Saturday, April 28, 2018
Things Only Adults Notice In "Dirty Dancing"
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Grease
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Sixteen Candles
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Breakfast Club
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Legally Blonde
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Friday, April 27, 2018
How Caucasian Young Adults Danced in 1963 -- 3
A video from American Bandstand in 1964
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A 1963 video without sound
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A 1963 newsreel -- skip the first 40 seconds
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A 1962 video
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A 1964 video
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A 1963 video without sound
A 1963 newsreel -- skip the first 40 seconds
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A 1962 video
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A 1964 video
How Caucasian Young Adults Danced in 1963 -- 2
The 1963 video inspired by the 1963 movie Hootenanny Hoot.
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A 1962 video from the TV series 77 Sunset Strip.
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Videos from the TV show American Bandstand in 1963.
To watch the following two videos, click on the image and then click on the words Watch this video on YouTube. Watching them is worthwhile.
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A 1962 video from the TV series 77 Sunset Strip.
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Videos from the TV show American Bandstand in 1963.
To watch the following two videos, click on the image and then click on the words Watch this video on YouTube. Watching them is worthwhile.
How Caucasian Young Adults Danced in 1963 -- 1
The movie Muscle Beach Party -- filmed in 1963 and released in 1964.
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The movie Pajama Party -- filmed in 1963 and released in 1964
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The movie Beach Party -- filmed in 1962 and released in 1963
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A TV broadcast of the song "Let's Dance" recorded by Chris Montez in 1962.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
The 1960 Song "A Taste of Honey"
This post follows up my previous post about The 1961 Movie A Taste of Honey.
That 1961 movie was based on a stage play that was performed during 1958-1959 in London and in 1960 on Broadway in New York City. For the Broadway play, an instrumental song, also called A Taste of Honey was composed and performed. (The 1961 movie played other songs.)
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The following two YouTube videos play the 1960 instrumental song as performed by the Vic Feldman Quartet ....
... and by Martin Denny ....
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The Beatles, before 1963, sometimes sang the song in clubs but never released their performance in a record.
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In 1963, another version of the song was introduced by Acker Bilk, and it became popular in the United Kingdom, where it reached #16 in the UK Singles Chart.
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Most people now know the song from the 1965 version performed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
That 1961 movie was based on a stage play that was performed during 1958-1959 in London and in 1960 on Broadway in New York City. For the Broadway play, an instrumental song, also called A Taste of Honey was composed and performed. (The 1961 movie played other songs.)
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The following two YouTube videos play the 1960 instrumental song as performed by the Vic Feldman Quartet ....
... and by Martin Denny ....
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The Beatles, before 1963, sometimes sang the song in clubs but never released their performance in a record.
=====
In 1963, another version of the song was introduced by Acker Bilk, and it became popular in the United Kingdom, where it reached #16 in the UK Singles Chart.
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Most people now know the song from the 1965 version performed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
The 1961 Movie "A Taste of Honey"
The 1961 British movie A Taste of Honey was based on a stage play that was performed in London during 1958-1959 and on Broadway in New York City during 1960. The play was written by a 19-year-old woman, Shelagh Delaney, and depicts the experiences of an impoverished 17-year-old, Jo Bryan, suffering through an unplanned pregnancy. She does not want to become a mother, she thinks she would be a bad mother, and she is contemptuous of her own mother.
It's unlikely that any of the Dirty Dancing characters saw the British movie, but they might have seen the Broadway play in 1960. In any case, the play and the movie reflect a developing concern at the beginning of the 1960s about unwanted pregnancies.
A friend suggests to Jo that she abort her pregnancy, but she curtly dismisses the suggestion as even more "terrible" than her unwanted pregnancy. Nevertheless, the Jo's sad situation surely suggested to much of the audience that an abortion might have been her best solution.
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The stage play has been reprised several times since 1960, most recently in London's National Theatre in 2014. Below are a couple of videos about that 2014 stage play.
I have not seen the play, but I recently watched the 1961 movie on the TCM television channel. My discussion of the story will be based on the movie, which is based closely on the play.
I liked the movie very much. The movie earned much praise. The Wikipedia article about the movie lists the following awards.
The Wikipedia article about the movie summarizes its plot as follows:
Later, in the following scene, she tells him that she would be a bad mother and does not want to have a baby.
Later, in the following scene, when Jo is quite pregnant, she is visited by her mother.
