The Wrath of Johnny Castle -- Part 8

This post concludes the series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.

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Before Eleanor Bergstein wrote the screenplay for the movie Dirty Dancing, released in 1987, she wrote the screenplay for the movie It's My Turn, released in 1980.

The Dirty Dancing leading male character is Johnny Castle, who is troubled significantly by insecurity and anger. I think that the actor Patrick Swayze added those negative characteristics to the screenplay and to the movie. I discussed Swayze's changes to the script in an earlier article titled My Speculations about Script Changes Made by the Swayzes and by Rhodes.

The It's My Turn leading male character is Ben Lewin, who is rather self-confident and good-humored. I speculate that Bergstein originally intended for Johnny Castle to be likewise self-confident and good-humored.

Because of Swayze's script changes, however, Johnny Castle turned out to be insecure and angry. Swayze deserves credit for making Castle emotionally more complex, and Bergstein deserves credit for embracing Swayze's improvements to her script.

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I have written two articles about It's My Turn -- Eleanor Bergstein's Earlier Movie It's My Turn and Re-Watching Eleanor Bergstein's Earlier Movie It's My Turn.

The character Ben Levin is a former professional baseball player who had to retire from the sport because of a shoulder injury. He is developing a new career of giving inspirational speeches to civic groups.

Ben is self-confident sexually. Within hours of meeting the leading female character -- Kate Gunzinger, a university instructor of mathematics -- he seduces her into a sexual relationship. He is not inhibited by the circumstance that Kate is his new step-sister -- they meet at the rehearsal for the impending marriage of his mother and her father.

Ben Levin (Michael Douglas) teasing Kate Gunzinger (Jill Clayburgh)
in Eleanor Bergstein's 1980 movie "It's My Turn"

There is no moment in the movie where he expresses any insecurity or anger. He is a jock who has fun rolling through the ups and downs of his life. He gets along well with everyone.

In contrast, Kate suffers from various insecurities and angers during the movie.

I suppose that Bergstein generally views male-female relationships with this perspective. She admires men's strength and self-confidence but resents their unfair advantages and privileges in life.

Ben Levin and Johnny Castle both were strong, self-confident men who were naturally able to inhibit and manipulate women.

Johnny Castle teasing Baby Houseman
in Eleanor Bergstein's 1987 movie "Dirty Dancing"

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As long as I viewed It's My Turn as a feminist movie, I thought it was atrocious. Eventually, however, I came to view the movie as a portrayal of a woman suffering from a manic-depressive disorder, and so now I find the movie to be artistically insightful.

I see the movie It's My Turn as portraying a contrast between the manic-depressive Kate and the even-tempered Ben. She is quickly and strongly attracted to him -- succumbs to his sexual seduction -- because she perceives his emotional stability in contrast to her own mood disorder.

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In It's My Turn, the heroine has a father who is named Jacob and is a medical doctor. In this regard, It's My Turn is similar to Dirty Dancing. In each movie, the heroine loves and respects her father.

However, there is no conflict between the daughter and father in It's My Turn, whereas there is a major conflict between the daughter and father in Dirty Dancing. Jake, the father in Dirty Dancing becomes quite angry at his daughter Baby.

In It's My Turn, there is anger between the heroine and her new step-mother, who is about to marry the heroine's father.

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At the end of It's My Turn,Kate returns home and dumps her long-term boyfriend, who is puzzled and disappointed but is not seen becoming angry.

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In general, the men in Bergstein's first movie It's My Turn  are not seen as being angry persons. Rather, all the anger is in the women.

In Dirty Dancing, three men are seen being angry -- 1) Johnny Castle, 2) Jake Houseman and 3) Max Kellerman. I think, however, that in Bergstein's original story Johnny was a self-confident, good-natured man like Ben Lewin of It's My Turn. Johnny became occasionally angry because of changes that Swayze made to the script.

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This article concludes my series The Wrath of Johnny Castle.