superb scene was deleted.
The marriage trouble between Jake and Marjorie was removed from the movie but later was restored to the stage musical and to the ABC original movie.
In the first part of Dirty Dancing, the relationship between Baby Houseman and Neil Kellerman is friendly, even affectionate.
In the movie's last part, Neil becomes a rather negative character. Therefore, people who have watched the entire movie develop a false memory that he was a negative character in the first part too. People persist in this mistake even as they watch the movie many times.
Early in the movie, Baby and Neil dance and chat together in the ballroom. A couple days ago, I re-watched that scene three times, looking for indications that Baby felt uncomfortable with Neil. I was surprised to find that she obviously is enjoying her time with him in the ballroom. This realization has caused me to reconsider Baby's and Neil's relationship.
Now I recognize that Baby was using Neil as her practice boyfriend, also known as a starter boyfriend, without his knowing his status.
[....]
Baby decided to use Neil as a practice boyfriend because she is not sure how to be feminine naturally. She wants to see how an interested man talks and acts with her, and she wants to experiment with her responses. For her, this is fun, and she is happy to remain in an elementary flirting stage for a long time.
She strings Neil along slowly. As the week passes, she gradually allows him more freedom to kiss and embrace her. Eventually she even allows him to touch a breast briefly through her clothes during a night's final embrace.
Baby likes Neil as a friend. He has many admirable qualities. After Neil and Johnny argue about the pachanga dance, she advises Johnny to discuss the issue with Neil again. She knows that Neil is a reasonable and accommodating person.
Baby thinks that Neil learned useful lessons about female-male interactions from herself too. She expects that he eventually will become a good husband for some other woman.
That interpretation of mine has been confirmed by my watching the stage musical. In particular, the musical includes an important conversation among Baby, Neil and Johnny in the scene right after the "Love Is Strange" dance. Neil enters the dance room and begins talking about the talent show, the pechanga, and so forth.
During this conversation, they talk about politics. Baby admires Neil for his political activism, for his intention to travel to Mississippi to help promote civil rights for Negroes. Johnny scoffs, saying that he himself never has voted even once in his life. Baby is appalled by Johnny's lack of even interest.
Then, however, Neil reveals that he will not travel to Mississippi after all, because he as a manager should not be gone from the hotel for a couple of weeks. Now Baby is somewhat disappointed with Neil for subordinating his political activism to his professional career.
This conversation is important in the story, because it gives Baby a reason to shift her romantic affection from Neil completely to Johnny. Although Johnny is not interested in politics, Neil's interest is more talk than action.
In general, I perceived throughout the musical scattered indications that Baby was affectionate and respectful toward Neil. These indications are related to the scattered mentions that Neil intends to travel to Mississippi.
In contrast, the movie mentions Neil's intention only once, when Neil and Baby are dancing in the ballroom during her first night at the resort. In that single context, the mention seems to be merely an empty boast to impress idealistic Baby.
The musical's continuing mentions of Neil's intended Mississippi trip support Baby's affection and admiration toward Neil during the story. Her disappointment in him occurs near the story's end and occurs suddenly.
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Johnny Castle and Baby Houseman
In the stage musical that I saw, Baby dances more poorly and improves more slowly than in the movie.
The musical's program reports that the actress, Kaleigh Courts, has attended the Houston Ballet Academy and has performed as a member of the Houston Ballet, so the actress can dance superbly. She purposely dances poorly in the musical.
She continues to dance poorly through the "Hungry Eyes" and "Hey, Baby" scenes. Only when she accomplishes the lift move in the lake does she seem to show improvement. Her dancing at the Sheldrake is likewise worse in the musical than in the movie. Her dancing during and after the "Love Is Strange" scene is about the same in the musical as in the movie.
Johnny's apparent affection for Baby corresponds to her dancing skill. In other words, his affection develops slower in the musical than in the movie. I didn't notice this difference in any dialogue. Rather, his coolness -- his iciness -- toward her is indicated by his body movements and voice tone.
Maybe other actors playing Johnny and Baby in other companies play their relationship differently. Maybe other actresses playing Baby dance better and maybe other actors playing Johnny speak more warmly. For the purpose of my article here, I must assume that the performance that I happened to see is the Baby-Johnny relationship that the stage musical is supposed to portray.
In the musical, the relationship develops more slowly, and so their decision to becomes sexual is more sudden and seems to be prompted by their mutual experience of seeing Penny in mortal danger after her abortion.
In the movie, they became gradually more affectionate while they are practicing for their Sheldrake performance. In the musical, they become suddenly more affection after they have become sexual, which they have done because they were upset about Penny.
Even after Baby has become sexual with Johnny, she still feels affectionate towards Neil. Only after Neil reveals that he will not travel to Mississippi after all, does Baby shift all her romantic attention to Johnny.
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I think that the musical's portrayal of the relationship among Baby, Neil and Johnny is closer to Bergstein's original concept than the movie is.
In the movie, Neil seems to be merely a tiresome creep, and so it is obvious that Baby should disdain him and prefer the exciting artist Johnny. Furthermore, the movie's Jewish subtext suggests that Baby feels pressured by her family to marry a Jewish man, like Neil.
In the musical, Baby continually admires Neil because of his political activism, which is symbolized continually by his intention to travel to Mississippi. In contrast, Baby is appalled that Johnny is so politically uninterested that he has never even voted. Therefore, Baby's dilemma about whether to select Neil or Johnny as her ultimate romantic interest is more conflicted. Her dilemma is resolved only when Neil reveals that he will not travel to Mississippi after all.
The removal of most of the racial aspect from the movie prevented the movie audience from understanding why Baby might admire Neil. The movie audience perceived Neil to be merely a tiresome creep.
The character Neil was played brilliantly as a tiresome creep by the actor Lonny Price, who furthermore is a rather short man. Perhaps the character Neil turned out to be more despised by the movie audience than Bergstein intended because of the decision to cast Price in the role and because of Price's brilliant performance of the role.
If my speculation that the musical's portrayal of the Baby-Neil-Johnny triangle is closer than the movie to Bergstein's original concept, then I judge her original concept to be the better story. In the musical, Baby is more conflicted about whether she should pursue a romantic relationship with a man like Neil or a man like Johnny.
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Most people love the movie Dirty Dancing so much that they reject reflexively other presentations of the story. This rejection happened especially in regard to the ABC original movie. (I have published twoposts praising the ABC version and intend to publish two more.)
However, the movie is somewhat different from Bergstein's original story. The movie was addressed to an audience in the 1980s and had to be kept to a standard length and had to kept rather simple. Therefore, much of Bergstein's story was not included in the movie.
The other presentations -- the stage musical and the ABC original movie -- were for audiences in the 21st century. Those audiences are already very familiar with the movie's story and they live in a more multi-ethnic society. The story can be told more briskly, making time for the racial aspect and the Housemans' marriage trouble to be restored into Bergstein's story. The later presentations are closer than the movie to Bergstein's original concept of the story.
The stage musical has provided new insights into the roles of Billy, Jake, Marjorie, Neil and Johnny -- and therefore into the role of Baby.
Photographer Andrea David has made the following juxtapositions of Dirty Dancing images and the filming locations at Mountain Lake Lodge in Virginia. (Click on the images to enlarge them.)
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Someone else has used David's juxtapositions to make the following YouTube video.
