September is MOVIE TALK Month. I don't know what compelled me to decide this, but it's happened. From now on until I decide otherwise, I'm going to talk about a different movie every Saturday in September. The school year is always starting up in September and since I'm getting into the swing of things, I'm going to want to post some easier things. Most MOVIE TALKs are pretty easy to write for me, with the exception of last week's Black Panther post going into some touchy subjects like death and racism, and this summer's "Why 2010 is Such a Fascinating Year for Movies" being a two-parter. (Part one here, part two here. I'm still super proud of those. Read them if you haven't.)
Anyways, I'm a huge fan of 1980s movies. Every John Hughes movie I've seen has been great, with Ferris Bueller's Day Off being one of my personal favorite movies ever. There are a bunch of iconic 80s movies I've heard a lot about but never seen. Heathers, Say Anything, Dirty Dancing, et cetera. One of them, Flashdance, was on TV the other day, so I decided, "hmm, why not?" I decided to watch it, and how was it?
(Warning: there will be spoilers, if you're at all worried about somebody spoiling goddamn Flashdance to you.)
Honestly, I was expecting it to be a lot better. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't mindblowingly fantastic either. If I had to sum up this movie in one word, it would be "boring." I can't find the exact quote, but Wikipedia says that The New Yorker referred to Flashdance as "Basically, a series of rock videos." I'd say that sums it up better than anything I could ever write.
As this is a dance movie, the music and dance numbers are the best thing about it. The movie really is a bunch of admittedly pretty good dance numbers strung together by a mediocre plot. People mostly remember the movie for the dance routines, not because of the plot. I'd say the most iconic routine is the final "What a Feeling" number, and that one was also my favorite. It felt like a perfect way to cap off the movie, and I love how the film is bookended by the song. My favorite thing about the scene was how the choreography included a bunch of styles of dance Alex studied and practiced, even including some breakdancing. And what the heck, I do really like the song "What a Feeling." It basically has everything I love about cheesy 80s music- a total guilty pleasure.
After "What a Feeling," I would say the most iconic number was the first one, mostly because of the scene with the chair and the water. So many movies, TV shows, and music videos have paid homage to that shot. Hell, I first saw it at the end of an episode of Victorious, where they had the teacher Mr. Sikowitz homage it. I didn't get the reference until I was older. I also liked the scene where Alex's best friend Jeanie skates to the song "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, mostly because that song reminds me of the time I went to the Gateway Arch last year. It was right after the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup and there was a celebration rally happening at the Arch the exact day I was there. Since "Gloria" was an anthem for the Blues that year for reasons I'm not quite sure of, the song was played on a loop the entire time I was there.
Other than the dance numbers, the best thing about the movie is Jennifer Beals’ role as Alex Owens. She's a welder by day, exotic dancer by night, but she dreams of becoming a professional dancer. I did feel like Alex didn't really have much of a distinctive personality, but Beals did a good job with what she was given. It's because of her natural charisma that we want to see Alex succeed and go for her dream.
Everything else in the film, however, is take it or leave it. I'd say my biggest problem with the movie was the romance, which felt entirely unnecessary. Alex's love interest is her boss, Nick Hurley, and he's quite bland. At times, it felt like the movie focused too much on the love story, which detracted from Alex's main goal of getting into the dance school. I also didn't like how Nick didn't take no for an answer and kept on trying to get Alex to date him, which felt kind of like harassment to me. Their relationship was a cliched break-up-and-get-back-together thing, only none of it was compelling. She thinks he's cheating and throws a rock at his window? Surprise, he's really just with his ex-wife who he sees once a year! That entire conflict literally started and finished in five minutes.
I especially hated how Nick used his connections with the arts council to get Alex an audition. She was furious with him and refused to go with it, and he was just like, "Stop blaming me because you're too afraid to go for your dream!" No, you dope, she's mad because she wanted to get in based on her own merit! She didn't want you to bribe her way in!
I didn't like most of the subplots, either. One of the bigger subplots was Alex's relationship with an elderly woman named Hanna. This had potential, but it was barely developed. Wikipedia says that Hanna was her mentor and a retired ballerina, but I don't remember any of this being in the movie. Hanna's role mostly just raised questions from me: How did Alex meet Hanna? What has Hanna done for Alex? Why did Hanna take Alex under her wing? About three-quarters of the way into the film, Hanna dies, which could have been used to strengthen Alex's character, but it really wasn't. She cried a little bit, but it didn’t seem to mean much to her.
I also didn't care for the subplot with Jeanie and her boyfriend, Richie. He was a comedian, but not a very funny one. All his jokes were about Polish people, using a derogatory term I didn't know about but probably shouldn't use. I'd maybe find him hilarious if I was in the 80s, but now, it's just dated and bad. But he seemed to think he was good enough to go to LA, so he does that, but doesn't tell Jeanie about it. Meanwhile, while he's away, she starts working at a strip club and dating the club's owner, Johnny.
And I've only used this word one other time on this blog, but let's be clear: I fucking detested Johnny. He was so corrupt, so shady, just an absolute sleazeball. He harassed numerous women, both verbally and physically, and his bodyguard straight-up breaks Richie's nose. I was probably supposed to hate his guts, and oh boy, did I ever.
I did think the character of Jeanie was okay, I just wish she had more to do. I genuinely felt bad for her when she fell in the middle of her skating routine. If I were writing the movie, I would get rid of Nick entirely and make it just about Alex and Jeanie. Two best friends with big dreams, trying to take their passions and make it happen! