Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Some Videos Restored to YouTube -- 2
The following videos were on my blog, but they were deleted from YouTube. Now they have reappeared on YouTube on a channel titled Movie Bonus Convert to UHD.
Some Videos Restored to YouTube -- 1
The following videos were on my blog, but they were deleted from YouTube. Now they have reappeared on YouTube on a channel titled Movie Bonus Convert to UHD.
The Development of Lisa's Political Rebellion -- Part 1
This post follows up my series titled The Development of Baby's Political Rebellion -- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. That series argued essentially that Baby had been influenced strongly by the political opinions of her father, Dr. Jake Houseman. A key issue for Dr. Houseman was government interference in the medical business -- an interference that the American Medical Association denounced as "socialized medicine". Because of this key issue, her father usually voted Republican. During the 1950s, Baby reflexively had gone along with her father's admiration for President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican.
During the 1960 Presidential election race, however, Baby found herself supporting John Kennedy in particular and the Democratic Party in general. She was outraged by the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater's seeming acceptance of racial discrimination.
During the Dirty Dancing story, Baby's growing disagreement with her father's political opinions culminated in an open rebellion against him.
Baby's "Declaration of Political Independence" from her father was her angry monologue.
======
Lisa was 19 years old. She had been influenced strongly by her mother, Marjorie Houseman, who was politically very liberal.
According to the July 1986 script, Marjorie was "fortyish" in August 1963, which means she was born a couple years before 1923. Let's say she was born in 1921. During The Great Depression, from about 1929 to 1939, Marjorie was about eight to 18 years old.
In 1940, when Marjorie was 19 years old (Lisa's age), she was so poor that she had to wear the same skirt and blouse every day. In other words, Marjorie's family still had not emerged from The Great Depression in 1940.
After Marjorie graduated from high school (in about 1939), she attended Hunter College, an all-women college in Manhattan. During her college years (about 1939-1942) she was unusually political -- "the one carrying petitions".
Lisa was born in about (1963 - 19 = ) 1944. If Lisa was conceived after Marjorie married Jake, then the marriage happened probably before 1943. It seems that Marjorie married Jake soon after she graduated from Hunter College -- when she was about 21 years old in about 1942 -- and soon became pregnant with Lisa.
After she gave birth to Lisa in 1944, she probably became a stay-at-home mother. Although she had graduated from college, she never established a professional career. Her husband Jake established his doctor career during the post-war years, as the US economy boomed. By marrying Jake, who became a successful doctor, Marjorie enjoyed financial comfort and security during her twenties and thirties.
Once the youngest daughter, Baby, was in school -- in the mid-1950s -- Marjorie had the free time to take golf lessons and to play golf with her fellow doctors' wives. Marjorie became a better golfer than Jake.
Although Jake's concerns about "socialized medicine" made him politically rather conservative during the 1950s, Marjorie remained in the political liberalism of her youth. As a mother of two children, Marjorie thought that the government should subsidize and require medical services, especially for children.
======
Thus the political opinions of Jake and Marjorie diverged during the 1950s. He became an Eisenhower Republican, while she voted stubbornly for the Democrats' loser Adlai Stevenson. Baby loyally admired her father's political opinions, whereas Lisa loyally admired her mother's political opinions.
In 1960, however, Baby found herself agreeing more and more with her mother and sister that John Kennedy was wonderful. After Kennedy actually became President in January 1961, Baby considered herself henceforth to be a Democrat, but she continued to admire her father's political wisdom.
========
When Kennedy was inaugurated in January 1961, Lisa was about 17 years old. She graduated from high school and enrolled in college during Kennedy's first year as President.
Since Marjorie had attended an all-women college and since Baby would attend an all-women college, it's likely that Lisa too attended an all-women college.
Lisa's adolescence had been very different, however, from her mother's adolescence. Lisa had grown up in a rather wealthy family in the prosperous 1950s. Lisa was able to acquire a varied, fashionable wardrobe. Lisa never wore the same skirt and blouse two days in a row.
Lisa enrolled in an all-women college only because her mother encouraged to do so. Lisa did not really care that an all-women college might prepare her for a career better than a mixed-sex school. Lisa did not aspire to a professional career.
Rather, Lisa aspired to marry a doctor, as her mother had done so successfully. It's likely that she majored in art history, because she was interested mostly in physical beauty. She wanted to present herself beautifully in order to attract a successful man. She eventually wanted to decorate her future home and to dress her future children beautifully. Studying art history was Lisa's best available course of higher education to prepare herself for her personal aspirations.
As the Kennedy Administration progressed, Lisa found herself paying much more attention to Jacqueline Kennedy than to John Kennedy.
=======
Continued in Part 2
During the 1960 Presidential election race, however, Baby found herself supporting John Kennedy in particular and the Democratic Party in general. She was outraged by the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater's seeming acceptance of racial discrimination.
During the Dirty Dancing story, Baby's growing disagreement with her father's political opinions culminated in an open rebellion against him.
Baby's "Declaration of Political Independence" from her father was her angry monologue.
You told me everyone was alike and deserved a fair break. But you meant everyone who is like you. You told me you wanted me to change the world, to make it better, but you meant by becoming a lawyer or an economist and marrying someone from Harvard. ....Baby was 17 years old -- an age when adolescent rebellion against parents is common.
There are a lot of things about me that aren't what you thought. But if you love me, you have to love all the things about me.
======
Lisa was 19 years old. She had been influenced strongly by her mother, Marjorie Houseman, who was politically very liberal.
According to the July 1986 script, Marjorie was "fortyish" in August 1963, which means she was born a couple years before 1923. Let's say she was born in 1921. During The Great Depression, from about 1929 to 1939, Marjorie was about eight to 18 years old.
In 1940, when Marjorie was 19 years old (Lisa's age), she was so poor that she had to wear the same skirt and blouse every day. In other words, Marjorie's family still had not emerged from The Great Depression in 1940.
After Marjorie graduated from high school (in about 1939), she attended Hunter College, an all-women college in Manhattan. During her college years (about 1939-1942) she was unusually political -- "the one carrying petitions".
Lisa was born in about (1963 - 19 = ) 1944. If Lisa was conceived after Marjorie married Jake, then the marriage happened probably before 1943. It seems that Marjorie married Jake soon after she graduated from Hunter College -- when she was about 21 years old in about 1942 -- and soon became pregnant with Lisa.
After she gave birth to Lisa in 1944, she probably became a stay-at-home mother. Although she had graduated from college, she never established a professional career. Her husband Jake established his doctor career during the post-war years, as the US economy boomed. By marrying Jake, who became a successful doctor, Marjorie enjoyed financial comfort and security during her twenties and thirties.
Once the youngest daughter, Baby, was in school -- in the mid-1950s -- Marjorie had the free time to take golf lessons and to play golf with her fellow doctors' wives. Marjorie became a better golfer than Jake.
Although Jake's concerns about "socialized medicine" made him politically rather conservative during the 1950s, Marjorie remained in the political liberalism of her youth. As a mother of two children, Marjorie thought that the government should subsidize and require medical services, especially for children.
======
Thus the political opinions of Jake and Marjorie diverged during the 1950s. He became an Eisenhower Republican, while she voted stubbornly for the Democrats' loser Adlai Stevenson. Baby loyally admired her father's political opinions, whereas Lisa loyally admired her mother's political opinions.
In 1960, however, Baby found herself agreeing more and more with her mother and sister that John Kennedy was wonderful. After Kennedy actually became President in January 1961, Baby considered herself henceforth to be a Democrat, but she continued to admire her father's political wisdom.
========
When Kennedy was inaugurated in January 1961, Lisa was about 17 years old. She graduated from high school and enrolled in college during Kennedy's first year as President.
Since Marjorie had attended an all-women college and since Baby would attend an all-women college, it's likely that Lisa too attended an all-women college.
Lisa's adolescence had been very different, however, from her mother's adolescence. Lisa had grown up in a rather wealthy family in the prosperous 1950s. Lisa was able to acquire a varied, fashionable wardrobe. Lisa never wore the same skirt and blouse two days in a row.
Lisa enrolled in an all-women college only because her mother encouraged to do so. Lisa did not really care that an all-women college might prepare her for a career better than a mixed-sex school. Lisa did not aspire to a professional career.
Rather, Lisa aspired to marry a doctor, as her mother had done so successfully. It's likely that she majored in art history, because she was interested mostly in physical beauty. She wanted to present herself beautifully in order to attract a successful man. She eventually wanted to decorate her future home and to dress her future children beautifully. Studying art history was Lisa's best available course of higher education to prepare herself for her personal aspirations.
As the Kennedy Administration progressed, Lisa found herself paying much more attention to Jacqueline Kennedy than to John Kennedy.
=======
Continued in Part 2
Monday, December 30, 2019
Travel Improvements for European Vacations During 1958-1963
Max Kellerman says on September 1, 1963, that his summer-resort business is suffering because young people prefer to fly to Europe during their summer vacations.
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The first commercial jet-airliner transatlantic flight had happened less than five years previously. The first company, BOAC, provided the first such flight on October 4, 1958.
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Before 1958, transatlantic flights were done by propeller airliners, which were much slower. A flight from New York to London took about 14 hours.
A jet flight took less than half that time. Jet flights soon became much cheaper than propeller flights had been.
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See my previous articles about movies depicting young people's vacations in Europe in the 1960s.
It's not the changes so much this time. It's that it all seems to be ending. You think kids want to come with their parents and take fox-trot lessons? Trips to Europe, that's what the kids want. Twenty-two countries in three days. It feels like it's all slipping away.Travel improvements for vacations in Europe were developing quickly.
======
The first commercial jet-airliner transatlantic flight had happened less than five years previously. The first company, BOAC, provided the first such flight on October 4, 1958.
On 4 October 1958, the very first transatlantic jet services took flight. British airline BOAC flew two de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft – one from New York to London and one from London to New York – on this day.The second company, Pan American, provided its first such flight on October 26, 1958. Below is Pan American's promotional film about this new service.
Jet aircraft substantially reduced travel times. Flights on the Boeing Stratocruiser could take up to 20 hours to cross the Atlantic, so it really was the dawn of a new era.
At the time, there was intense competition between airlines to see who would be first to cross the Atlantic with jets. Pan American was the main contender and they flew the route just three weeks after BOAC.
