Last night when I heard that Patrick Swayze died of cancer at 57, a link went around Twitter from New York reporter Mandy Stadtmillerto the YouTube footage of the final dance scene from Dirty Dancing.
I freely admit: I cried while watching it. I know a lot of people looked at the death of Michael Jackson as a loss from their childhood, of a person who was responsible for the soundtrack of their youth. For me, it wasn’t Jackson – it was Swayze, particularly Dirty Dancing. I was 12 when the movie came out, and I wasn’t, if I recall correctly, allowed to see it in theaters. Eventually I saw the whole thing but by then I knew the entire soundtrack by heart. It was one of my earliest introductions to romance. The final scenes still gives me chills, even with the simplicity of the themes of nobility, honor, and bravery – and booty shaking.
And the story itself is absolutely barmy if you think about it in terms of marketability and success. Imagine that pitch now: a young sheltered Jewish girl in the 60’s falls in heavy grinding crush with her lower-class goyish dance instructor in a Catskills summer resort – and it’s a dance movie. I don’t even know if that would sell as a novel, much less a film. But the combination of those elements, plus the music, plus the magical dancing of be-mulletted Swayze made that one of my favorite movies. It was unlikely, but it was a huge success, and it was one of those cultural markers that shaped me into the romance fan I am today. (I bet it was the mullet, but don’t tell anyone).
So if you’re working on an unlikely romance, a story that no one thinks could do anything, much less sell to a publisher, keep going. There’s always the chance that your story could become the romance that twenty years later, is still campy, silly, beautiful, heartbreaking magic.
Man, I must’ve watched Dirty Dancing a zillion times while I was in high school (that and The Breakfast Club. I wore out tapes, I tell you.) And I still love to listen to She’s Like the Wind.
RIP, Patrick. I’ll miss you.
i don’t remember the first time i saw Dirty Dancing—i guess i was too young to remember. i do remember watching it every time it was on TBS when i was little. it was not until i was in high school, and we got it on DVD. There is just something about that movie that speaks to all of us. I recently moved out of my mother’s house, and the day before I made it a point to watch Dirty Dancing. I was feeling sad and nervous, and the first thing that i thought to do was watch Dirty Dancing. I guess it is just something from my childhood that i will always take with me—as long as i don’t taint it with my inherant cynicism…ie there is no way that Johnny and Baby would last past the end of the dance. I hate thinking of things like that, but it just happens.
I was in class yesterday when it was annouced that Patrick Swayze died, so i didn’t find out until I spoke to my mom while i was on my way home. she’s thinking about watching Dirty Dancing tonight as a way to honor his memory. She did notice that ABC Family will be airing it on Saturday, so if you don’t have the dvd/vhs and don’t mind watching an editted version, you can watch it then.
Watching that movie will probably never be the same for me. It took me over a year after Heath Ledger died to watch 10 Things I Hate About You because i was so saddened and shocked by his death. Although, we knew that Patrick Swayze was going to die, it is still a shock to know that he is no longer alive. I feel so bad for his wife and his family, and i wish them the absolute best.
RIP Mr. Swayze
I was a young married graduate student with a 14 month old baby. Not much romance in my life and plenty of responsibilities. I snuck out on a Sunday and caught the matinee showing of “Dirty Dancing”. I was enthralled! The music, the dancing, the unlikely romance and a little salsa music thrown in for good measure. (I’m Cuban.) But the best part was watching Patrick Swayzee dance. I went on to see the movie FIVE more times even before it came out in video! My sisters and I still say “You’re Wild!” when we find ourselves in a crazy situation.
Thank you Patrick Swayzee for the memories. I will always remember you as sleek Johnny Castle… the “bad boy” with a heart.
I’m with everyone else: loved his movies, loved the man and fell in love with him even more when I saw him do the Chippendales skit on SNL with Chris Farley. Gotta love a guy who can laugh at himself, be goofy and still look hot as hell.
