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When you give someone your word, it's supposed to mean something. It's not about power over anyone.
And it wouldn't have done any good. Who would Jake believe, exactly as Robbie said? That nice young man attending Yale, working over the summer, or the trashy entertainment people?
As was said above, one's station in life was a big part of this movie. The class differences and how people were judged by that.
It worked out great. Robbie was cocky. He thought Jake DID know. He said 'Thank you for helping me with that Penny situation'. And Jake was like what in the f? He wasn't going to believe that from anyone else.
What hole were they in that you are talking about making worse by not naming Robbie? That didn't happen. No holes were dug deeper, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Well I just felt that Johnny and Baby kind of dug themselves into a hole with Jake, and I just kept feeling like smacking myself in the face over it while watching the movie.
But I think the whole mess would have been cleared up if Johnny didn't admit the pregnancy while not thinking, and then didn't even bother to clear it up, or get Baby to clear it up. They don't even have to say it was Robbie, they just have to say, that Johnny misspoke and wasn't thinking. That's all.
Like if Jake asked "well who did it get her pregnant then?". All Johnny has to say is "I don't know, but it wasn't me". Even if it didn't work it's still worth trying. Cause trying is still better, than not trying. Plus trying to get people to believe creates more story conflict anyway.
You misunderstand what the 'mess' was. It's not centered around who got Penny pregnant. It's about Baby lying what the money was for, the abortion, and there was no way out of that hole. She lied. it was for something he wouldn't approve of. He even said, 'It isn't for anything illegal is it?' 'Of course not, Daddy'. But it WAS.
The part about the father accepting Johnny, that had nothing to do with the pregnancy. They didn't even talk about that at all. Her drive to make Robbie accountable had nothing to do with Johnny, clearing his name or anything.
She didn't even say to Robbie, 'Johnny is taking the fall for this'. It wasn't ever mentioned in any context. Her drive was for Robbie to do the right thing. Baby is all about doing the right thing.
Where she gets stuck with that, is telling her father she is with Johnny. Daddy won't approve because he has no education, no future, he is not the right sort of man for her. He is unsuitable, pregnancy or no pregnancy.
That is what Johnny and Baby fought about. He says why won't you stand up to your father and tell him about me? I want to walk with you two the way he does with your sister and (ironically, but unrelated) Robbie.
(Note that the pregnancy is not mentioned AT ALL in this convo. It's about who he is).
The ABORTION didn't help. Johnny was complicit in the abortion whether he was the father or not. HE got her an appointment with 'that butcher'. Baby is afraid to tell him she is with Johnny also because her father said (regarding the abortion, not parentage) 'You are to have nothing to do with those people ever again'. That included Penny and the cousin.
All of them were the wrong sort of people in his eyes anyway, but especially the abortion aspect. He had compassion for Penny, but he did NOT approve of her lifestyle or her choices.
Oh okay, well if the pregnancy has nothing to do with the father's acceptance of Johnny, then how come the father said to him "All I see is someone who got his partner in trouble and sent her off to some butcher". Is that dad not referring to him getting her pregnant, thinking it was him who did it?
If the dad is not referring to this, then what he is referring to when he says "got his partner into trouble"?
Oh okay, well if the pregnancy has nothing to do with the father's acceptance of Johnny, then how come the father said to him "All I see is someone who got his partner in trouble and sent her off to some butcher". Is that dad not referring to him getting her pregnant, thinking it was him who did it?
If the dad is not referring to this, then what he is referring to when he says "got his partner into trouble"?
Yes, that happened. At the end, it was not the central theme as you thought. It didn't help anything that he thought that for sure. But knowing it wasn't him, his opinion wasn't going to change by any measurable amount for all the reasons I stated above.
If that had been the central point, that is what Baby and Johnny would have been discussing in that fight. 'Your father thinks I am the one who got Penny pregnant'. Or Baby would say 'I have to find a way to get my Dad to know it wasn't you' but that didn't even enter the convo at all. It was about who he was, and who he wasn't. (The right sort of man who could give her a future).
Oh okay, thanks but if this movie is really about the class system, and the Dad disapproving of Johnny's class, then why even have this mistaken pregnancy subplot at all then? Why not just have so that the Dad is won over by Johnny, and makes him see past the class, without this pregnancy plot then? If it's not the central theme, then why include it or make a bid deal of it then?
Oh okay, thanks but if this movie is really about the class system, and the Dad disapproving of Johnny's class, then why even have this mistaken pregnancy subplot at all then? Why not just have so that the Dad is won over by Johnny, and makes him see past the class, without this pregnancy plot then? If it's not the central theme, then why include it or make a bid deal of it then?
Because the plot was about more than one thing. The plot wasn't about the class system, that was part of the movie, but the plot centers around Baby coming of age. That is number 1.
Her coming of age involves an affair with a man from the wrong side of the tracks. A wonderful affair for the audience to enjoy, with the DANCING ! The pregnancy thing, that shows how Baby wants to save the world, and she starts with Penny.
Apparently the movie also wanted to deal with the abortion issue, which is also part of Baby coming of age. Learning about some hard things that exist in the world, and there are no easy answers to them all like she thinks from her sheltered upbringing.
The abortion also serviced the plot. Baby has to take her place in the dancing job at the other hotel. Otherwise Johnny would never have looked twice at a young, sort of plain looking girl who by the very nature of being a guest of the resort was OFF LIMITS. Would get him fired.
Finding Penny crying in the kitchen, and insisting on knowing what was going on, and then insisting there was a solution (that she was willing to do anything in her power to assist in) is how she even knows these people. When she first met Johnny, he totally blew her off. Didn't even notice she was trying to get his attention.
He blew her off even after she got the money. He was like thanks, but all of life's problems can't be solved by going to your Daddy for money. Penny has to WORK. There is another problem with the abortion besides the means to pay for it. The only day the Dr. can come is the day they have a JOB.
Oh okay, I thought a lot of the Dad's views had to do with the pregnancy since he told Johnny that was his opinion of him. But I can try to watch it again with this other perspective.
Oh okay, I thought a lot of the Dad's views had to do with the pregnancy since he told Johnny that was his opinion of him. But I can try to watch it again with this other perspective.
He blew her off even after she got the money. He was like thanks, but all of life's problems can't be solved by going to your Daddy for money. Penny has to WORK. There is another problem with the abortion besides the means to pay for it. The only day the Dr. can come is the day they have a JOB.
This reminds me of the fact that Johnny judged people by their station in life as well. He preferred the company of others like himself. He disdained Baby for being clueless, wrapped in her life by money and privilege.
The wealthy women he had encountered at this job, at first he thought their attention to him meant something. That he was as good as them, but he was just a piece of meat. They didn't like HIM, or think he was any good as a person, just a hot man to use and toss away.
This fact did not enhance his view of people with money!
He treated her like crap when she was learning to dance until she threw a fit and said 'I am doing ALL OF THIS to SAVE YOUR ASS'.
He gave that some thought, became much softer with her, and then discovered the person within. The honorable person, the good person, someone he wants to be like. Someone who DID like him for himself. Someone who made him believe he can be more than a dance instructor/prostitute.
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