Below is a short video about the delivery of the Comet 4 to BOAC. This British built aircraft operated the first transatlantic jet flight, though it did not operate there for a long time due to its limited range.
.... The Comet seated 48 passengers in two cabins, Deluxe and First Class. ....
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Before 1958, transatlantic flights were done by propeller airliners, which were much slower. A flight from New York to London took about 14 hours.
A jet flight took less than half that time. Jet flights soon became much cheaper than propeller flights had been.
=======
See my previous articles about movies depicting young people's vacations in Europe in the 1960s.
* Gidget Goes to Rome (a 1963 movie)
* If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (a 1969 movie)
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Holiday Reading and Watching
I will not be posting for several days. When I resume, I intend to continue my review of Eleanor Bergstein's book Advancing Paul Newman.
In the meantime, you might find something to read or watch from the following lists.
=========
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
In the meantime, you might find something to read or watch from the following lists.
=========
Part 1
Previous Milestones=========
The Movie's Genre
The Movie's Dance Theme
The Movie's Morality Theme
The Movie's Daughter-Father Theme
The Movie's Jewish Subtext
The Story's Chronology
The Producer Linda Gottlieb
The Screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein
The Development of the Story and Script
The Actor Patrick Swayze
The Actress Jennifer Grey
The Actress Cynthia Rhodes
The Choreographer Kenny Ortega
Part 2
Baby Houseman=========
Baby Houseman and Lisa Houseman
Johnny Castle
Baby Houseman and Johnny Castle
Johnny Castle and Jake Houseman
Baby Houseman and Neil Kellerman
Baby Houseman and Neil Kellerman
Lisa Houseman and Robbie Gould
Penny Johnson
Baby Houseman and Penny Johnson
Penny Johnson and Robbie Gould
Billy Kostecki
Vivian Pressman
Miscellaneous Characters
The Movie's Locations
The Movie's Time Period
Part 3
Miscellaneous Moments in the Movie=========
Deleted Scenes
Mistakes and Absurdities
Clothing, Hair and Appearance
Legal Issues in the Story
Books About the Movie
Other People's Reviews and Essays
Fan Fiction
Part 4
The Movie's Sexuality=========
Miscellaneous People and Characters
The Movie's Music
The Movie's Songs
Part 5
Vestron and the Initial Marketing=========
Derivative Songs
The Stage Musical
The 1988-1989 TV Series
The ABC Original Movie
Various Derivative Productions
Part 6
The Best and Worst Videos=========
GIFs and Video Clips
Photographs
Illustrations
Arts and Crafts
Poems
Foods
Part 7
Other Movies
Alternative Treatments
Cartoons
Instrumentals
Instructional Dance Videos
Instructional Music Videos
Monologues
The Filming
Skating
Flash Mobs
Revues
Odds and Ends
Videos That Were Good But Are Gone
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Why didn't Jake tell Marge about Baby's shenanigans?
Baby asked her father Jake for $250 without explaining the reason. Later, Baby got her father out of bed in the middle of the night and brought him to treat a hotel employee suffering after an illegal abortion.
Jake does not tell any of this to his wife Marge. Jake even tells Baby:
Marge does not begin to understand the situation until the Housemans' later breakfast with the Kellerman's, when Baby reveals that she was with Johnny in his cabin when the wallet was stolen.
We can assume that right after this breakfast, Jake belatedly informed Marge about:
Marjorie does not become ashamed, angry or hysterical about Baby. On the contrary, just a few hours later, at the talent show, Marjorie proudly exclaims about Baby: I think she gets it from me!
========
Why does Jake hide Baby's shenanigans from Marge -- his wife and co-parent? We can suppose that their marriage suffers problems with honesty, trust, communication and parenting.
Compared to the 1987 movie, marriage problems between Jake and Marge are more blatant In the stage musical and in the ABC "original movie".
-------
In the stage musical, Marge learns from Penny. In my review of the stage musical, I wrote:
------
In the ABC "original movie", Marge is so dissatisfied in her marriage that she even tells Jake she wants a divorce. Her major dissatisfaction does not seem, however, to be about co-parenting. Rather, Marjorie's major dissatisfaction seem to be about inadequate intimacy with Jake.
=========
Here is my own explanation for Jake's hiding Baby's shenanigans from Marge.
In the Houseman family, there are two main parent-child relationships:
As the movie continues, a sisterly rivalry becomes apparent. Both daughters recognize that their father favors Baby. Later in the story, though, Lisa declares that Baby's lies have caused their father to begin to favor Lisa instead:
Jake had two daughters; he had no sons. Baby was his quasi-son. Baby prioritized her higher education and professional career over marriage, and so she might follow in her father's footsteps -- might even become a doctor. He wanted to influence and guide Baby's life much more than Lisa's life.
Baby apparently disdained her mother for being a stay-at-home mother, with no career ambitions. Baby did not value her mother's advice and support, and so Baby deliberately excluded her mother from knowing about many of her dubious, risky actions.
========
The first incident that Jake and Baby concealed from Marge involved the $250. Perhaps Jake and Marge disagreed often about money. Jake was the family's only money-earner, and so perhaps he felt he should largely control the family's finances. He might have felt that Marge overspent frivolously -- for example, on fashionable clothing for herself and for Lisa.
Jake liked to be able to spend his hard-earned money independently, without the influence, approval or even knowledge of his wife. Furthermore, he liked that his two daughters sometimes came to him to ask for money without their mother's knowledge. Whenever he granted the money in such situations, he gave his daughters (Lisa too) reason to favor their father over their mother.
========
The second incident that Jake and Baby concealed from Marge involved his helping Penny after the illegal abortion As a professional doctor, Jake was the respected, unquestioned expert in such a situation. He did not have to pay any attention what his wife might say -- even if she were present.
The fact that Jake was superior in medical situations might be generalized to a supposition that he was superior in most situations. Perhaps he felt he knew more than Marge also about, for example, parenting.
========
The second incident included also Baby's wearing cosmetics -- lipstick, mascara, rouge, and so forth. Jake told Baby to "take that stuff off your face before your mother sees you".
Part of Jake's concern about Baby's wearing makeup on this occasion was that Baby normally did not wear makeup. He was worried that Marge might begin to ask questions about why Baby was acting so abnormally.
Further, though, Jake might have preferred that Baby generally not wear makeup, because he preferred that she defer romantic relationships with men until after she had completed her higher education and established her professional career. Jake preferred that Baby remain frumpy and unattractive for the next several years.
========
The third incident that Jake and Baby concealed from Marge was when Baby was away from her hotel bedroom all night. I think that Baby knew that Lisa snitched to their father. Baby certainly knew by the time that Jake announced at breakfast that the family would depart a day early.
When Jake received this information from Lisa about Baby's all-night absence, then that should have compelled him to inform Marge that Baby was acting strangely. Jake needed Marge's help to monitor and get Baby back under parental control.
By this time, however, Jake already had concealed too much from Marge. He did not want to admit the previous incidents. He did not want to deal with Marge's inevitable complaints that he should not have concealed from he Baby's strange misbehavior.
========
In general, Jake wanted to exert the major influence and control in Baby's life -- and wanted Marge to allow him to do so. In Jake's mind, the less Marge knew about Baby's serious but dubious activities, the better. In Baby got into trouble, then Baby should come to her father first, not to her mother.
Baby perceived advantages for herself in her status of being her father's favorite daughter. She did not have to convince both parents to support an important and perhaps risk or expensive decision. Rather, she had to convince essentially only one parent -- her father. Baby figured that she would prosper usually by playing off her father against her mother. In any parental disagreement, her father ultimately would prevail against her mother -- because he controlled the money and was the respected expert.
The disadvantage for Baby in this arrangement was that her father preferred that she defer any romantic relationships with men for several years. He generally did not forbid such relationships, but he did expressly and strictly forbid her to associate with the dancers and other hotel employees.
Jake apparently did approve of Baby's flirtation with Neil Kellerman, but he did not fear that she would become sexually involved with Neil, at least during the immediate future. Jake trusted Max Kellerman to help monitor the relationship between Baby and Neil. Jake did not trust the hotel's dancers and other low-class employees.
I think that Marjorie -- if she had learned promptly about Penny's illegal abortion -- would not have prohibited Baby to associate with the dancers and other employees. When Marge had been Baby's age, Marge had broken up with her own boyfriend and then had moved on. Marge had this perspective to expect that if Baby became romantically involved with a man who turned out to be a bad match, then that romantic relationship eventually would end without lasting consequences.
Marge trusted Baby in romantic relationships more than Jake trusted Baby. That is part of the reason why Jake wanted to be kept out of decisions involving Baby's romantic relationships. Jake expected that Marge would give Baby more free rein to try and develop romantic relationships.
Jake does not tell any of this to his wife Marge. Jake even tells Baby:
You're to have nothing to do with them ever again! I won't tell your mother about this. Right now I'm going to bed. And take that stuff off your face before your mother sees you!Later, the Houseman family is eating breakfast, and Jake announces that the family will leave Kellerman's a day early. Marge is the only person at the breakfast table who does not know Jake's reason for the early departure. The reason is that Lisa has told him -- and Baby knows that Lisa has told him -- that Baby has come back to the daughters' hotel bedroom in the morning. Baby was away from that bedroom all night.
Marge does not begin to understand the situation until the Housemans' later breakfast with the Kellerman's, when Baby reveals that she was with Johnny in his cabin when the wallet was stolen.
 |
| Marge at the breakfast where she begins to understand the situation |
* the $250Marjorie seems to have reacted to this belated news calmly and thoughtfully in her subsequent talk with Baby. A few hours before the talent show, Marjorie and Baby had a serious conversation in which Marjorie compared herself to Baby. The conversation was filmed, but the scene was deleted when the film was edited. In the following video, the deleted conversation can be seen between 8:17 and 9:02.
* the illegal abortion
* Baby's all-night absence from her bedroom
Baby HousemanHere, Marjorie compares her own seventeen-year-old self with seventeen-year-old Baby. Marjorie too suffered a painful break-up with a boyfriend. Marjorie engages Baby emphatically in a conversation about Baby's current emotional relationships -- rather than about her sexual activities.
Ma, please, you don't understand.
Marjorie Houseman
No, Baby, you don't.
I know about this. I really know.
When I was your age, I was in love with someone else before your father. And when it ended, it hurt so bad I thought I'd die of it, but I didn't.
And I didn't wreck everyone else's lives in the process either.
