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A cheery feel-good story of a feisty girl reaching for her dream
Yep. Rocky, but easier on the eyes.
Edit:
I would also say it was part of a genre that included Footloose, Dirty Dancing, and some others I cannot recall. The theme of "Dancing sets you free and takes you places."
I would also say it was part of a genre that included Footloose, Dirty Dancing, and some others I cannot recall. The theme of "Dancing sets you free and takes you places."
Probably inspired by Saturday Night Fever.
An interesting idea. "Flashdance" was preceded by the movie "Fame," which is also in that group.
Now that I think of it, "Glee" was basically a remake of the "Fame" television drama.
I would also say it was part of a genre that included Footloose, Dirty Dancing, and some others I cannot recall. The theme of "Dancing sets you free and takes you places."
Probably inspired by Saturday Night Fever.
Because she never danced with her boyfriend I never had it with those three but it did fit with the street performance going on to being accepted by the classical that Fame features. Being a PG flash dancer instead of rated R stripper was a surprisingly effective choice.
Okay, fair enough. I'll watch it again, this time with that A Clockwork Orange apparatus that won't allow my attention to deviate from what's on the screen.
It wasn't known for being a great film back then, but its popularity was enhanced by the aerobics movement that was huge at that time.
I agree that it was like a series of music videos interrupted by plot attempts.
It wasn't known for being a great film back then, but its popularity was enhanced by the aerobics movement that was huge at that time.
I agree that it was like a series of music videos interrupted by plot attempts.
That and leg warmers.
As it was, I was heavily into aerobics and aerobic dance back then. Aerobic dance probably, IMHO, had less or a following than pure aerobics and it was probably more difficult to find a recreational class. Sort of, iffy, could be, but I do recall an academic classmate who found the PE aerobic dance class a HECK of a lot harder than the after hours recreational one. Me, I just took it all in stride....probably because the PE class was taught by my ballet teacher and I was one of her groupies.
Dance, dance, dance!
As it is, I still have many of my leg warmer pairs from the 80s. Back in the 90s, the word was "Leg warmers are OUT.......unless you're a ballet dancer.". I was and still kept them, still use them, in cold studios.
Finally, on that note about leg warmers, in September of the same year that Flashdance came out, 1983, Playboy ran their September issue with leg warmers on the cover. The Playmate, Barbara Edwards, had leg warmers in much of her pictorial.
While there might not have been a connection, someone probably saw a potential marketing ploy.
I'm watching this for the first time right now -- I don't get the appeal of it. Is it actually an interesting story or is it just an outdated T&A show?
I was an 80s teen. This film was popular because it was an "80s MTV" version that appealed the music video audience of MTV AND was an 80s upgrade to the music -drama of 1977 known as "Saturday Night Fever". By 1981 disco had died out, and it was the dawn of MTV. Flashdance was a "dance" drama with very popular music of the time (much like Saturday Night Fever) but for the new MTV generation.
In addition, some of the music was a precursor to the "hip hop" scene that evolved in the mid 80s into the modern period because of break dancing. It enjoyed a short but very intense popular phase. Many teens across the country held break dance competitions because of "Frlashdance". It witnessed one in the basement freshman locker - LOL. IT was "TOTALLY AWESOME" as was often said in the 80s.
As an interesting side note, the racial tension of the early 1980s was far worse. Looking back, it surprises me that Jennifer Beals was very popular in this film despite being half black and half white. Back then, it was a very taboo relationship to cross the "color" line like that. The stigma was extreme in ways a lot of young people from modern times probably can't imagine. I remember these two Klansmen attacked an interracial couple right in front of me in a crowded shopping mall. The two white men got arrested and hauled away but kept shouting hatred to the black man with the white girlfriend in the mall. In spite of such racial tension, it was amazing that Jennifer Beals achieved that much popularity. I don't recall her mixed ethnicity ever being mentioned at the time. The film was just too popular for it to become an issue it seems.
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I finally saw the whole film from beginning to end for the first time last night. I liked it. It's from a simpler time, without as many drastic plot twists. I was actually pleasantly surprised that Beals' boyfriend in the film turned out to be a nice guy, and there wasn't some big twist as most films today would have. It was a nice, basic story, peppered with good music, and there was nothing gritty about it.
As an interesting side note, the racial tension of the early 1980s was far worse. Looking back, it surprises me that Jennifer Beals was very popular in this film despite being half black and half white. Back then, it was a very taboo relationship to cross the "color" line like that. The stigma was extreme in ways a lot of young people from modern times probably can't imagine. I remember these two Klansmen attacked an interracial couple right in front of me in a crowded shopping mall. The two white men got arrested and hauled away but kept shouting hatred to the black man with the white girlfriend in the mall. In spite of such racial tension, it was amazing that Jennifer Beals achieved that much popularity. I don't recall her mixed ethnicity ever being mentioned at the time. The film was just too popular for it to become an issue it seems.
It was the change period in America, that the woman and not the man was Black, even if never stated what she was in the film that I can remember , made it go down easier. But still a year later Prince had Purple Rain in the theatres with Apollonia even if the actress is Latina the character was of ambiguous ethnic background replacing a more western African physically featured Vanity from his pop/funk career. About the same time on TV's Miami Vice Phillip Michael Thomas' Rico Tubbs would do love scenes with lighter skinned peoples.
I can't remember the year maybe the 90's or around the turn on the century, but I very well remember a Microsoft ad when I first saw interracial couple used to show that the company was up coming as they portrayed Apple as stodgy older people with a seemingly same race couple as the dam had bust on the racial attitudes held by segregationist.
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