At the end of the movie, Geoff is chased away by Jo's mother, and so Jo is living with her mother and waiting to give birth. I assumed that Jo would give the baby up for adoption.
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The now famous song "A Taste of Honey" was composed for and performed in the 1960 Broadway play. I will write about that song in my next post.
It's unlikely that any of the Dirty Dancing characters saw the British movie, but they might have seen the Broadway play in 1960. In any case, the play and the movie reflect a developing concern at the beginning of the 1960s about unwanted pregnancies.
A friend suggests to Jo that she abort her pregnancy, but she curtly dismisses the suggestion as even more "terrible" than her unwanted pregnancy. Nevertheless, the Jo's sad situation surely suggested to much of the audience that an abortion might have been her best solution.
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The stage play has been reprised several times since 1960, most recently in London's National Theatre in 2014. Below are a couple of videos about that 2014 stage play.
I have not seen the play, but I recently watched the 1961 movie on the TCM television channel. My discussion of the story will be based on the movie, which is based closely on the play.
I liked the movie very much. The movie earned much praise. The Wikipedia article about the movie lists the following awards.
* Best British Screenplay======
* Best British Film
* Best Actress
* Most Promising Newcomer.
* Best Actor
* Ranked at 56th place in the British Film Institute's Top 100 British films.
The Wikipedia article about the movie summarizes its plot as follows:
Jo is a 17-year-old Salford schoolgirl, with a difficult, forty-year-old alcoholic mother, Helen. After sustaining a fall while walking past the dockyards after school, Jo meets a black sailor called Jimmy who invites her onto his ship to attend to her grazed knee. They soon start a brief romantic relationship, after which Jimmy returns to his ship and departs. Relations between Jo and her mother become strained when her mother meets and marries a new man, Peter Smith.The following video clip shows Jo telling Geoff that she is pregnant. At 0:40 he suggests an abortion, but she rejects that possibility, because abortion is "terrible".
Feeling rejected by her mother, Jo starts a job in a shoe shop and rents a flat on her own. She meets a gay textile design student, Geoffrey Ingham, and invites him to move in with her. When Jo discovers she is pregnant by Jimmy, Geoff is supportive of her, even offering to marry her, saying at one point, "You need somebody to love you while you're looking for somebody to love."
Helen re-appears on the scene after the failure of her relationship with Peter, who turns out to have been a selfish lout. She moves in with Jo, which causes tensions between Helen and Geoff. Geoff decides he can no longer stay at the flat and moves out, leaving Helen to care for Jo and her soon-to-be-born baby.
Later, in the following scene, she tells him that she would be a bad mother and does not want to have a baby.
Later, in the following scene, when Jo is quite pregnant, she is visited by her mother.
At the end of the movie, Geoff is chased away by Jo's mother, and so Jo is living with her mother and waiting to give birth. I assumed that Jo would give the baby up for adoption.
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The now famous song "A Taste of Honey" was composed for and performed in the 1960 Broadway play. I will write about that song in my next post.
Baby Houseman's Heroic Journey -- Part 14
This post follows up Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12 and Part 13.
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The Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey explains that a typical story of that genre comprises three main parts -- Departure, Initiation and Return. Each such part typically comprises various subparts. For the Departure and Initiation parts, Wikipedia lists the subparts as follows.
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Now I will discuss the Apotheosis subpart. The word is pronounced as follows:
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The Changing Minds website describes the Apotheosis in a Hero's Journey as follows:
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I perceive Baby's stage of enlightenment to take place in the following scene.
Baby is sad to part from Johnny, but she controls her emotions maturely, because she is philosophical about her situation. In other words, she is thoughtful and objective. She has placed her relationship with Johnny into proper perspective. She is ready to go on with her life without Johnny, but much wiser because of her brief experience with him.
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The same Changing Minds website describes the Ultimate Boon in a Hero's Journey as follows.
Baby has accomplished her initiation into adulthood and has become a hero with improved qualities:
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This series will be continued in Part 15.
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The Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey explains that a typical story of that genre comprises three main parts -- Departure, Initiation and Return. Each such part typically comprises various subparts. For the Departure and Initiation parts, Wikipedia lists the subparts as follows.
DepartureIn this series of articles, I have finished the Atonement with the Father subpart. There I argued that Baby Houseman was a "Daddy's Girl" who had deceived and disappointed her father. Subsequently she had to redefine her relationship with her father on a more adult level. The process of redefinition required effort and time.