Marjorie does not become ashamed, angry or hysterical about Baby. On the contrary, just a few hours later, at the talent show, Marjorie proudly exclaims about Baby: I think she gets it from me!
========
Why does Jake hide Baby's shenanigans from Marge -- his wife and co-parent? We can suppose that their marriage suffers problems with honesty, trust, communication and parenting.
Compared to the 1987 movie, marriage problems between Jake and Marge are more blatant In the stage musical and in the ABC "original movie".
-------
In the stage musical, Marge learns from Penny. In my review of the stage musical, I wrote:
After Penny recovers from her abortion in the musical, she is so grateful to the entire Houseman family that she takes the initiative to give private dance lessons to Marjorie. During such a lesson, Penny mentions that Jake had treated her after her an abortion. Penny assumes that Marjorie knew about this, but Marjorie knew nothing until Penny mentioned it.This anger of Marge toward Jake is not depicted in the 1987 movie.
Marjorie is angry that Jake has kept this secret from her, and so she goes and confronts Jake about it.
Afterwards Marjorie confronts Baby. This scene in the musical is similar to a scene that was filmed for the movie but was deleted.
------
In the ABC "original movie", Marge is so dissatisfied in her marriage that she even tells Jake she wants a divorce. Her major dissatisfaction does not seem, however, to be about co-parenting. Rather, Marjorie's major dissatisfaction seem to be about inadequate intimacy with Jake.
=========
Here is my own explanation for Jake's hiding Baby's shenanigans from Marge.
In the Houseman family, there are two main parent-child relationships:
* Jake and BabyIn the movie's opening scene, we see the family riding in their car to Kellerman's. Baby is sitting behind her father, and Lisa is sitting behind her mother. Baby embraces her father's neck, admiringly expressing her desire to find a male partner like her father. In the next scene, Lisa and her mother engage in a conversation about Lisa's wardrobe.
* Marge and Lisa
As the movie continues, a sisterly rivalry becomes apparent. Both daughters recognize that their father favors Baby. Later in the story, though, Lisa declares that Baby's lies have caused their father to begin to favor Lisa instead:
What you care about is that you're not Daddy's girl anymore.Until that turning-point in the family dynamic, Baby had been Jake's favorite daughter, and Jake had been Baby's favorite parent. When Baby wanted $250, she asked only her father, even though her mother too was nearby on the putting green.
He listens when I talk now. You hate that.
Jake had two daughters; he had no sons. Baby was his quasi-son. Baby prioritized her higher education and professional career over marriage, and so she might follow in her father's footsteps -- might even become a doctor. He wanted to influence and guide Baby's life much more than Lisa's life.
Baby apparently disdained her mother for being a stay-at-home mother, with no career ambitions. Baby did not value her mother's advice and support, and so Baby deliberately excluded her mother from knowing about many of her dubious, risky actions.
========
The first incident that Jake and Baby concealed from Marge involved the $250. Perhaps Jake and Marge disagreed often about money. Jake was the family's only money-earner, and so perhaps he felt he should largely control the family's finances. He might have felt that Marge overspent frivolously -- for example, on fashionable clothing for herself and for Lisa.
Jake liked to be able to spend his hard-earned money independently, without the influence, approval or even knowledge of his wife. Furthermore, he liked that his two daughters sometimes came to him to ask for money without their mother's knowledge. Whenever he granted the money in such situations, he gave his daughters (Lisa too) reason to favor their father over their mother.
========
The second incident that Jake and Baby concealed from Marge involved his helping Penny after the illegal abortion As a professional doctor, Jake was the respected, unquestioned expert in such a situation. He did not have to pay any attention what his wife might say -- even if she were present.
The fact that Jake was superior in medical situations might be generalized to a supposition that he was superior in most situations. Perhaps he felt he knew more than Marge also about, for example, parenting.
========
The second incident included also Baby's wearing cosmetics -- lipstick, mascara, rouge, and so forth. Jake told Baby to "take that stuff off your face before your mother sees you".
Part of Jake's concern about Baby's wearing makeup on this occasion was that Baby normally did not wear makeup. He was worried that Marge might begin to ask questions about why Baby was acting so abnormally.
Further, though, Jake might have preferred that Baby generally not wear makeup, because he preferred that she defer romantic relationships with men until after she had completed her higher education and established her professional career. Jake preferred that Baby remain frumpy and unattractive for the next several years.
========
The third incident that Jake and Baby concealed from Marge was when Baby was away from her hotel bedroom all night. I think that Baby knew that Lisa snitched to their father. Baby certainly knew by the time that Jake announced at breakfast that the family would depart a day early.
When Jake received this information from Lisa about Baby's all-night absence, then that should have compelled him to inform Marge that Baby was acting strangely. Jake needed Marge's help to monitor and get Baby back under parental control.
By this time, however, Jake already had concealed too much from Marge. He did not want to admit the previous incidents. He did not want to deal with Marge's inevitable complaints that he should not have concealed from he Baby's strange misbehavior.
========
In general, Jake wanted to exert the major influence and control in Baby's life -- and wanted Marge to allow him to do so. In Jake's mind, the less Marge knew about Baby's serious but dubious activities, the better. In Baby got into trouble, then Baby should come to her father first, not to her mother.
Baby perceived advantages for herself in her status of being her father's favorite daughter. She did not have to convince both parents to support an important and perhaps risk or expensive decision. Rather, she had to convince essentially only one parent -- her father. Baby figured that she would prosper usually by playing off her father against her mother. In any parental disagreement, her father ultimately would prevail against her mother -- because he controlled the money and was the respected expert.
The disadvantage for Baby in this arrangement was that her father preferred that she defer any romantic relationships with men for several years. He generally did not forbid such relationships, but he did expressly and strictly forbid her to associate with the dancers and other hotel employees.
Jake apparently did approve of Baby's flirtation with Neil Kellerman, but he did not fear that she would become sexually involved with Neil, at least during the immediate future. Jake trusted Max Kellerman to help monitor the relationship between Baby and Neil. Jake did not trust the hotel's dancers and other low-class employees.
I think that Marjorie -- if she had learned promptly about Penny's illegal abortion -- would not have prohibited Baby to associate with the dancers and other employees. When Marge had been Baby's age, Marge had broken up with her own boyfriend and then had moved on. Marge had this perspective to expect that if Baby became romantically involved with a man who turned out to be a bad match, then that romantic relationship eventually would end without lasting consequences.
Marge trusted Baby in romantic relationships more than Jake trusted Baby. That is part of the reason why Jake wanted to be kept out of decisions involving Baby's romantic relationships. Jake expected that Marge would give Baby more free rein to try and develop romantic relationships.
Friday, December 20, 2019
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Refusing to Name the Baby's Father
In my articles about the supposition that Patrick Swayze was the father of a certain Jason Whittle. Although this supposition has not been proved conclusively, I will assume for the sake of convenience in writing this article that Swayze indeed is the biological father of Whittle.
In my articles, I have pointed out this irony:
I assume that if Swayze would have been very happy to learn about and become acquainted with his biological son Whittle and to include Whittle belatedly in his own life. Swayze would have been happy that Whittle had not been aborted.
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Now in this article here, I am pointing out another irony.
Jake Houseman does not learn the impregnator's identity until the movie's end, but that was because Jake apparently never asked Penny directly. Jake simply made a mistaken assumption.
In general, Penny wanted to keep her pregnancy and abortion secret, but she was willing to accuse Robbie to anyone who knew about her pregnancy.
======
It happens all the time that a woman refuses to name the man who made her pregnant. Among such countless women was Bonnie Kay Whittle. I sure would like to learn her story.
======
One of the best novels ever published is The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorn and published in 1850. This novel's main character is a young woman, Hester Prynne, who becomes pregnant in about 1640, while living in a Massachusetts town governed by Puritans.
The novel's reader figures out rather soon that Hester became pregnant from the town church's pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale. However, the town's population does not learn this secret until the child, a girl named Pearl, is seven years old, and then the revelation is a shocking surprise for the town.
During all those years, the population has compelled Hester to wear a scarlet letter A -- standing for the word Adultery -- on the front of her blouse.
The novel does not state explicitly why Hester keeps the father's identity secret. The reader himself must develop his own explanation.
My own explanation essentially is that she had two main reasons:
The other person -- in this case, Arthur -- should confess his own sin and ask forgiveness for his own sin.
At the novel's end, Arthur indeed does confess and ask forgiveness. His own inner moral conflict, lasting many years, is a fascinating part of this brilliant novel.
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The novel The Scarlet Letter was assigned commonly to high-school literature classes in our past. For various reasons, it is rarely assigned now.
One reason why it is not assigned is that Hawthorne's 1850 writing is too difficult for today's high-school students to read. For example, here is the beginning of Chapter One:
In addition to the difficulty of the novel's writing, the novel revolves around Christian thinking about confession, repentance and forgiveness. Such thinking is disdained by too many people in our schools for such novel to be assigned.
Nevertheless, The Scarlet Letter is one of the best novels ever published. The story is fascinating, complex and thought-provoking.
=======
Here I will recommend another novel that includes a situation where a young woman refuses for many years to identify a young man who impregnated her.
The novel was written by Sarah Healy, is titled Can I Get an Amen?, and was published in 2012. On the Amazon page about the novel, 56% of readers awarded the novel five stars, and 19% awarded it four stars.
Healy's writing is very funny; I laughed out loud many times.
Also, Healy tells the story in a captivating manner. The reader is surprised by (by my count) three major twists of the plot. These were twists that caused me to stop and put the book down for a while, in order to collect my thoughts.
=======
The novel is told in the first person by the main character, Ellen Carlisle. She is NOT the character who gets pregnant and refuses to identify the father. Someone else is that character.
Indeed, Ellen has learned that she is infertile. Because fertility treatments have failed for several years, her husband has divorced her so that he still might beget biological children with some other woman. Therefore, at the age of 31, Ellen now has moved back into her parents' home.
Ellen grew up in a devout Christian family, but Ellen and her brother and sister have drifted away from religion. Now that Ellen is living with her still devout parents again, she must attend church with them every Sunday as a condition of living for free in their home. Ellen does not want to attend church, and she does so only grudgingly.
Much of the novel -- and much of the laugh-out-loud humor -- takes place at church. Healy herself grew up in such a religious family, and she tells the religious parts of her novel with familiarity, insight and love.
