Heroines in Film

A website called Heroines in Film, written Megan O'Keeffe and Libby Chafe, states its purpose as follows:

This blog is about looking at how the image and role of women has evolved in film, if at all. We both have found ourselves interested in feminism, and we thought a cool way of looking at it would be through film.

Film ... has a huge influence on societal norms. Being young women, we are interested to see how this part of pop culture represents us, as well as coming to understand the influence it’s had in our life and society. ....

We are looking to see how the movies have contributed to how people are seen. How were women seen at this time, in this film? What is their role in the film? We want to see how the portrayal and representation of the women in the films shows or contributes to the evolution of a particular image and even the decade in which the film was made. ...

We will also make sure we take into consideration the opinions of the era in which the movies were released, as well as do research surrounding the films. We will also do our best to answer the question: what is the message of the film? ...

We hope that the movies we chose show an interesting perspective about women, whether it shows them as weak or strong. ... As we work our way into the 80s and 90s, we are expecting to see more independence among the female characters. We would expect to see what we would consider more feminist views being shown.

The website includes a review of Dirty Dancing. I was impressed by the high value that the review placed on two of the movie's aspects: 1) Baby's becoming more mature and 2) the support that several characters provided to each other.

The following passages addressed Baby's maturity:

.... Throughout the film, we ... get to see the personal evolution of Baby as a young woman. One of the first things that stuck out to us about Baby was a comment she made in narration.

That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind."

We really liked how right off the bat she was questioning how derogatory or demeaning calling someone “Baby” can be. This comment also helped set the tone for how to look at Baby. She was a young woman who was still learning how the world worked and had a lot of life left to experience.

We like Baby as a character. We particularly like how she didn’t just act like a naive little girl the entire time. She was curious and though eager to please, she grew to be independent. By the end of the film, she wasn’t just Daddy’s little girl anymore.

Baby realized there was more to life than how she was raised. Suddenly she discovered a new side to herself. She realized she liked being a more rebellious. She liked flirting with attractive men and wearing makeup. She liked doing things for herself and not just because it’s what’s expected of her. She hated disappointing her Dad, but once she discovered a new way of life she couldn’t just act like nothing ever happened.

The following passages addressed the characters' mutual support:

Penny is ... confident as a woman and helps bring that out in Baby. It’s nice to see an example of women working together to build one another up rather than tear each other down. .... Not only did we see Baby jumping in without hesitation to help her, even at the risk of ruining her own reputation in her dad’s eyes, but we also see Johnny standing by Penny’s side with undying support.

Throughout the entire film, Johnny was an admirable character. Yes he was masculine, but he didn’t completely fit into the traditional mold of a male lead. He was a dance instructor, something that is often thought as a feminine profession and he treated everyone the same regardless of whether they were a man or a woman. His treatment of you depended on your behavior, not your gender.

In the beginning, Johnny often got annoyed with Baby. This was primarily just because she was insecure and lacking confidence. It was frustrating for him to work with someone so sensitive and not on his level. But as they grew to know each other more and work with each other more, he came to really respect her and the effort she put into learning the dance. ....

They care for each other and have too much fun together - in other words they like the people they are when they’re together. It’s nice to see them have such a mutually supportive relationship.

The review praises the character Marjorie Houseman "for standing up for Baby and her independence at the end of the film" and for being "the parent who wasn’t as strict or old fashioned".

The review criticizes the character Lisa Houseman because she "she’s naive and lets her emotions control all of her decisions ... [and] she blindly believes that the boy from the club she’s been spending time with is the one, not realizing he’s treating multiple other girls the exact same as he treats her. ..."

The review summarizes the movie's social context as follows:

There was a lot going on in the Women’s Movement in the 1980s. For starters, Ronald Reagan, a man known to be against such things as abortion, became the President of the United States. In 1984 there was momentum being made in the anti-abortion movement, as well as an increase in sexual harassment and discrimination between men and women in the workplace. During this time, women were also still fighting towards adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution.

The 80s really kicked off women fighting for diverse issues such as reproductive rights and breaking the “glass ceiling” in corporate environments. Needless to say, given the fight that was going on throughout the 80s, as well as the backlash that followed it, it’s no wonder that everyone was so protective over Penny as she went through her abortion.

I have quoted in my article here only a few of the review's aspects. You should read the entire review there.

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The Heroines in Film website applies the Bechdel Test in many of its movie reviews, including its Dirty Dancing review. That's a valid tool in analyzing movies, but I have decided that it's not worthwhile to explain it in my blog.