The Call to AdventureInitiation
Refusal of the Call
Supernatural Aid
Crossing the First Threshold
Belly of the Whale
The Road of Trials
The Meeting with the God
The Man As Tempter
Atonement with the Father
Apotheosis
This is the point of realization in which a greater understanding is achieved. Armed with this new knowledge and perception, the hero is resolved and ready for the more difficult part of the adventure
The Ultimate Boon
The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the Holy Grail.
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Now I will discuss the Apotheosis subpart. The word is pronounced as follows:
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The Changing Minds website describes the Apotheosis in a Hero's Journey as follows:
.... The hero transcends, achieving a higher place. This is a point of realization in which a greater understanding is achieved. Armed with this new knowledge and perception, the hero is resolved and ready for the more difficult part of the adventure. ...I like especially the word enlightenment as an alternative to the word apotheosis.
The dictionary describes apotheosisas:
The elevation of a person to the status of a god.The notion is thus one of achieving perfection, reaching enlightenment and nirvana, transcending to another level.
In transcending, the cycle of death and rebirth is repeated as the hero dies as their former self and is reborn into new self, perhaps that of the true hero. ...
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I perceive Baby's stage of enlightenment to take place in the following scene.
Baby is sad to part from Johnny, but she controls her emotions maturely, because she is philosophical about her situation. In other words, she is thoughtful and objective. She has placed her relationship with Johnny into proper perspective. She is ready to go on with her life without Johnny, but much wiser because of her brief experience with him.
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The same Changing Minds website describes the Ultimate Boon in a Hero's Journey as follows.
Eventually through the many trials, the goal of the journey is achieved. This is the ultimate boon.I perceive that Baby Houseman achieves her Ultimate Boon in the final scene, where her dance performance demonstrates that she should no longer be perceived as being a "Baby" -- rather, she should be recognized henceforth as being an adult, capable, confident woman. Also, immediately after her dance performance, she reconciles with her father.
The boon may be finally gained after a battle with the ultimate villain or a particularly difficult last trial.
The ultimate boon is often the climax of the story, where the major tension of the story is resolved. ...
In movies, expensive special effects and large orchestras may be used to enhance the action, creating awe and wonder in the audience.
Baby has accomplished her initiation into adulthood and has become a hero with improved qualities:
WisdomBaby will be able to apply those improved qualities to her future efforts in her life.
Life Experience
Familial Support
Recognition
Adult Authority
Confidence
Performance Ability
Emotional Self-Control
Generosity
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This series will be continued in Part 15.
Monday, April 23, 2018
The Fourth Best Five Miscellaneous Videos
This series of best Miscellaneous Videos began with my previous three posts, which showed the very best five, the second best five and the third best five.
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This is the end of this series.
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This is the end of this series.
The Third Best Five Miscellaneous Videos
This series of best Miscellaneous Videos began with my previous two posts, which showed the very best five and the second best five.
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This series will continue and conclude with the Fourth Best Five Miscellaneous Videos.
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This series will continue and conclude with the Fourth Best Five Miscellaneous Videos.
Saturday, April 21, 2018
The Second Best Five Miscellaneous Videos
This series of best Miscellaneous Videos began with my previous post, which showed the very best five.
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This series will continue the Third Best Five and Fourth Best Five.
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This series will continue the Third Best Five and Fourth Best Five.
The Five Best Miscellaneous Videos
In this website's right margin, I have added a label (tag) for my series of Miscellaneous Videos.
Below the the five best videos.
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The first video is the very, very, very best. Be patient and watch all of it from beginning to end.
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This series will continue with the second best five and the third best five and the fourth best five.
Below the the five best videos.
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The first video is the very, very, very best. Be patient and watch all of it from beginning to end.
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This series will continue with the second best five and the third best five and the fourth best five.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Baby Houseman's Heroic Journey -- Part 12
This post follows up Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10 and Part 11.
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The Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey explains that a typical story of that genre comprises three main parts -- Departure, Initiation and Return. Each such part typically comprises various subparts. For the Departure and Initiation parts, Wikipedia lists the subparts as follows.
There I argued that Johnny Castle played both roles of Baby Houseman's God and Tempter. I wrote that becoming a partner in a sexual relationship was a key part of Baby's initiation into adulthood while she was progressing on her heroic journey.
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Now I will discuss the Atonement with the Father subpart.
At the movie's beginning, Baby indicated two problems in her Ordinary World:
When Baby begins her heroic journey, she has no thought of changing her relationship with her father, but the journey brings her into a situation where she deceives and disappoints her father. Therefore she and her father will have to redefine their relationship at a more adult level.