=======
I myself grew up in such a family. I have written another blog about my childhood in Seward, Nebraska, where my father taught at a Lutheran college and I attended Lutheran elementary school and Lutheran high school. That blog includes an article about my family's crisis caused by my mother's decision to stop attending church.
Therefore, I myself have much personal experience with a religious family's dynamics when a family member does not want to attend church any more. People with similar experience are likely to enjoy this novel. The novel does not disdain or mock Christianity.
Perhaps people who grew up in families that did not attend church will not appreciate this novel.
======
Because the plot twists surprised me so enjoyably, I will not tell any more of the story.
I will say here only that the story includes an illegal abortion and a situation where a woman refuses for many years to identify the man who impregnated her. One element of this situation is that identifying the man would cause trouble for religious reasons.
======
Here are a few comments from the novel's Amazon page:
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(Five Stars)
I really, really enjoyed this book and am recommending it to my sisters, cousins, and especially church friends.
Growing up in a super conservative Christian household, and having been on my own journey of faith out of churchianity and back to Christ and the Church, this book perfectly captured good intentions, crazy actions, and why the answers are not simple.
I noticed many reviewers saying they related with Ellen, but I actually related most with Patty, whom I saw much of myself and my mom and others... the book also gave me a taste of what my life may be like and even served as a semi-parenting guide of what I would like to pass on to my children.
I hope this author will write more books that address similar issues - it is truly unique and appreciated.
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(Five Stars)
.... The book was a refreshing take on religion. The characters in the book were believable and most of us can associate ourselves with these characters, whether they were like us or we know someone who is like them.
This book was chosen for my book club and our discussion was based on the questions in the back of the book. However, as one of the book club members said, "one has to be careful discussing religion because it may cause an argument".
I've passed the book on to a co-worker and I can't wait to hear whether she liked the book or not. I say buy it because it is worth the money. The book will cause you to think about how religious you really are or not.
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(Five Stars)
Anyone who's ever dealt with unexpected blows from life, anyone who's ever had to start over again, anyone who's ever had a family that at times seemed like a race of alien life forms will love this book.
Compassionate, clear-eyed, and enormously funny, CAN I GET AN AMEN? truly has something for everyone. The characters -- even (especially?) those who at first glance might seem to be "bad guys" -- are brought to vivid, individual life; there's not a stereotype among them.
It's a cliched phrase, but I literally laughed and cried throughout this lovely book; I was sorry when it ended.
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(Five Stars)
Loved this book! Being from the Bible belt south, this is a family I know very well. There are many all around me!
I enjoyed the character development and the irony. I really would like a sequel.
I miss those people. But where i live, I don't have to look far.
Great job bringing it all together.
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(Five Stars)
I read "Can I Get an Amen?" over the course of one weekend. I loved it. It was funny, sun, sweet, charming, and overall smart.
And I loved the perspective on religion - Sarah Healy really captures how one can have a love/hate relationship with faith and religion, in a refreshing and balanced way.
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(Five Stars)
Reminded me of Sunday School! Really enjoyed the book! Easy relaxing read! Could totally relate!
Amen! Amen! Amen! Will look for other books by this author!
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(Four Stars)
This book was so funny, witty and candid - I couldn't put it down! While I was laughing out loud and shaking my head, it was also thought provoking and relatable.
You definitely need to have a good heart full of sense of humor to read this book.
Ellen's life falls apart in a matter of what feels like mere minutes - her husband wants a divorce, she loses her job and has to move back home to live with her overbearing Christian parents. Ellen goes through some entertaining and sometimes scary ups and downs while trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do. ....
Totally unpredictable, it was such an enjoyable read! ...
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(Four Stars)
.... The book turned out to be an incredibly delightful read. It is an easy read and I truly enjoyed it. Some of the plot points I predicted far before they happened, but the majority of the book was a surprise.
I'd like to note that I am a Christian and that this book I believe is good for Christians and non-Christians, alike. It does have religious mentions, but not in a way to make the reader feel uncomfortable.
The characters in the book face very real issues and the way the book is presented is very unique. I recommend this novel and hope that Sarah Healy continues to write, first with a sequel to "Can I get an Amen?"
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(Five Stars)
I must admit, I was a little worried that I wouldn't like, "Can I Get An Amen?" - that I would find it preachy or worse, saccharine. So how delightfully surprised I was to find it poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, and reaching far beyond a story about a family with devout Christian values.
Ellen is both relatable and likable. She handles her circumstances with the appropriate amount of self-pity without turning into a simpering someone you want to shake. ....
I found myself turning page after page captivated by characters who were, at turns, frustrating, enraging, but mostly endearing and highly realistic. ....
This is not a book about being Christian. It's more a story about trying to navigate life's big disappointments and heartaches while staying true to who you are and who you want to be.
I loved it. Kudos to Sarah Healy - as a debut novel, she knocks it out of the park! I am anxiously awaiting her next work!
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(Five Stars)
AN I GET AN AMEN is funny, frank, fresh, and totally unexpected. The characters will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.
If you were raised in a crazy family, went to Vacation Bible School, or had any kind of religious upbringing that sometimes made you cringe, you will love this book.
But even more importantly, Ellen's growth as a character is nuanced and keenly observed. The romantic elements are great, too.
In short, this is a totally gripping book, that will make you laugh and cry. If you are looking for the ultimate summer read that is both intelligent and entertaining, look no further.
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(Five Stars)
.... at my son's insistence, I read "Can I Get An Amen." I think he wanted me to read it because he thinks I'm a little like the protagonist's nutty born-again mother. (I might be.)
Either way, I'm glad he gave me a copy because this book was outstanding. It's a moving read, filled with compelling characters that were easy to wholeheartedly invest in. It's a great American story told with an entertaining and engaging voice.
And there were enough smart twists and unexpected turns to keep this mystery buff on her toes. To be honest, I couldn't put it down and finished it in record time. I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author.
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(Five Stars)
I laughed out loud then cried until I fogged up my reading glasses.
I live on the outskirts of Christianity so can relate to Ellen but this is not a book about religion.
This book is irreverent and funny, smart and touching. You've met these characters and might have grown up with them. I just sent an email to my friends to encourage them to read this book.
In my articles, I have pointed out this irony:
* Swayze became world-famous from a movie, Dirty Dancing, that approved of abortion.As far as the public knows, Swayze never knew that he was the biological father of a child. Swayze died before the mother's secret was revealed outside her immediate family.
* Whittle came into life because his mother, Bonnie Kay Whittle, refused to abort him.
I assume that if Swayze would have been very happy to learn about and become acquainted with his biological son Whittle and to include Whittle belatedly in his own life. Swayze would have been happy that Whittle had not been aborted.
=====
Now in this article here, I am pointing out another irony.
* In Dirty Dancing, the pregnant woman, Penny, identifies the father, Robbie.Penny is somewhat discrete about accusing Robbie of impregnating her, but the circumstances were that she was trying to conceal her pregnancy itself. Those people who learned that she was pregnant learned soon that she accused Robbie.
* In the Swayze-Whittle situation, the mother never publicly identified Swayze as the father.
Jake Houseman does not learn the impregnator's identity until the movie's end, but that was because Jake apparently never asked Penny directly. Jake simply made a mistaken assumption.
In general, Penny wanted to keep her pregnancy and abortion secret, but she was willing to accuse Robbie to anyone who knew about her pregnancy.
======
It happens all the time that a woman refuses to name the man who made her pregnant. Among such countless women was Bonnie Kay Whittle. I sure would like to learn her story.
======
One of the best novels ever published is The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorn and published in 1850. This novel's main character is a young woman, Hester Prynne, who becomes pregnant in about 1640, while living in a Massachusetts town governed by Puritans.
The novel's reader figures out rather soon that Hester became pregnant from the town church's pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale. However, the town's population does not learn this secret until the child, a girl named Pearl, is seven years old, and then the revelation is a shocking surprise for the town.
During all those years, the population has compelled Hester to wear a scarlet letter A -- standing for the word Adultery -- on the front of her blouse.
The novel does not state explicitly why Hester keeps the father's identity secret. The reader himself must develop his own explanation.
My own explanation essentially is that she had two main reasons:
1) Hester loved Arthur and did not want to cause trouble for him.Her second, religious reason was crucial. She herself apparently was not a Puritan. (She found herself living in this Puritan town because of circumstances that I will not recount here.) However, she was a Christian, and she had absorbed much Puritan thinking. She felt that if she had sinned, then she should confess her own sin and ask for forgiveness for her own sin. She should not blame her own sin on another person who might have collaborated with her.
2) Her religious thinking was that she as a sinner should not blame her own sin on another person.
The other person -- in this case, Arthur -- should confess his own sin and ask forgiveness for his own sin.
At the novel's end, Arthur indeed does confess and ask forgiveness. His own inner moral conflict, lasting many years, is a fascinating part of this brilliant novel.
=======
The novel The Scarlet Letter was assigned commonly to high-school literature classes in our past. For various reasons, it is rarely assigned now.
One reason why it is not assigned is that Hawthorne's 1850 writing is too difficult for today's high-school students to read. For example, here is the beginning of Chapter One:
A Throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments, and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.Today's high-school students -- or even university students -- cannot and will not read an entire novel composed of such old-fashioned, elaborate writing.
The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. In accordance with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house somewhere in the vicinity of Cornhill, almost as seasonably as they marked out the first burial-ground, on Isaac Johnson's lot, and round about his grave, which subsequently became the nucleus of all the congregated sepulchres in the old churchyard of King's Chapel. Certain it is, that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the New World. Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pigweed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.
This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it, — or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door, — we shall not take upon us to determine. Finding it so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.
In addition to the difficulty of the novel's writing, the novel revolves around Christian thinking about confession, repentance and forgiveness. Such thinking is disdained by too many people in our schools for such novel to be assigned.
Nevertheless, The Scarlet Letter is one of the best novels ever published. The story is fascinating, complex and thought-provoking.
=======
Here I will recommend another novel that includes a situation where a young woman refuses for many years to identify a young man who impregnated her.
The novel was written by Sarah Healy, is titled Can I Get an Amen?, and was published in 2012. On the Amazon page about the novel, 56% of readers awarded the novel five stars, and 19% awarded it four stars.
 |
| The book cover of Sarah Healy's novel Can I Get an Amen? |
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| Sarah Healy |
Also, Healy tells the story in a captivating manner. The reader is surprised by (by my count) three major twists of the plot. These were twists that caused me to stop and put the book down for a while, in order to collect my thoughts.
