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In my previous posts of this series, I fit the movie Dirty Dancing into the Hero's Journey genre through the Refusal of the Call to Adventure.
The Call to Adventure happened when Baby Houseman agreed to act as the magician's stooge. When she came to the resort's main building to meet the magician, she happened to overhear the resort's owner Max Kellerman saying that the male waiters were 1) hired because of their higher education and excellent career prospects and 2) supposed to romance the resort's young female guests.
Baby could have exploited this information to enjoy a romantic adventure with a pre-med student working as a waiter -- she could have found a guy as great as her Dad -- but she instead involved herself safely and publicly with the resort's assistant manager, Neil Kellerman. In other words, Baby refused her Call to Adventure.
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According to the Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey, the Refusal of the Call to Adventure is followed by the following scene.
Supernatural AidThe hero perceives that a talisman gives him special power, but essentially the talisman gives him the necessary courage to accept the call to adventure.
Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his guide and magical helper appears or becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid him later in his quest.
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In the movie The Wizard of Oz, the Supernatural Aid is the tornado that blows Dorothy's house to Oz, where it lands onto and kills the Wicked Witch of the East. In the following moments, Dorothy's mentor, the Good Witch of the North, appears and begins to explain Dorothy's new situation to her.
The Dorothy's mentor magically places ruby slippers, as talismans, onto Dorothy's feet.
In Dirty Dancing, after refusing the Call to Adventure for several days, Baby sees Johnny Castle engaging in sexual activities with a woman in the woods. Johnny and the woman part from each other, and Johnny walks away down a path.
Baby now perceives her Call to Adventure again, and so she begins following Johnny. (See the first 0:55 minute of the following video of deleted scenes.)
The Supernatural Aid happens when Baby fortunately meets Billy Kostecki at just the right moment for him to enable her to follow Johnny further into the employees' bunkhouse. Billy gives Baby a talisman -- a watermelon -- that gives her the confidence and a reason to enter the bunkhouse and to join the "dirty dancing" party. Thus Baby accepts her Call to Adventure.
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| Baby receives her magic talisman from her new mentor. |
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| Baby learning from her mentor Billy how to use her talisman |
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| The talisman gives Baby the courage to accept her Call to Adventure. |
Billy now is revealed to be Baby's mentor in her heroic adventure. Through the entire story, Billy explains Baby's situation to her and provides advice and support.
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The watermelon talisman symbolizes a future pregnancy -- the happy result of Baby's eventually finding "a guy as great as her Dad".
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This series will be continued in Part 7.
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