This redefinition is not easy for either Baby or her father. In the following scene, Baby's monologue is rather immature and nonsensical. She still cannot articulate her thinking well about her own situation, and so she largely blames her father for the rupture of their relationship.
Baby's bratty monologue, of course, fails to mollify her father's disappointment in her.
Baby and her father do not accomplish a significant reconciliation until the movie's denouement.
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Baby's journey causes her to consider as a potential romantic partner a man who is very different from her father. Johnny is not highly educated, professionally successful and financially secure. Baby even feels rather ashamed of Johnny and delays introducing him as her boyfriend to her father. She feels that her father will become even further disappointed in her because of her boyfriend choice.
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This series continues in Part 13.
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The Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey explains that a typical story of that genre comprises three main parts -- Departure, Initiation and Return. Each such part typically comprises various subparts. For the Departure and Initiation parts, Wikipedia lists the subparts as follows.
DepartureIn this series of articles, I have finished the Meeting With the Goddess and the Woman As Temptress subpart, which I renamed as Meeting With the God and Man As Tempter.
The Call to AdventureInitiation
Refusal of the Call
Supernatural Aid
Crossing the First Threshold
Belly of the Whale
The Road of Trials
The Meeting with the Goddess
The Woman As Temptress
Atonement with the Father
In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power.
This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving into this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power.
Apotheosis
This is the point of realization in which a greater understanding is achieved. Armed with this new knowledge and perception, the hero is resolved and ready for the more difficult part of the adventure
The Ultimate Boon
The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the Holy Grail.
There I argued that Johnny Castle played both roles of Baby Houseman's God and Tempter. I wrote that becoming a partner in a sexual relationship was a key part of Baby's initiation into adulthood while she was progressing on her heroic journey.
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Now I will discuss the Atonement with the Father subpart.
At the movie's beginning, Baby indicated two problems in her Ordinary World:
Everybody called me "Baby", and it didn't occur to me to mind.Baby was a Daddy's Girl.
I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my Dad.
When Baby begins her heroic journey, she has no thought of changing her relationship with her father, but the journey brings her into a situation where she deceives and disappoints her father. Therefore she and her father will have to redefine their relationship at a more adult level.
This redefinition is not easy for either Baby or her father. In the following scene, Baby's monologue is rather immature and nonsensical. She still cannot articulate her thinking well about her own situation, and so she largely blames her father for the rupture of their relationship.
Baby's bratty monologue, of course, fails to mollify her father's disappointment in her.
Baby and her father do not accomplish a significant reconciliation until the movie's denouement.
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Baby's journey causes her to consider as a potential romantic partner a man who is very different from her father. Johnny is not highly educated, professionally successful and financially secure. Baby even feels rather ashamed of Johnny and delays introducing him as her boyfriend to her father. She feels that her father will become even further disappointed in her because of her boyfriend choice.
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This series continues in Part 13.
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Saturday, April 14, 2018
Baby Houseman's Heroic Journey -- Part 10
This post follows up Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9.
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The Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey explains that a typical story of that genre comprises three main parts -- Departure, Initiation and Return. Each such part typically comprises various subparts. For the Departure and Initiation parts, Wikipedia lists the subparts as follows.
I argued that Baby Houseman entered the Belly of the Whale when she realization that Penny Johnson was in mortal danger after her abortion. This realization caused Baby to ponder her own mortality and possible estrangement from her family, especially since she was planning to seduce Johnny Castle.
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Now in this Part 10 of my series, I will begin the Initiation part and its first subpart.
The relationship between Baby and her father has changed fundamentally since he has realized that she lied to him about the money he had lent her. She no longer can mollify him easily by acting as his cute, adoring daughter.
She will have to develop a new, more adult relationship with him, and this transformation will take time, thinking and effort. She will make practically no progress with her father for several days.
Another set of trials -- not depicted in the movie -- was Baby's preparation for the talent show. She was developing and practicing a performance with Johnny. The movie audience's only glimpse of this effort is the "Love Is Strange" scene.
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In the movie Wizard of Oz, the Good Witch of the North plays the role of her mentor and perhaps also the role of the Goddess. Right after Dorothy falls asleep in the poppy field -- falls into the Belly of the Whale -- the Good Witch of the North causes a snowfall that wakes Dorothy (at 2:40 in the below video).
The following video shows other movies' scenes where the hero meets with a goddess.
