The Wrath of Johnny Castle -- Part 1

Johnny Castle loses his temper on two occasions.

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The first occasion happens two days before the Sheldrake Hotel performance. Watch the following video clip beginning at 0:50.

Johnny hurts his back at 1:05 and complains to Baby, "Are you trying to kill me?", and so forth.

This first occasion continues into the next scene, when Johnny finds that he has locked his car key into his car. He pulls a post out of the ground and uses the post to break in a window so that he can open the car door.

Johnny's temper tantrum ends when Baby exclaims "You're wild!" as they are driving to the countryside.

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The second occasion happens on the day before the talent show. Watch the following video clip beginning at 0:25. Robbie Gould sees Johnny standing next to Baby and remarks, "That's OK, Baby, I went slumming too."

Johnny rushes at Robbie and physically attacks him.

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Patrick Swayze added the second occasion to the script, according to his autobiography.

Some of what Lisa [Patrick's wife] and I suggested made it into the film ... We inserted the fight scene between Johnny and the cad waiter, Robbie, to give Johnny the rougher edge his character needed. We wrote it so Johnny would stop before knocking the guy out, though, since he’d be wary of getting fired — something that had no doubt happened to him before.

I speculate that Swayze added to the script also the first occasion's moment when Johnny broke in the car's window.

Both these script additions showed Johnny's temper tantrums as violent -- in order "to give Johnny the rougher edge his character needed".

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During much of the movie, Johnny is angry but manages to control his temper. His moments of controlled anger include the following:

* Max Kellerman forbids Johnny from romancing any female guests.

* Max signals to Johnny and Penny to stop their mambo dance in the ballroom.

* Billy Kostecki has brought Baby into the bunkhouse dance.

* Robbie is present at Penny's demonstration of wigs.

* Baby is coming along to get crying Penny from the kitchen.

* Billy tells Baby that Penny is pregnant.

* Baby assumes that Johnny made Penny pregnant.

* Penny did not tell Johnny she was in trouble.

* Penny says she will not take money from Johnny for an abortion.

* Baby gives $250 to Penny, who initially refuses to take it.

* Baby suggests that someone else can fill in for Penny at the Sheldrake.

* Jake, after treating Penny, refuses to shake Johnny's hand.

* In Johnny's cabin, Baby exclaims that "You're everything".

* Neil Kellerman insists that Johnny arrange a pachanga dance for the talent show.

* Baby fails to tell her father about that Johnny is her boyfriend.

* Max accuses Johnny of stealing money.

* Max fires Johnny.

* Jake refuses to listen to Johnny's explanation.

In those incidents, Johnny felt or even expressed anger, did he did not lose his temper.

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Johnny's dancing helped him to control his anger. While dancing, he focused his thoughts on that activity. distracting himself from other obsessions. Also, his dancing relaxed his body from stresses caused by anger.

He lost his temper only when he was worried about an imminent public performance that was likely to fail. In particular, he lost his temper two days before the Sheldrake Hotel performance and one day before the talent-show performances. In those two situations, he worried that he would be embarrassed as a professional dancer by his amateur partner, Baby.

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This article will continue in Part 2.