=======
The novel is told in the first person by the main character, Ellen Carlisle. She is NOT the character who gets pregnant and refuses to identify the father. Someone else is that character.
Indeed, Ellen has learned that she is infertile. Because fertility treatments have failed for several years, her husband has divorced her so that he still might beget biological children with some other woman. Therefore, at the age of 31, Ellen now has moved back into her parents' home.
Ellen grew up in a devout Christian family, but Ellen and her brother and sister have drifted away from religion. Now that Ellen is living with her still devout parents again, she must attend church with them every Sunday as a condition of living for free in their home. Ellen does not want to attend church, and she does so only grudgingly.
Much of the novel -- and much of the laugh-out-loud humor -- takes place at church. Healy herself grew up in such a religious family, and she tells the religious parts of her novel with familiarity, insight and love.
=======
I myself grew up in such a family. I have written another blog about my childhood in Seward, Nebraska, where my father taught at a Lutheran college and I attended Lutheran elementary school and Lutheran high school. That blog includes an article about my family's crisis caused by my mother's decision to stop attending church.
Therefore, I myself have much personal experience with a religious family's dynamics when a family member does not want to attend church any more. People with similar experience are likely to enjoy this novel. The novel does not disdain or mock Christianity.
Perhaps people who grew up in families that did not attend church will not appreciate this novel.
======
Because the plot twists surprised me so enjoyably, I will not tell any more of the story.
I will say here only that the story includes an illegal abortion and a situation where a woman refuses for many years to identify the man who impregnated her. One element of this situation is that identifying the man would cause trouble for religious reasons.
======
Here are a few comments from the novel's Amazon page:
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(Five Stars)
I really, really enjoyed this book and am recommending it to my sisters, cousins, and especially church friends.
Growing up in a super conservative Christian household, and having been on my own journey of faith out of churchianity and back to Christ and the Church, this book perfectly captured good intentions, crazy actions, and why the answers are not simple.
I noticed many reviewers saying they related with Ellen, but I actually related most with Patty, whom I saw much of myself and my mom and others... the book also gave me a taste of what my life may be like and even served as a semi-parenting guide of what I would like to pass on to my children.
I hope this author will write more books that address similar issues - it is truly unique and appreciated.
------
(Five Stars)
.... The book was a refreshing take on religion. The characters in the book were believable and most of us can associate ourselves with these characters, whether they were like us or we know someone who is like them.
This book was chosen for my book club and our discussion was based on the questions in the back of the book. However, as one of the book club members said, "one has to be careful discussing religion because it may cause an argument".
I've passed the book on to a co-worker and I can't wait to hear whether she liked the book or not. I say buy it because it is worth the money. The book will cause you to think about how religious you really are or not.
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(Five Stars)
Anyone who's ever dealt with unexpected blows from life, anyone who's ever had to start over again, anyone who's ever had a family that at times seemed like a race of alien life forms will love this book.
Compassionate, clear-eyed, and enormously funny, CAN I GET AN AMEN? truly has something for everyone. The characters -- even (especially?) those who at first glance might seem to be "bad guys" -- are brought to vivid, individual life; there's not a stereotype among them.
It's a cliched phrase, but I literally laughed and cried throughout this lovely book; I was sorry when it ended.
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(Five Stars)
Loved this book! Being from the Bible belt south, this is a family I know very well. There are many all around me!
I enjoyed the character development and the irony. I really would like a sequel.
I miss those people. But where i live, I don't have to look far.
Great job bringing it all together.
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(Five Stars)
I read "Can I Get an Amen?" over the course of one weekend. I loved it. It was funny, sun, sweet, charming, and overall smart.
And I loved the perspective on religion - Sarah Healy really captures how one can have a love/hate relationship with faith and religion, in a refreshing and balanced way.
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(Five Stars)
Reminded me of Sunday School! Really enjoyed the book! Easy relaxing read! Could totally relate!
Amen! Amen! Amen! Will look for other books by this author!
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(Four Stars)
This book was so funny, witty and candid - I couldn't put it down! While I was laughing out loud and shaking my head, it was also thought provoking and relatable.
You definitely need to have a good heart full of sense of humor to read this book.
Ellen's life falls apart in a matter of what feels like mere minutes - her husband wants a divorce, she loses her job and has to move back home to live with her overbearing Christian parents. Ellen goes through some entertaining and sometimes scary ups and downs while trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do. ....
Totally unpredictable, it was such an enjoyable read! ...
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(Four Stars)
.... The book turned out to be an incredibly delightful read. It is an easy read and I truly enjoyed it. Some of the plot points I predicted far before they happened, but the majority of the book was a surprise.
I'd like to note that I am a Christian and that this book I believe is good for Christians and non-Christians, alike. It does have religious mentions, but not in a way to make the reader feel uncomfortable.
The characters in the book face very real issues and the way the book is presented is very unique. I recommend this novel and hope that Sarah Healy continues to write, first with a sequel to "Can I get an Amen?"
------
(Five Stars)
I must admit, I was a little worried that I wouldn't like, "Can I Get An Amen?" - that I would find it preachy or worse, saccharine. So how delightfully surprised I was to find it poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, and reaching far beyond a story about a family with devout Christian values.
Ellen is both relatable and likable. She handles her circumstances with the appropriate amount of self-pity without turning into a simpering someone you want to shake. ....
I found myself turning page after page captivated by characters who were, at turns, frustrating, enraging, but mostly endearing and highly realistic. ....
This is not a book about being Christian. It's more a story about trying to navigate life's big disappointments and heartaches while staying true to who you are and who you want to be.
I loved it. Kudos to Sarah Healy - as a debut novel, she knocks it out of the park! I am anxiously awaiting her next work!
------
(Five Stars)
AN I GET AN AMEN is funny, frank, fresh, and totally unexpected. The characters will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.
If you were raised in a crazy family, went to Vacation Bible School, or had any kind of religious upbringing that sometimes made you cringe, you will love this book.
But even more importantly, Ellen's growth as a character is nuanced and keenly observed. The romantic elements are great, too.
In short, this is a totally gripping book, that will make you laugh and cry. If you are looking for the ultimate summer read that is both intelligent and entertaining, look no further.
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(Five Stars)
.... at my son's insistence, I read "Can I Get An Amen." I think he wanted me to read it because he thinks I'm a little like the protagonist's nutty born-again mother. (I might be.)
Either way, I'm glad he gave me a copy because this book was outstanding. It's a moving read, filled with compelling characters that were easy to wholeheartedly invest in. It's a great American story told with an entertaining and engaging voice.
And there were enough smart twists and unexpected turns to keep this mystery buff on her toes. To be honest, I couldn't put it down and finished it in record time. I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author.
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(Five Stars)
I laughed out loud then cried until I fogged up my reading glasses.
I live on the outskirts of Christianity so can relate to Ellen but this is not a book about religion.
This book is irreverent and funny, smart and touching. You've met these characters and might have grown up with them. I just sent an email to my friends to encourage them to read this book.
The Movie's Old, Failing Characters
The movie Dirty Dancing, includes the following old characters. I have estimated their ages in 1986, when the movie was filmed.
The Schumachers seem to be a happily married couple, but they are thieves.
I assume that before they became old, their earned incomes enabled them to afford a lifestyle that included regular vacations at such resorts. Now, however, their old ages have made them unemployable.
At some point in their old ages, they began a resort vacation that they could not really afford, and there they happened to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to steal some money from a fellow vacationer. Thus they began to develop a long career of stealing money at resorts.
The first time they got caught was on this 1963 vacation at Kellerman's.
=======
Tito Suarez has been working as a musician at Kellerman's since the Great Depression -- since the 1930s. Now in 1963 he is conducting a big band that performs at Kellerman's regularly. He is ten years past the normal retirement age, but still has to work.
He is fairly healthy for his age, but his health will fail within a few years. He is likely to become rather deaf, which will degrade his ability to conduct his band.
His big-band music is becoming less and less popular, especially among young adults. The resort hotel will find itself less and less able to justify the expense of employing a big band playing ballroom-dance music.
======
The character Max Kellerman suffered from a dangerous blood-pressure condition.
=======
A central conflict in the movie Dirty Dancing is that Jake Houseman has wanted his daughter Baby to become a highly educated professional, such as a lawyer or economist. He wanted her also to marry such a man.
Baby complains to her father:
Even worse, Baby might decide to try to earn her living as a dancer.
Even worse, Baby might get pregnant and drop out of school to become a stay-at-home mother.
=======
In 1963, Baby is young, healthy and energetic, and she enjoys the support of wealthy parents. She is not thinking about the future consequences of ignoring her father's advice to become a highly educated professional.
If Baby will follow her father's wise advice -- if she earns a graduate degree, becomes a lawyer or an economist, and marries a Harvard graduate -- then she probably will enjoy a financially comfortable life and lifetime job security.
If Baby will not follow her father's wise advice, then she might suffer financial troubles through her entire life -- but especially when she becomes old. While she is rebelling against her father's advice, she is not paying attention to the examples of old, failing people around her -- Max Kellerman, Tito Suarez, and Sidney and Sylvia Shumacher.
If Baby drops out of college and attaches herself to Johnny and his dance career, then she is likely regret that decision when she will be an old woman.
Baby better follow her father's wise advice and take advantage of his financially supporting her higher education.
Sidney Schumacher -- played by Alvin Myerovich, 81 years oldWhen the movie was filmed in 1986, each actor was within the final decade of life.
Sylvia Schumacher -- played by Paula Trueman, 89 years old
Tito Suarez -- played by Charles "Honi" Coles, 75 years old
Max Kellerman -- played by Jack Weston, 61 years old
Myerovich lived ten more years -- died in 1996=======
Trueman lived eight more years -- died in 1994
Suarez lived six more years -- died in 1992
Weston lived ten more years -- died in 1996 (final six years sick with lymphoma)
The Schumachers seem to be a happily married couple, but they are thieves.
I assume that before they became old, their earned incomes enabled them to afford a lifestyle that included regular vacations at such resorts. Now, however, their old ages have made them unemployable.
At some point in their old ages, they began a resort vacation that they could not really afford, and there they happened to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to steal some money from a fellow vacationer. Thus they began to develop a long career of stealing money at resorts.
The first time they got caught was on this 1963 vacation at Kellerman's.
=======
Tito Suarez has been working as a musician at Kellerman's since the Great Depression -- since the 1930s. Now in 1963 he is conducting a big band that performs at Kellerman's regularly. He is ten years past the normal retirement age, but still has to work.
He is fairly healthy for his age, but his health will fail within a few years. He is likely to become rather deaf, which will degrade his ability to conduct his band.
His big-band music is becoming less and less popular, especially among young adults. The resort hotel will find itself less and less able to justify the expense of employing a big band playing ballroom-dance music.
======
The character Max Kellerman suffered from a dangerous blood-pressure condition.
Jake HousemanMax's business seems to be prosperous, but he perceives that his business is failing.
How's the blood pressure?
Max Kellerman
(Addressing Marjorie, Lisa and Baby Houseman)
I want you girls to know, if it were not for this man, I'd be standing here dead.
It all seems to be ending.Apparently, Max's wife and children are gone from his life. His closest living relative seems to be his grandson Neil, who is learning to take over the family business.
You think kids want to come with their parents and take fox-trot lessons? Trips to Europe, that's what the kids want. Twenty-two countries in three days.
It feels like it's all slipping away.
=======
A central conflict in the movie Dirty Dancing is that Jake Houseman has wanted his daughter Baby to become a highly educated professional, such as a lawyer or economist. He wanted her also to marry such a man.
Baby complains to her father:
You told me you wanted me to change the world, to make it better, but you meant by becoming a lawyer or an economist and marrying someone from Harvard.Now Baby is rebelling against her father's advice and expectations. As soon as she gets her Bachelor's Degree from Mount Holyoke College, she intends to join the Peace Corps instead of continuing her higher education in a prestigious graduate school.
Even worse, Baby might decide to try to earn her living as a dancer.
Even worse, Baby might get pregnant and drop out of school to become a stay-at-home mother.
=======
In 1963, Baby is young, healthy and energetic, and she enjoys the support of wealthy parents. She is not thinking about the future consequences of ignoring her father's advice to become a highly educated professional.
If Baby will follow her father's wise advice -- if she earns a graduate degree, becomes a lawyer or an economist, and marries a Harvard graduate -- then she probably will enjoy a financially comfortable life and lifetime job security.
If Baby will not follow her father's wise advice, then she might suffer financial troubles through her entire life -- but especially when she becomes old. While she is rebelling against her father's advice, she is not paying attention to the examples of old, failing people around her -- Max Kellerman, Tito Suarez, and Sidney and Sylvia Shumacher.
If Baby drops out of college and attaches herself to Johnny and his dance career, then she is likely regret that decision when she will be an old woman.
Baby better follow her father's wise advice and take advantage of his financially supporting her higher education.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Symbolism and Foreshadowing in Baby's Opening Monologue
The movie Dirty Dancing begins with Baby's monologue, as she is riding in a car on August 18, 1963.
Baby's monologue provides this sequence of events:
During that 1963 summer, she 1) was called Baby by everyone, 2) intended to join the Peace Corps and 3) hoped to find a guy like her Dad.
Shortly after that 1963 summer, 4) she no longer was called Baby by everyone, 5) President Kennedy was shot and 5) the Beatles arrived.
=======
Many Americans consider Labor Day -- September 2 in 1963 -- to be the end of summer, because most schools begin their fall term immediately afterwards. However, Mount Holyoke College, which Baby would attend, began its fall term on or shortly after September 23, 1963.
When Baby moves away from home and begins to attend Mount Holyoke, she henceforth will be called Frances (not "Baby") by practically everyone. Her father no longer will be the strongest influence on her life.
=======
Baby's monologue includes the following symbols:
======
The name "Baby" symbolizes her apparent immaturity.
During the story, the people around Baby will recognize that she no longer is immature.
Her parents and sister will learn that she has acted on her sexual desires and has lost her virginity.
In particular, her father will recognize that she can disagree with him and turn out to be right.
Johnny Castle will recognize that she can and does act independently from her father.
Everyone at Kellerman's will recognize that she can confidently excel in public performance.
======
President Kennedy symbolizes Baby's father Jack Houseman.
During the story, Baby will lose much of her adoration toward her father.
Although her father will remain in her life, this perfect idol will be gone from her life.
She will begin to consider whether her life's romantic partner should be a different kind of man.
======
The Beatles symbolize the Kellerman's dancers who influence Baby.
A group of young, fun-loving, talented artists will make a huge impact on Baby.
Baby will transfer much of her adoration from her father to these artists.
She will select her "favorite Beatle" (Johnny Castle) as a special object of infatuation.
=======
The Peace Corps symbolizes Baby's idealistic aspirations.
The story will portray Baby as idealistic -- as living her life to help others.
The story will portray Baby as dealing with complex consequences of her idealism.
Despite such consequences, Baby will remain true to her idealism at the story's end.
=======
Looking back from the summer of 1987, Frances ("Baby") Houseman knows the story that she intends to tell the movie audience about her summer of 1963. In this opening monologue, she foreshadows the story that the movie audience is about to watch.
That was the summer of 1963, when everybody called me "Baby" and it didn't occur to me to mind.
That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my Dad.
Baby's monologue provides this sequence of events:
1) During the summer of 1963, Baby was called "Baby" by everyone.In the summer of 1987, Frances (formerly "Baby") Houseman is telling movie audiences about her experiences during and shortly after the summer of 1963 -- 23 years ago.
2) During the summer of 1963, Baby couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps.
3) During the summer of 1963, Baby thought she never would find a guy as great as her Dad.
4) After the summer -- after September 23, 1963 -- Baby no longer was called "Baby" by everyone.
5) On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot.
6) On February 7, 1964, The Beatles came to America.
7) On August 21, 1987, movie audiences heard Baby's monologue for the first time.
During that 1963 summer, she 1) was called Baby by everyone, 2) intended to join the Peace Corps and 3) hoped to find a guy like her Dad.
Shortly after that 1963 summer, 4) she no longer was called Baby by everyone, 5) President Kennedy was shot and 5) the Beatles arrived.
=======
Many Americans consider Labor Day -- September 2 in 1963 -- to be the end of summer, because most schools begin their fall term immediately afterwards. However, Mount Holyoke College, which Baby would attend, began its fall term on or shortly after September 23, 1963.
When Baby moves away from home and begins to attend Mount Holyoke, she henceforth will be called Frances (not "Baby") by practically everyone. Her father no longer will be the strongest influence on her life.
=======
Baby's monologue includes the following symbols:
* The name "Baby" symbolizes her apparent immaturity.These symbols in Baby's opening monologue foreshadow the movie's story.
* President Kennedy symbolizes Baby's father Jack Houseman.
* The Beatles symbolize the Kellerman's dancers who influenced Baby.
* The Peace Corps symbolizes Baby's idealistic aspirations.
======
The name "Baby" symbolizes her apparent immaturity.
During the story, the people around Baby will recognize that she no longer is immature.
Her parents and sister will learn that she has acted on her sexual desires and has lost her virginity.
In particular, her father will recognize that she can disagree with him and turn out to be right.
Johnny Castle will recognize that she can and does act independently from her father.
Everyone at Kellerman's will recognize that she can confidently excel in public performance.
======
President Kennedy symbolizes Baby's father Jack Houseman.
During the story, Baby will lose much of her adoration toward her father.
Although her father will remain in her life, this perfect idol will be gone from her life.
She will begin to consider whether her life's romantic partner should be a different kind of man.
======
The Beatles symbolize the Kellerman's dancers who influence Baby.
A group of young, fun-loving, talented artists will make a huge impact on Baby.
Baby will transfer much of her adoration from her father to these artists.
She will select her "favorite Beatle" (Johnny Castle) as a special object of infatuation.
=======
The Peace Corps symbolizes Baby's idealistic aspirations.
The story will portray Baby as idealistic -- as living her life to help others.
The story will portray Baby as dealing with complex consequences of her idealism.
Despite such consequences, Baby will remain true to her idealism at the story's end.
=======
Looking back from the summer of 1987, Frances ("Baby") Houseman knows the story that she intends to tell the movie audience about her summer of 1963. In this opening monologue, she foreshadows the story that the movie audience is about to watch.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Jack Weston, the Actor Who Played Max Kellerman
The obituary of Jack Weston published by The Independent on May 9, 1996.
Weston's brother and nephew made pornographic movies (brother, nephew)
=======
A video biography
=======
Clips from the 1961-1962 television series The Hathaways
=======
Excerpts from a 1964 episode of the television series Burke's Law
=======
An undated sketch from The Carol Burnett Show
=====
Excerpts from the 1976 movie The Ritz
As both villain and comic actor, chubby Jack Weston excelled in ineffectual blunderers who are not quite as smart as they think they are and frequently come to grief.The obituary does not mention Dirty Dancing.
As a hitman in Mirage (1965), he is heartlessly shot by his colleague when being used as a human shield by the hero, in Wait until Dark (1967) he is run down by the mastermind he and his pal plan to double-cross, and in Ishtar (1987) he is agent for two of the world's worst song-writers. His fine flair for comedy was showcased both in Hollywood and on Broadway (where he received a Tony nomination), notably in works by Woody Allen, Neil Simon and Alan Alda.
He was born Morris Weinstein in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925, and at the age of ten was enrolled by his father in Cleveland Playhouse after his schoolteacher had complained that the mischievous boy seemed happiest when play-acting. After serving as a machine-gunner in Italy during the Second World War, he studied at the American Theatre Wing in New York, stating "If someone would give me 80 dollars a week for life just to let me act that's all I'd ever ask."
After marrying actress Marge Redmond, he worked as dishwasher and elevator operator prior to his Broadway debut in the play Seasons in the Sun (1950), which preceded other small roles on stage and in the early days of live television.
In 1957 he and Marge decided to try Los Angeles where he was immediately cast in an episode of the television western Gunsmoke. It was the first of hundreds of television roles, including episodes of The Untouchables and Twilight Zone, and regular roles in the series My Sister Eileen and The Hathaways.
Weston made his film debut in Stage Struck (1968), and along with his villains in Mirage, Wait until Dark and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), demonstrated his fine flair for comedy in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960), It's Only Money (1962), Cactus Flower (1969), A New Leaf (1971), and Fuzz (1972), a farcical account of police work which included a memorable sequence in which cops Burt Reynolds and Weston disguise themselves as nuns.
A compulsive worker and worrier, Jack Weston found the Los Angeles boring, and returned to New York in 1975. The following year he repeated on screen his stage role in Terence McNally's The Ritz, as a heterosexual male who, fleeing from would-be killers inadvertently takes refuge in a homosexual bath-house. With Richard Lester's frantic direction, what had been hilarious on stage seemed a forced one-joke farce on screen, but the same year Weston had a Broadway triumph with a leading role in Neil Simon's California Suite, starring in two of the four playlets. A self-confessed "hypochondriac, paranoid, nervous wreck", Weston and leading lady Tammy Grimes didn't speak to each other off-stage throughout the play's run.
Weston's association with Simon continued when he headed the touring company of The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, and in 1981 Woody Allen cast him as a sleazy personal manager in his play The Floating Light-Bulb, for which he received a Tony nomination (he was beaten by Ian McKellan in Amadeus).
The same year he starred on screen in Alan Alda's perceptive story of four marriages through the years, The Four Seasons, as a cantankerous dentist, and he played the same role in a spin-off television series (1984). His last stage appearances were in Measure for Measure and a revival of Paddy Chayevsk's The Tenth Man (1989), but for the last six years he battled with lymphoma.
Morris Weinstein (Jack Weston), actor: born Cleveland, Ohio 21 August 1925; married Marge Redmond (marriage dissolved), Laurie Gilkes; died New York 3 May 1996.
Weston's brother and nephew made pornographic movies (brother, nephew)
=======
A video biography
=======
Clips from the 1961-1962 television series The Hathaways
=======
Excerpts from a 1964 episode of the television series Burke's Law
=======
An undated sketch from The Carol Burnett Show
=====
Excerpts from the 1976 movie The Ritz
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Video Montage of Deleted Scenes Available Again
Someone has posted onto YouTube the video montage of deleted scenes.
I had included this video in many articles of my blog, but the video disappeared from all those articles. I now have fixed all those articles (see the list below) with this new YouTube video.
I have thought that the video was removed from YouTube because of a copyright complaint. However, the video might have disappeared from YouTube because the original poster closed his YouTube account for personal reasons.
This video might disappear from YouTube again. I would like to be able to embed this video on my blog, but someone will have to enable me to do so.
======
0:00 - 0:55 = Baby sees Johnny caressing a woman in the forest at night
0:56 - 3:10 = Baby, in her underwear, dances erotically with Johnny
3:11 - 4:16 = Baby and Johnny practice dancing in front of a mirror
4:17 - 5:11 = The Houseman family votes to go to Kellerman's resort
5:12 - 6:01 = Baby and Lisa primp in front of mirrors in their bedroom
6:02 - 6:22 = Lisa says that Baby is weird but "better than me"
6:23 - 7:12 = Johnny puts his luggage into his car trunk and says goodbye to Penny
7:13 - 8:16 = Resort guests, dressed up, dance in the gazebo
8:17 - 9:02 = Baby talks with her mother about breaking up with a boyfriend
9:03 - 11:02 = The resort comedian tells a series of jokes
11:03 - 12:09 = Baby listens to her father warn her about bad boys
=======
This video had disappeared from the following articles of my blog. I have fixed those articles with this new video.
Deleted Scenes
Where Some Deleted Scenes Fit Into the Movie
Watching Baby Dance in a Mirror
Baby Houseman's Inner Conflict About Femininity -- Part 3
Eleanor Bergstein and Sylvia Plath -- Part 8
My Review of the Stage Musical -- Romance
The Undertones to Dirty Dancing
I think she gets it from me!
I had included this video in many articles of my blog, but the video disappeared from all those articles. I now have fixed all those articles (see the list below) with this new YouTube video.
I have thought that the video was removed from YouTube because of a copyright complaint. However, the video might have disappeared from YouTube because the original poster closed his YouTube account for personal reasons.
This video might disappear from YouTube again. I would like to be able to embed this video on my blog, but someone will have to enable me to do so.
======
0:00 - 0:55 = Baby sees Johnny caressing a woman in the forest at night
0:56 - 3:10 = Baby, in her underwear, dances erotically with Johnny
3:11 - 4:16 = Baby and Johnny practice dancing in front of a mirror
4:17 - 5:11 = The Houseman family votes to go to Kellerman's resort
5:12 - 6:01 = Baby and Lisa primp in front of mirrors in their bedroom
6:02 - 6:22 = Lisa says that Baby is weird but "better than me"
6:23 - 7:12 = Johnny puts his luggage into his car trunk and says goodbye to Penny
7:13 - 8:16 = Resort guests, dressed up, dance in the gazebo
8:17 - 9:02 = Baby talks with her mother about breaking up with a boyfriend
9:03 - 11:02 = The resort comedian tells a series of jokes
11:03 - 12:09 = Baby listens to her father warn her about bad boys
=======
This video had disappeared from the following articles of my blog. I have fixed those articles with this new video.
Deleted Scenes
Where Some Deleted Scenes Fit Into the Movie
Watching Baby Dance in a Mirror
Baby Houseman's Inner Conflict About Femininity -- Part 3
Eleanor Bergstein and Sylvia Plath -- Part 8
My Review of the Stage Musical -- Romance
The Undertones to Dirty Dancing
I think she gets it from me!
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Was Vivian trying to steal Baby's man? -- 4
The preceding video was very funny.
The following video is even funnier.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Why does the happy ending show Vivian being angry?
The ending of Dirty Dancing comprises three parts:
Then, Robbie Gould walks through the ballroom, and Jake Houseman chases after him and stops him in an alcove. Jake gives Robbie an envelope full of cash. In the ensuing conversation, however, Jake learns that Robbie (not Johnny) had impregnated Penny. Jake takes the envelope back, and Robbie leaves the building.
Now some justice has been done -- but seen only by the movie audience.
Then, while the "Anthem" continues to be sung, Johnny comes into the ballroom. At this point, the ending becomes happy for the movie audience and for all the characters -- except for Vivian Pressman. Before I discuss that one exception, though, I will continue to recount the movie's happy ending.
Johnny approaches Baby, who is surprised by his unexpected appearance. He takes her onto the stage, and declares his appreciation for her being a terrific dancer and for standing up for other people, no matter what the cost. Suddenly, sad Baby has become triumphant.
=======
The central part of the movie's happy ending is Baby's and Johnny's "Time of My Life" dance performance.
In a previous article titled The Psychology of the Movie's Happy Ending, I summarized that psychology:
The denouement of the movie Dirty Dancing happens in the last 3:18 minutes -- immediately after Baby Houseman and Johnny Castle conclude their dance performance. In a previous article, titled The Psychology of the Movie's Denouement, I summarized the denouement as follows:
The following three images show Vivian standing up and walking out. In the background, Neil Kellerman dances with Marge Houseman.
=======
In a denouement, "all the loose ends of the plot are tied up". In Dirty Dancing, the entire denouement is happy except for the three-second moment when Vivian departs angrily.
Vivian's angry departure is noticed and understood only by the movie audience. Johnny and Baby might have understood Vivian' anger, but they do not notice her departure. Perhaps Robbie too would have understood Vivian's anger, but he already has departed before the denouement. Therefore Vivian's angry departure is meaningful only for the movie audience.
Vivian's angry departure arrests the movie audience's thoughts. The movie audience thinks about Vivian's anger and will continue to think about her anger after the movie ends. Those three seconds are in the movie so that the movie audience will continue to think about Vivian's anger.
======
Why was Vivian so angry? Was her anger reasonable and justified?
Earlier in the story, during the rehearsals for the talent show, Vivian tried to arrange a sexual encounter with Johnny. No matter what, their sexual relationship would end soon, but Vivian intended to extend it at least a few more days.
However, Johnny terminated his sexual relationship with Vivian so that he could continue his sexual relationship with Baby. Therefore Vivian spent the night not with Johnny, but instead with Robbie . When she came out of Robbie's cabin in the morning, she saw Johnny and Baby coming out of Johnny's cabin.
So, it seems that Vivian became angry at Johnny and Baby. Perhaps Vivian then accused Johnny of stealing her husband Moe Pressman's wallet, but the movie audience does not know that for sure. Maybe Vivian had nothing to do with the theft accusation against Johnny.
Whether or not Vivian initiated the accusation, she surely was informed that Johnny was fired for stealing her husband Moe's wallet. Surely, Max Kellerman informed both Vivian and More Pressmans that the thief -- Johnny -- had been discovered and was being fired and evicted immediately.
Perhaps Vivian's angry departure during the denouement is supposed to confirm the movie audience's suspicions that she indeed initiated the false accusation against Johnny. In other words, she was angry because her malicious accusation had failed to separate Johnny from Baby forever.
============
By the time Vivian was watching the talent show, she could not be expecting still to enjoy a sexual encounter with Johnny. She knew that Johnny had been fired and was gone from her life forever.
Vivian was as surprised as everyone else when Johnny showed up at the talent show and performed a dance with Baby. Vivian was shocked.
===========
Contrast Vivian's angry reaction with Neil Kellerman's accepting reaction. Neil had even better reasons to react angrily. He had courted Baby, but she dumped him in preference for Johnny. Neil had told Johnny to train the employees to perform a pachanga dance instead of a Cuban-soul dance. Neil had fired Johnny.
Nevertheless, Neil stayed in the ballroom and joined the dancing enthusiastically.
This contrast between Vivian and Neil highlights the excess of her anger. Vivian could have, like Neil, maturely shrugged off her anger and accepted the reality that Johnny preferred Baby as his romantic partner at that time.
======
I think there is another reason -- perhaps the main reason -- why the three-second moment of Vivian's anger is included in the denouement.
The movie includes several extra-marital sexual relationships. The characters who engaged in extra-marital sex or intended to do so were Baby, Johnny, Penny, Robbie and Lisa -- and Vivian. In that list, the only married character was Vivian.
The extra-marital sexual relationship of the two main characters -- Baby and Johnny -- is glorified in the movie. The movie audience is supposed to perceive at least that one extra-marital relationship as good.
The extra-marital relationship of Penny and Robbie ended with bad consequences for both characters.
The extra-marital relationship of Lisa and Robbie was not consummated, and Lisa's very intention was criticized by Baby.
==========
The extra-marital relationship of Vivian and Johnny, however, might cause moral uncertainty for the movie audience. That particular relationship was mutually consensual and did not involve a pregnancy or other apparent consequences.
Recognizing the consequences for Johnny requires some thinking in the movie audience. He indicated to Baby that he resented the situations where he felt compelled to sexually service older, rich women in order to earn money. Oh, poor Johnny!
Of course, Vivian's husband Moe should be considered to be the major victim of Vivian's sexual promiscuity, but none of the consequences to him are depicted or even suggested. He might even perversely enjoy her cuckolding of himself.
==========
The movie's moral lessons are directed mostly to the females in the movie audience. Females do not like movies where the movie's female protagonist loses her husband or boyfriend to some slut without severe consequences for the slut.
Perhaps Vivian satisfied Johnny sexually as well as or even better than Baby did, but that idea would dismay the females in the movie audience. Johnny's sexual satisfaction from Vivian must be acknowledged and accepted realistically, but Vivian must suffer somehow.
Vivian is married, and so she should stop competing sexually with single women. It's bad enough that single women have to compete sexually with each other for attractive males. Single women should not have to compete sexually also with married sluts.
Therefore, the movie had to show Vivian angry, bitter and isolated at the end. Her exact reasoning did not matter much. For the females in the movie audience, Vivian was the villain.
1) The Singing of "Kellerman's Anthem"The ending begins sadly. The "Kellerman"s Anthem" lyrics, in the third and fourth lines, mourn the imminent passing of the summer's fun experiences into mere memories.
2) The "Time of My Life" Dance Performance
3) The Denouement
Summer days will soon be over, soon the autumn starts,Baby Houseman sits sadly with her parents. Her dancer boyfriend Johnny Castle is gone, and so she will not perform in the talent show. Her sister Lisa will not share the spotlight.
And tonight our memories whisper softly in our hearts.
Then, Robbie Gould walks through the ballroom, and Jake Houseman chases after him and stops him in an alcove. Jake gives Robbie an envelope full of cash. In the ensuing conversation, however, Jake learns that Robbie (not Johnny) had impregnated Penny. Jake takes the envelope back, and Robbie leaves the building.
Now some justice has been done -- but seen only by the movie audience.
Then, while the "Anthem" continues to be sung, Johnny comes into the ballroom. At this point, the ending becomes happy for the movie audience and for all the characters -- except for Vivian Pressman. Before I discuss that one exception, though, I will continue to recount the movie's happy ending.
Johnny approaches Baby, who is surprised by his unexpected appearance. He takes her onto the stage, and declares his appreciation for her being a terrific dancer and for standing up for other people, no matter what the cost. Suddenly, sad Baby has become triumphant.
=======
The central part of the movie's happy ending is Baby's and Johnny's "Time of My Life" dance performance.
In a previous article titled The Psychology of the Movie's Happy Ending, I summarized that psychology:
.... A person is able to "flourish" into a state of happiness and well-being by assembling five building blocks:======
1) Positive EmotionThese same building blocks ... are assembled at the end of ... Dirty Dancing. The audience vicariously enjoys watching Baby "flourish" ....
2) Engagement
3) Relationships
4) Meaning
5) Accomplishment
1) Baby is emotionally happy in the moment.The audience vicariously enjoys Baby's "flourishing" and experiences the story's happy ending.
2) Baby is engaged in social interactions. On a low level, she is participating in the talent show. At the highest level, she aspires to improve the entire world.
3) Baby has repaired her damaged relationships -- especially with her father and with Johnny Castle.
4) Baby feels that her life has meaning. Johnny has publicly praised her wisdom and helpfulness.
5) Baby has accomplished an amazing dance performance.
The denouement of the movie Dirty Dancing happens in the last 3:18 minutes -- immediately after Baby Houseman and Johnny Castle conclude their dance performance. In a previous article, titled The Psychology of the Movie's Denouement, I summarized the denouement as follows:
The denouement of a story occurs just after the climax and is the final moment in which there is resolution for any remaining conflicts in the plot. All the loose ends of the plot are tied up in this last scene, secrets are revealed, and there may be a sense of catharsis for the reader or audience member at this point. It is also a return to normalcy for the characters, though there may be a “new normal” after the intricacies of the plot have occurred and been revealed.
.... the effective happy ending of Dirty Dancing happens mostly AFTER the performance dance of Baby Houseman and Johnny Caste. In other words, it is mostly the movie's denouement that makes the audience happy.
In the below video, the performance dance lasts from 3:10 through 3:30, and then the denouement lasts through the video's remainder.
The denouement comprises the following segments:Now I will skip ahead to the segment at 4:14 - 4:17 in the above video.
-----
3:30 - 3:34
Baby and Johnny laugh and embrace in their relief that they have completed their dance successfully.
In this moment, Baby and Johnny portray Positive Emotion and Accomplishment, which are two of the five elements of a happy ending, according to [Lindsay] Doran's lecture on happy endings. The rest of the denouement will portray the other three happy-ending elements -- Engagement, Relationships and Meaning.
-----
----I wrote that summary more than two years ago. Now I regret writing that Robbie and Vivian "had engaged in meaningless sex". Now I think that Robbie and Vivian considered their sexual relationships with, respectively, Penny and Johnny to be "meaningful". (I will not discuss Robbie further in this article.)
4:14 - 4:17
Vivian Pressman stands up. She is upset and turns away to leave the ballroom.
The movie has two main villains -- Robbie Gould and Vivian Pressman -- who had engaged in meaningless sex. Robbie is not even in the ballroom. Vivian's departure symbolizes the defeat of both villains.
-----
The following three images show Vivian standing up and walking out. In the background, Neil Kellerman dances with Marge Houseman.
=======
In a denouement, "all the loose ends of the plot are tied up". In Dirty Dancing, the entire denouement is happy except for the three-second moment when Vivian departs angrily.
Vivian's angry departure is noticed and understood only by the movie audience. Johnny and Baby might have understood Vivian' anger, but they do not notice her departure. Perhaps Robbie too would have understood Vivian's anger, but he already has departed before the denouement. Therefore Vivian's angry departure is meaningful only for the movie audience.
Vivian's angry departure arrests the movie audience's thoughts. The movie audience thinks about Vivian's anger and will continue to think about her anger after the movie ends. Those three seconds are in the movie so that the movie audience will continue to think about Vivian's anger.
======
Why was Vivian so angry? Was her anger reasonable and justified?
Earlier in the story, during the rehearsals for the talent show, Vivian tried to arrange a sexual encounter with Johnny. No matter what, their sexual relationship would end soon, but Vivian intended to extend it at least a few more days.
However, Johnny terminated his sexual relationship with Vivian so that he could continue his sexual relationship with Baby. Therefore Vivian spent the night not with Johnny, but instead with Robbie . When she came out of Robbie's cabin in the morning, she saw Johnny and Baby coming out of Johnny's cabin.
So, it seems that Vivian became angry at Johnny and Baby. Perhaps Vivian then accused Johnny of stealing her husband Moe Pressman's wallet, but the movie audience does not know that for sure. Maybe Vivian had nothing to do with the theft accusation against Johnny.
Whether or not Vivian initiated the accusation, she surely was informed that Johnny was fired for stealing her husband Moe's wallet. Surely, Max Kellerman informed both Vivian and More Pressmans that the thief -- Johnny -- had been discovered and was being fired and evicted immediately.
Perhaps Vivian's angry departure during the denouement is supposed to confirm the movie audience's suspicions that she indeed initiated the false accusation against Johnny. In other words, she was angry because her malicious accusation had failed to separate Johnny from Baby forever.
============
By the time Vivian was watching the talent show, she could not be expecting still to enjoy a sexual encounter with Johnny. She knew that Johnny had been fired and was gone from her life forever.
Vivian was as surprised as everyone else when Johnny showed up at the talent show and performed a dance with Baby. Vivian was shocked.
===========
Contrast Vivian's angry reaction with Neil Kellerman's accepting reaction. Neil had even better reasons to react angrily. He had courted Baby, but she dumped him in preference for Johnny. Neil had told Johnny to train the employees to perform a pachanga dance instead of a Cuban-soul dance. Neil had fired Johnny.
Nevertheless, Neil stayed in the ballroom and joined the dancing enthusiastically.
This contrast between Vivian and Neil highlights the excess of her anger. Vivian could have, like Neil, maturely shrugged off her anger and accepted the reality that Johnny preferred Baby as his romantic partner at that time.
======
I think there is another reason -- perhaps the main reason -- why the three-second moment of Vivian's anger is included in the denouement.
The movie includes several extra-marital sexual relationships. The characters who engaged in extra-marital sex or intended to do so were Baby, Johnny, Penny, Robbie and Lisa -- and Vivian. In that list, the only married character was Vivian.
The extra-marital sexual relationship of the two main characters -- Baby and Johnny -- is glorified in the movie. The movie audience is supposed to perceive at least that one extra-marital relationship as good.
The extra-marital relationship of Penny and Robbie ended with bad consequences for both characters.
The extra-marital relationship of Lisa and Robbie was not consummated, and Lisa's very intention was criticized by Baby.
==========
The extra-marital relationship of Vivian and Johnny, however, might cause moral uncertainty for the movie audience. That particular relationship was mutually consensual and did not involve a pregnancy or other apparent consequences.
Recognizing the consequences for Johnny requires some thinking in the movie audience. He indicated to Baby that he resented the situations where he felt compelled to sexually service older, rich women in order to earn money. Oh, poor Johnny!
Of course, Vivian's husband Moe should be considered to be the major victim of Vivian's sexual promiscuity, but none of the consequences to him are depicted or even suggested. He might even perversely enjoy her cuckolding of himself.
==========
The movie's moral lessons are directed mostly to the females in the movie audience. Females do not like movies where the movie's female protagonist loses her husband or boyfriend to some slut without severe consequences for the slut.
Perhaps Vivian satisfied Johnny sexually as well as or even better than Baby did, but that idea would dismay the females in the movie audience. Johnny's sexual satisfaction from Vivian must be acknowledged and accepted realistically, but Vivian must suffer somehow.
Vivian is married, and so she should stop competing sexually with single women. It's bad enough that single women have to compete sexually with each other for attractive males. Single women should not have to compete sexually also with married sluts.
Therefore, the movie had to show Vivian angry, bitter and isolated at the end. Her exact reasoning did not matter much. For the females in the movie audience, Vivian was the villain.
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