Two of the subparts listed in the Wikipedia article mention the Hero and a Goddess (see the list above in this post). Here in this discussion of Dirty Dancing, I will switch those characters' sexes as follows.
I suppose that many people would think that -- in terms of the Hero's Journey genre -- Johnny is Baby's mentor. However, not until after Johnny becomes sexual with Baby is he motivated to advise and help Baby. Johnny teaches Baby to dance only in order to help Penny and himself.
Baby's mentor is Billy Kostecki, and she perceives him to be the person who gives her information, advice and support in order to orient her in her situation at the resort.
Baby perceives Johnny rather to be a god-like being -- "you are everything". Subsequently she is tempted to become sexual with him, and she succumbs to that temptation.
Becoming a partner in a sexual relationship is a key part of Baby's initiation into adulthood while she is progressing on her heroic journey.
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Essayist Melissa Bourbon Ramirez summarizes these two subparts as follows:
Movie analyst Gordon Napier summarizes these two subparts as follows (first and second):
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This series will be continued in Part 11.
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The Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey explains that a typical story of that genre comprises three main parts -- Departure, Initiation and Return. Each such part typically comprises various subparts. For the Departure and Initiation parts, Wikipedia lists the subparts as follows.
DepartureIn this series of articles, I have finished the Departure part and am about to begin the Initiation part.
The Call to AdventureInitiation
Refusal of the Call
Supernatural Aid
Crossing the First Threshold
Belly of the Whale
The Road of Trials
The road of trials is a series of tests that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.
The Meeting with the Goddess
This is where the hero gains items given to him that will help him in the future.
The Woman As Temptress
In this step, the hero faces those temptations, often of a physical or pleasurable nature, that may lead him or her to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.
Atonement with the Father
In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving into this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power.
Apotheosis
This is the point of realization in which a greater understanding is achieved. Armed with this new knowledge and perception, the hero is resolved and ready for the more difficult part of the adventure
The Ultimate Boon
The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the Holy Grail.
I argued that Baby Houseman entered the Belly of the Whale when she realization that Penny Johnson was in mortal danger after her abortion. This realization caused Baby to ponder her own mortality and possible estrangement from her family, especially since she was planning to seduce Johnny Castle.
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Now in this Part 10 of my series, I will begin the Initiation part and its first subpart.
InitiationBaby's Road of Trials begins when she brings her father to Penny's cabin to treat her for her abortion consequences. By doing so, Baby soon ruptures her relationship with her father and thus begin her initiation into adulthood.
The Road of Trials
The road of trials is a series of tests that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.
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| Baby tries unsuccessfully to deal with her father's anger |
She will have to develop a new, more adult relationship with him, and this transformation will take time, thinking and effort. She will make practically no progress with her father for several days.
Another set of trials -- not depicted in the movie -- was Baby's preparation for the talent show. She was developing and practicing a performance with Johnny. The movie audience's only glimpse of this effort is the "Love Is Strange" scene.
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In the movie Wizard of Oz, the Good Witch of the North plays the role of her mentor and perhaps also the role of the Goddess. Right after Dorothy falls asleep in the poppy field -- falls into the Belly of the Whale -- the Good Witch of the North causes a snowfall that wakes Dorothy (at 2:40 in the below video).
The following video shows other movies' scenes where the hero meets with a goddess.
Two of the subparts listed in the Wikipedia article mention the Hero and a Goddess (see the list above in this post). Here in this discussion of Dirty Dancing, I will switch those characters' sexes as follows.
The Dirty Dancing character who fits these two subparts best is, of course, Johnny Castle.The Meeting with the God
This is where the heroine gains items given to her that will help her in the future.
The Man As Tempter
In this step, the heroine faces those temptations, often of a physical or pleasurable nature, that may lead her to abandon or stray from her quest, which does not necessarily have to be represented by a man. Man is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the heroine was often tempted by lust from her spiritual journey.
I suppose that many people would think that -- in terms of the Hero's Journey genre -- Johnny is Baby's mentor. However, not until after Johnny becomes sexual with Baby is he motivated to advise and help Baby. Johnny teaches Baby to dance only in order to help Penny and himself.
Baby's mentor is Billy Kostecki, and she perceives him to be the person who gives her information, advice and support in order to orient her in her situation at the resort.
Baby perceives Johnny rather to be a god-like being -- "you are everything". Subsequently she is tempted to become sexual with him, and she succumbs to that temptation.
Becoming a partner in a sexual relationship is a key part of Baby's initiation into adulthood while she is progressing on her heroic journey.
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Essayist Melissa Bourbon Ramirez summarizes these two subparts as follows:
The Meeting with the Goddess-----
The meeting with the goddess represents the point in the adventure when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother.
It is also known as the “hieros gamos”, or sacred marriage, the union of opposites, and may take place entirely within the person.
In other words, the person begins to see him or herself in a non-dualistic way. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely. Although [Joseph] Campbell symbolizes this step as a meeting with a goddess, unconditional love and /or self unification does not have to be represented by a woman.
Woman as the Temptress
At one level, this step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which as with the Meeting with the Goddess does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman.
For Campbell, however, this step is about the revulsion that the usually male hero may feel about his own fleshy/earthy nature, and the subsequent attachment or projection of that revulsion to women. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.
Movie analyst Gordon Napier summarizes these two subparts as follows (first and second):
The Meeting with the GoddessThe last sentence applies to Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing.
A unification with someone, it doesn’t have to be a woman but most likely is but it also includes self unification. It’s a stage where the hero receives a boost or support from love, specifically unconditional love, which means it is accepting of the good and the bad in someone, accepting both the bliss and the pain, the pleasure and the suffering. Meeting someone who completes you, your opposite.
The Goddess also symbolizes the end goal of a better life that there is something above mundane and the dangerous something that makes life worth living. She is the hero’s muse, an inspiration for taking the heroic action.
In Blade Runner, Deckard’s job is to hunt down and eliminate Replicants. He meets Rachael, she’s had memory implants and doesn’t know she’s a Replicant. Even though she is what he must kill, he falls in love with her, he accepts her for what she is, good and bad.
In Star Wars A new Hope, Luke learns of Princess Leia’s detention and plans for extermination. She inspires him to not just wait where they were safe but to rescue her. She is leading a life he aspires to, she’s a rebel taking up the cause against the Empire and, as is often the case, she is in some exalted role of Princess. ...
Woman as the Temptress
The Temptress is the opposite of the Goddess, the Goddess compels the hero on but the Temptress, provides a distraction or a detour. Rather than performing the role of a blocker or threshold guardian the Temptress presents a situation for the hero where he must make a choice.
This is an internal, moral battle rather than a physical battle. After enduring the grueling road of the trials, the Temptress throws up an option to take the easy way out, to give up on the quest. But by demonstrating he has the ability to refuse this offer, he is more heroic because of it.
The Temptress role may also be played by the Goddess but is not necessarily female. ....
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This series will be continued in Part 11.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Baby Houseman's Heroic Journey -- Part 8
This post follows up Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.
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In my previous posts of this series, my comparison of 1) the movies The Wizard of Oz and Dirty Dancing with 2) the genre of the Hero's Journey progressed through the scene of Supernatural Aid.
In The Wizard of Oz, the Supernatural Aid happens when a tornado transports Dorothy's house onto Oz, where Dorothy meets the Good Witch of the North, who becomes Dorothy's mentor and who gives her a talisman -- a pair of ruby slippers -- which gives Dorothy the confidence to accept her Call to Adventure.
In Dirty Dancing, the Supernatural Aid happens when Baby Houseman meets Billy Kostecki at just the right moment for him to enable her to follow Johnny Castle 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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According to the Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey, the Supernatural Aid scene is followed by the following two scenes.
Eventually, however, the heroine feels consumed by the Extraordinary World and feels that she is perhaps permanently separated from her Ordinary World. Ultimately she faces the possibility of even dying in the Extraordinary World.
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In The Wizard of Oz, after Dorothy receives her talisman (the pair of ruby slippers) from her mentor (the Good Witch of the North), she is delighted as she begins to learn about her new surroundings.
Eventually, however, the delights are replaced largely by dangers. As she crosses through a field of poppies, she might fall into a permanent sleep. Now she is in the Belly of the Whale, from which she might never escape.
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In Dirty Dancing, Baby carries her talisman (the watermelon) across the First Threshold and into the bunkhouse where the "dirty dancing" party is taking place.
The movie camera shows Baby seeming to pass through a Space-Time Portal.
At the bunkhouse party, Baby begins to become acquainted with the resort's employees with whom she is not supposed to socialize. She has fun watching them dance and has some more fun dancing briefly with Johnny.
After Baby has been introduced to Johnny and Penny briefly in the bunkhouse, she becomes more acquainted with them several days later, when Penny is demonstrating wigs.
