The Symbolism of the Game "Simon Says"

Baby Houseman has given the $250 to Penny Johnson, but now someone will have to replace Penny in the Sheldrake performance on Thursday evening. During the following discussion, Johnny Castle jokes about the game Simon Says.

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. Maria has to work all day. She can't learn the routines. And Janet has to fill in for Penny. Everybody works here.

What, do you wanna do it? Take time out from Simon Says?

Billy Kostecki
It's not a bad idea.

Johnny Castle
It was a joke, Billy.

Johnny's sarcastic joke is based on his contempt toward the hotel guests for living lives of conformity, as manifested by the popular social game Simon Says. The game's challenge is to pay careful attention to instructions and to do everything that "Simon Says" and only what "Simon Says". The following video shows the game being played.

An a previous post titled My Sociological Criticism of Dirty Dancing, I argued that the USA's economic prosperity during the 1950s and early 1960s enabled most Causcasian young people to become financially comfortable if they completed their educations and conformed socially. The Houseman family personified such educated conformity.

In contrast, Johnny and Penny did not complete their educations and conform socially. They chose instead the lives of struggling artists who might never become financially comfortable.

The major sociological conflict in the movie Dirty Dancing is the interaction between the conforming Houseman family and the struggling artists.

From Johnny's perspective, society's conformists spend entire their lives slavishly playing Simon Says and so do not have any time for independent artistic self-expression.

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The movie shows a glimpse of the resort hotel's guests hopping around in a  Simon Says game -- right before the "Love Is Strange" scene.

In the "Love Is Strange" scene, Baby violates the rules of society and of her previous relationship with Johnny. Although she is the female partner in the dance, she leads and bosses her male partner, Johnny.

At the end of the scene, Neil Kellerman enters the room and offers to teach Baby how to dance. However, she has been enjoying too much her own independence and spontaneity.

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The following video shows the music group 1910 Fruitgum Company performing its 1967 hit song "Simon Says".

The song reached #4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart.