"Last week I took a girl away from Jamie the lifeguard" -- Part 3

This article follows up Part 1 and Part 2.

Also, my recent article The Song "You Don't Own Me" Sung by The Blow Monkeys suggested that this song might have been intended for an extinct, swimming-pool scene involving Jamie the lifeguard.

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This series of articles analyzes the following dialogue.

Baby wondering if her parents might be looking for her.
Her parents are in the gazebo in the background.

Neil Kellerman
I love to watch your hair blowing in the breeze.

Baby Houseman
Maybe my parents are looking for me.

Neil Kellerman
Baby, don't worry. If they think you're with me, they'll be the happiest parents at Kellerman's. I have to say it: I'm known as the catch of the county.

Baby Houseman
I'm sure you are.

Neil Kellerman
Last week I took a girl away from Jamie, the lifeguard. And he said to her, right in front of me: "What does he have that I don't have?" And she said, "Two hotels."

Right after Neil compliments Baby's blowing hair, Baby remarks: Maybe my parents are looking for me.

Right behind them is the gazebo where her parents are dancing. From the gabebo, her parents can see her.

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However, just a few minutes previously, Baby had been standing with her parents in the gazebo. Her parents had been waiting for a slow waltz to play.

Baby, a few minutes before her parents might be looking for her.

Why was Baby standing with her parents in the gazebo? As soon as a slow waltz would begin, her parents would begin dancing with each other.

Then what would Baby do? Dance with Max Kellerman?

Of course not. Baby was waiting for Neil Kellerman to come into the gazebo so that she could dance with Neil. Baby had danced with Neil in the ballroom on her first night at the hotel. Since then, Baby had danced with Neil in the "playhouse", according to Billy Kostecki.

The hotel employees -- who watched their boss Neil closely -- perceived that Baby and Neil were in a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship. A short time after the gazebo scene -- that very same night -- Penny Johnson remarked: Now she's gonna run and tell her little management boyfriend, and then we'll all get fired.

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So, Baby was standing in the gazebo with her parents, who were waiting for a slow waltz. Baby was waiting for Neil and intended to dance with him.

Then Neil comes into the gazebo and approaches Johnny Castle.

Neil Kellerman
Where's Penny? Everybody's been asking for her.

Johnny Castle
What do you mean, where's Penny? She's taking a break. She needs a break.

Neil Kellerman
(Addressing Johnny)
As long as it's not an all-night break.

(Addressing Baby)
Come on, doll. Let's take a walk.

So, even though Baby had been waiting for Neil to come and dance with her, she instead takes a walk with him, as he suggests.

Baby does not object: Hey, I've been waiting here to dance with you. Let's dance for a while first and then go take a walk afterwards.

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In an earlier article, titled Baby Houseman's Inner Conflict About Femininity -- Part 6, I argued that Baby considered Neil to be her practice boyfriend. I wrote:

... Baby was using Neil as her practice boyfriend, also known as a starter boyfriend, without his knowing his status.

The website Girls Ask Guys includes a webpage titled I'm thinking of looking for a "practice boyfriend." Is this a bad idea?, where an anonymous girl's questions defines the term:

... I have social anxiety and act really awkward around guys. I want to become desensitized to them. In addition I'd like to have some experience just to say I have it so this idea will kill two birds with one stone.

So basically what I would require from the guy who agrees to this is:

* He helps me practice kissing

* He touches me a bit so I can be comfortable with guys and also gain some experience

* He messes around with me a bit without going all the way. Possibly I might change my mind and let him go all the way anyway. I want the experience and to be desensitized to guys.

* He's clean.

I don't care if he sees other girls on the side. This is all just practice for me. I understand how insane this sounds but I'm getting pretty desperate and tired of feeling the way I do around guys.

This book is not associated with
the "Girls Ask Boys" website

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The website Yahoo! Answers includes a webpage titled Should I get a starter boyfriend?, where the question is asked and answered as follows:

Question: I am 22 and I never been on a date. I never kissed, held hands, etc. I don't want to be in a serious relationship right now. I enjoy being single because one day I'll get married, have kids and that's it. I am pretty (not meant to sound conceited) so I do get "offers". ... I do want to hang out with a guy and gain experience (not sexual) because I feel when I do meet a man I really like I should know something about relationships. So, should I get a starter boyfriend?

Answer: .... Find a guy you like, even if you're not nuts over him, but someone you like enough to date and would enjoy being with for more than the "dating points" and go out with him.....but make it clear right away that you just want a casual relationship with no strings attached. If he's cool with that -- and some people are -- then proceed, but if you sense he is getting too attached, it might be a good idea to distance yourself at that point till things cool down. Also, if you really want a "casual" relationship, keep in mind that if it lasts for a long time, the more likely he is to get feelings for you that aren't casual.

This book is not associated with
the "Yahoo! Answers" website.

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A young woman with a practice boyfriend can experiment in her responses to the various male remarks, compliments, suggestions, requests, teasing jokes and physical advances that she will experience later with men in real relationships. For a young woman, interacting with a practice boyfriend is lots of fun. ....

Because Baby is using Neil as a practice boyfriend, she meekly complies with Neil's suggestion that they go for a walk instead of dancing for a while first. She does not have enough girlfriend-boyfriend experience yet to object to his suggestion. She supposes that in such a situation a good girlfriend should follow her boyfriend's lead compliantly and gracefully.

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Neil leads Baby some distance from the gazebo -- not very far; the gazebo is still in sight -- stands close to her, and begins to complement the beauty of her hair blowing in the breeze. His compliment embarrasses her. Perhaps she is ashamed of her too-curly, unruly hair.

She feels nervous about what else he might say and about what he intends to try with her.

An important consideration in Baby's situation is that she knows that her sister Lisa has gone alone with Robbie Gould to the golf course to advance their sexual relationship during that nighttime. Baby has been thinking about what Robbie might be trying on Lisa, and Baby is nervous that Neil soon might try to progress likewise with herself.

Therefore, Baby immediately wants to escape her isolated situation with Neil. She wants to head back to the gazebo, where her parents are dancing.

Baby does not mean to insult Neil. He can go back to the gazebo and dance with her in her parents' presence or else he can depart from her. She is giving him that choice.

This moment of her acting promptly to control Neil is a benefit of her having him as a practice boyfriend. Although she has femininely and compliantly followed his lead in going on this walk instead of dancing, now she is exercising her feminine prerogative to block his tactic to advance their intimacy. She is learning how to deal with a boyfriend.

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Baby likes and respects Neil. She is happy to talk and dance with him. She is happy to be complimented and admired for her femininity by him. She is happy to practice having a boyfriend and being a girlfriend.

He is not much taller than her, but he is a few years older than her. She has just graduated from high school, and he already has been studying in a college of hotel management. His slightly older age and life experience enables her to admire him somewhat.

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Eventually in the movie's story, Baby will drift away from Neil as she spends more time and becomes sexually involved with Johnny.

Even so, Baby continues to respect Neil as being an intelligent and reasonable young man -- even as being more intelligent and reasonable than Johnny. After Neil and Johnny argue about the what dance will be performed at the talent show, Baby advises Johnny: You tell him your ideas. He's a person like everyone else.

In the stage musical, Baby does not become disillusioned with Neil until near the story's end, when he backs out of his stated intention to travel to South to participate in Civil Rights activities.

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This series will continue in Part 4.