Baby is having delightful fun getting to know these employees with whom she is not supposed to socialize.
As the story continues, Baby learns more about Penny and Johnny, helps Penny get an abortion, learns how to dance from Johnny, and performs with him at the Sheldrake Hotel.
=====
Baby's Belly-of-the-Whale realization happens when she learns that Penny has fallen into mortal danger following her abortion.
Baby sees Penny's mortally dangerous situation while Baby herself is planning to sexually seduce Johnny. Seeing Penny perhaps dying as a consequence of sexual intercourse, pregnancy and abortion must cause Baby to ponder her own mortality.
Soon afterwards, Baby's father learns about Baby's situation and becomes furious with her. Now Baby must ponder also that possibility that she soon will become estranged from her family.
Baby is continuing her heroic adventure, but now she is in the Belly of the Whale. Now she realizes that she might not be able to return ever to her Ordinary World.
Baby's realizations of her own mortality and of her eventual separation from her family do not discourage her. On the contrary, her determination to continue her heroic journey becomes stronger.
======
After a heroine has passed through the Belly of the Whale, she continues her heroic journey with increased confidence and determination.
=====
This series continues in Part 9.
======
In my previous posts of this series, my comparison of 1) the movies The Wizard of Oz and Dirty Dancing with 2) the genre of the Hero's Journey progressed through the scene of Supernatural Aid.
In The Wizard of Oz, the Supernatural Aid happens when a tornado transports Dorothy's house onto Oz, where Dorothy meets the Good Witch of the North, who becomes Dorothy's mentor and who gives her a talisman -- a pair of ruby slippers -- which gives Dorothy the confidence to accept her Call to Adventure.
In Dirty Dancing, the Supernatural Aid happens when Baby Houseman meets Billy Kostecki at just the right moment for him to enable her to follow Johnny Castle 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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According to the Wikipedia article about the Hero's Journey, the Supernatural Aid scene is followed by the following two scenes.
Crossing the First ThresholdAfter a heroine crosses the First Threshold, she enjoys the new delights of the Extraordinary World. However, she still feels like a stranger there.
This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are unknown.
Belly of the Whale
The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero's known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis. When First entering the stage the hero may encounter a minor danger or set back.
Eventually, however, the heroine feels consumed by the Extraordinary World and feels that she is perhaps permanently separated from her Ordinary World. Ultimately she faces the possibility of even dying in the Extraordinary World.
=====
In The Wizard of Oz, after Dorothy receives her talisman (the pair of ruby slippers) from her mentor (the Good Witch of the North), she is delighted as she begins to learn about her new surroundings.
Eventually, however, the delights are replaced largely by dangers. As she crosses through a field of poppies, she might fall into a permanent sleep. Now she is in the Belly of the Whale, from which she might never escape.
======
In Dirty Dancing, Baby carries her talisman (the watermelon) across the First Threshold and into the bunkhouse where the "dirty dancing" party is taking place.
 |
| Crossing the Threshold |
At the bunkhouse party, Baby begins to become acquainted with the resort's employees with whom she is not supposed to socialize. She has fun watching them dance and has some more fun dancing briefly with Johnny.
After Baby has been introduced to Johnny and Penny briefly in the bunkhouse, she becomes more acquainted with them several days later, when Penny is demonstrating wigs.
 |
| Baby sees Penny and Johnny again, several days after the "dirty dancing" party. |
 |
| Baby engages Penny in a personal conversation |
As the story continues, Baby learns more about Penny and Johnny, helps Penny get an abortion, learns how to dance from Johnny, and performs with him at the Sheldrake Hotel.
=====
Baby's Belly-of-the-Whale realization happens when she learns that Penny has fallen into mortal danger following her abortion.
Baby sees Penny's mortally dangerous situation while Baby herself is planning to sexually seduce Johnny. Seeing Penny perhaps dying as a consequence of sexual intercourse, pregnancy and abortion must cause Baby to ponder her own mortality.
Soon afterwards, Baby's father learns about Baby's situation and becomes furious with her. Now Baby must ponder also that possibility that she soon will become estranged from her family.
 |
| Baby pondering mortality and estrangement |
Baby's realizations of her own mortality and of her eventual separation from her family do not discourage her. On the contrary, her determination to continue her heroic journey becomes stronger.
======
After a heroine has passed through the Belly of the Whale, she continues her heroic journey with increased confidence and determination.
=====
This series continues in Part 9.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Sunday, April 8, 2018
The Black Eyed Peas' Song "The Time (Dirty Bit)"
The Wikipedia article about the musical group The Black Eyed Peas includes the following passages:
The song's lyrics:
======
The Black Eyed Peas (originally simply Black Eyed Peas) are an American musical group, consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and formerly Fergie. Originally an alternative hip hop group, they subsequently changed their musical sound to pop and dance-pop music.The official video of the song "The Time (Dirty Bit)" follows.
Although the group was founded in Los Angeles in 1995, it was not until the release of their third album, Elephunk, in 2003, that they achieved high record sales. Since that time, the group has sold an estimated 76 million records (35 million albums and 41 million singles), making them one of the world's best-selling groups of all time. As of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the Black Eyed Peas were the second-best-selling artist/group of all time for downloaded tracks, behind Rihanna, with over 42 million sales.
The Black Eyed Peas were ranked 12th on Billboard's Decade-End Chart Artist of the Decade, and 7th in the Hot 100 Artists of the Decade. At the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, held in January 2010, they won three awards out of six nominations. In November 2010, they released the album The Beginning. In February 2011, the group performed at the Super Bowl XLV halftime show. ...
Their sixth studio album, The Beginning, was released on November 30, 2010, and received mixed reviews. The album's first single release was called "The Time (Dirty Bit)", and was revealed on October 20, 2010, through will.i.am's Twitter account.
The song's lyrics:
This is international,The Wikipedia article about the song The Time (Dirty Bit) includes the following passages.
Big mega-radio smasher.
I had the time of my life,
And I've never felt this way before,
And I swear, this is true,
And I owe it all to you.
Dirty bit.
I came up in here to rock,
Light a fire, make it hot.
I don't want to take no pictures.
I just want to take some shots.
So, come on, let's go,
Let's lose control.
Let's do it all night --
'Til we can't do it no more.
People rocking to the sound.
Turn it up and watch it pound.
We're going to rock it to the top,
Until the roof come burning down.
Yeah, it's hot in here.
The temperature
Has got these ladies.
Getting freakier.
I got freaky, freaky, baby.
I was chilling with my ladies.
I didn't come to get bozy;
I came here to get crazy.
I was born to get wild.
That's my style.
If you didn't know that --
Well, Baby, now you know now --
Because I'm having a good time
With you --
I'm telling you,
I had the time of my life ...
All these girls, they like my swagger;
They're calling me Mick Jagger.
I be rolling like a Stone
Jet-setter, jet-lagger.
We ain't messing with no maggots
Messing with the baddest
Chicks in the club
Honey, what's up?
Mirror, mirror on the wall --
Who's the baddest of them all?
Yeah, it's got to be the Apple
I'm the Mac daddy, y'all.
Haters better step back.
Ladies, don't load your app.
I'm the party application --
Rocking just like that
"The Time (Dirty Bit)" is a song by American musical group The Black Eyed Peas from their sixth studio album, The Beginning. The song was released as the album's lead single on November 5, 2010. The chorus of the song interpolates "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.The following video shows the performance at the American Music Awards of 2010.
The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, becoming the group's sixth consecutive top ten hit (following the five singles from their previous album, The E.N.D), and ninth overall. It topped the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, while also charting inside the top ten of the charts in most European countries. As of December 2017, the song's accompanying music video has received over 390 million views on YouTube, becoming the group's most viewed video. Worldwide, it was the eighth best selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 7.3 million copies. ....
Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly praised the song's catchiness, but felt it failed to meet the standards of previous singles "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling".
Franke Previte, who won an Academy Award for co-writing "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", complimented The Black Eyed Peas' sample usage, saying, "It just reconfirms to me that the song is cross-generational. The song has now crossed over to the next generation in a huge way." ...
Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times called "The Time (Dirty Bit)" "the most assertive party song of the year". Digital Spy's Nick Levine gave a review of three stars out of five, disliking the many elements that constituted the song. The Independent's Simon Price also criticized the sampling on the track, calling it a low quality attempt to satisfy listeners. ....
As of January 2011, the single sold 3 million copies in the US, making it the group's fourth to do so.
The Black Eyed Peas performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)" at the American Music Awards of 2010 on November 21. Each member wore a futuristic outfit and started off enclosed in a glow-in-the-dark yellow box chamber similar to an elevator, accompanied by dancers with boxes as heads. Martens gave it grade of C+, calling it the "oddest set of the night". During the performance, Fergie experienced some trouble when the door to her box remained stuck for a moment.
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