It’s the definition of romance.
When Michael Jackson danced, he looked good.
When Patrick Swayze danced he made his partner look good.
Romance is when you are doing it for your partner, not just for you.
I just found this and it made me misty-eyed and it made me smile. As the article that I found it attached to said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (Which, of course, isn’t always true, but I’ll buy it in this case.)
Julia and James First Dance
I just found this and it made me misty-eyed and it made me smile. As the article that I found it attached to said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (Which, of course, isn’t always true, but I’ll buy it in this case.)
Julia and James First Dance
I agree with you completely. I just blogged about this today. I credit Patrick Swayze and Dirty Dancing with my love of romance (and a bad boy character). It was the first love story I ever watched as a kid. It has stuck with me. What a sad day.
Actually, the people who made Dirty Dancing didn’t think it would be such a big hit. They released it on video at the same time it was released in the theater. But people loved it including me.
I was in college when it came out and I heard all the buzz. I fell in love with Patrick Swayze the moment I laid eyes on him. I loved his bad boy swagger. I loved the music and dancing. I still love it.
My mom also died of cancer when she was about the same age as Patrick Swayze. I hate this disease and I can commiserate with the way his family must be feeling. Although I’m sad that Michael Jackson passed away, Patrick’s loss means more to me personally.
My mom took me to see Dirty Dancing and I was in junior high. She and I were huge Patrick Swayze fans (we also went and saw ‘Ghost’ and ‘Point Break’ together). I loved him for his grace, his talent, and genuine warmth and kindness. I shed a few tears last night then remembered that “Nobody puts baby in a corner.”
RIP Patrick.
My mom called me this morning. She was floored too. It’s not that we knew him as a person, but when someone iconic dies, it represents our larger mortality as a species and brings it home—not as wrenching as the death of a loved one, but as a reminder. I know his family grieves, really grieves, but I’m upset nonetheless.
All I remember is my sisters and I got it on VHS for Christmas from an aunt and we watched and rewatched that movie soo many times that we could say the lines word for word. After time the tape was sooo used that it would jump and skip all over the place that it was almost unwatchable!! But now I have it on DVD and it is still one of those movies that I like to pop in if I need a pick me up because it is such a cheesy yet great movie…but hey then again I like cheese!!
Also, our friends would come over and we would watch it over and over and then we would act out the dance moves and we would pause it just at the right moment when Patrick Swayze was getting out of the bed…*wink, wink*!!
So I must agree for me this is a bigger loss than that of MJ and I am truly and deeply saddened!!!
I first saw Patrick Swayze in Red Dawn and fell head over heels for him in Dirty Dancing. Roadhouse was just icing (plus there was Jeff Healey).
My first major crush, I had Patrick Swayze posters all over my room. One of the most sexy things about him? His devotion to his wife. My thoughts and prayers are with her.
Vale Patrick.
You youngsters are making me feel old! :oP
I first saw Dirty Dancing in the theater. I think I originally went more for the air conditioning than the movie, but that soon changed. It pulled me in, like it did so many others. I then went back and saw it so many times I lost count. Several others more ably stated why the movie touched them so much. I really can’t express it any better than they have, except to add that while I am perfectly able to take care of myself, there’s a dreamer part of me that always wanted/wants to know that someone had/has my back and would be there for me, no matter what it cost them. That Johnny came back for Baby, against all odds, just made my heart sing, and fulfilled that fantasy. I can re-watch that last scene repeatedly for hours.
When I dragged a friend to see it, I wasn’t sure how she’d react to certain parts of the movie as she came from a very conservative religious background, but I thought she’d like the overall premise. Anyway, somewhere around the time when Johnny said “This is my dance space, this is your dance space,” she leaned over and asked, “Is he ever going to take his shirt off?” Another convert. LOLOL
Then in 1989, a local radio station was doing a promotion called Dirty Dancing Weekend. Each hour, the tenth caller after they flashed the signal, won a video of the movie, a six pack of Mountain Dew, and a chance to win a trip to what they billed as “Mountain Dew’s Party of A Lifetime with Patrick Swayze.” I wanted a video, so I played the game. I was thrilled when I got through and won. Imagine my shock and awe when a few days later, I found out that I’d won the trip as well! They flew me and a friend out to LA for a long weekend, put us up and the Beverly Registry Hotel, and sent us to all sorts of parties and private tours of Universal Studios, and handed out more Pepsi/Mountain Dew swag than one could shake a stick at. It was my first ‘real’ vacation. I’d never traveled someplace just for fun, not to visit relatives, etc, before, and is one of my fonder memories.
Patrick and wife Lisa were incredibly gracious, warm and friendly, and far more patient with a bunch of ‘groupies’ than they needed to be. He was ever so handsome, redneck-and-proud-of-it, funny and down to earth. One could just tell that this was a man who adored his wife, enjoyed life, and lived it to the fullest. Not perfect, but comfortable with his flaws, and without the overblown ego that many celebrities tend to acquire.
It was a privilege to have met him, however briefly.
RIP, Patrick.
Diane :o(
It is too sad. Before they started showing ‘The Beast’ on Five they had Schwaze talking about his cancer, one minute of that man avoiding eye contact with the camera and stating plainly that he didn’t want to die and I knew I’d never make it through that documentary.
I saw Dirty Dancing in the theatre around the age of 18. Even then I was impressed by the movie because of the femimine gaze and sexuality. As I recall it didn’t seem that movies did that stuff back then. Of course, I’m not sure they really do it that way now. Well, not in the groundbreaking way it FELT back then.
I saw PS in The Beast this spring and I have to say that he gave an absolutely gritty performance. The show had its hokey moments but I bought Patrick as an on-the-edge agent. You could tell he was fighting a disease. The gauntness, the look in his eyes. Wow. I wished he had lived a longer life but that last performance he gave in the Beast is something.
*sniff sniff*
🙁
Way back when, my mom and I did a lot of short-term travelling. She would always go to the local movie rental place for me (and even rent me a VCR if the motel didn’t have them). Eventually our conversations went like this:
“What do you want?”
“Dir—”
She’d start nodding. “Dirty Dancing and A Few Good Men. Okay, okay.”
Baby and Johnny were my friends.
That was exactly my experience. I didn’t go because of the air conditioning I went because my father had addicted me to MGM musicals and this was the FIRST musical of my own generation WITH dancing as part of the story which I had ever heard of. I knew Swayze had done the Civil War miniseries but being German that hadn’t been of interest to me and there are so many other good-looking actors out there.
I was an au-pair in the UK at the time, the first time I was ever parted from my family for any length of time (even then I was a bookworm) and together with people who didn’t love me, which was a real waking-up call (that year in the UK changed certain aspects of my self-image that really needed to change). I was 21 at the time.
The families weren’t all happy-joy-joy in themselves (I changed family once) and to get out of the house I went to the (for a German small town girl) huge cinema screens for the matinees (a 500 people room with a huge screen – I didn’t go in the evenings because the lines waiting then were so long).
I watchted Dirty Dancing 8 times at the cinema – often there were maybe three people at the matinee, twice I was alone. I’ve never watched the film on TV, it wouldn’t be the same and I fell in love with Johnny Castle, not Patrick Swayze, but my respect goes out to the man for his work and my hopes for his family to find solace in remembering the man he was.
My eyes skimmed over Flowers From the Storm and I mistakenly thought it said “Flowers in the Attic” The tagline is even funnier that way.
Oops, wrong thread. Sorry
I LOVE North and South. although I’ll admit swayze’s character got on my nerves. but what a dream boat. I loved in dirty dancing when he was dancing shirtless and you see the muscles ripple in his back O.o yum I hope he’s teaching Jesus the merengue.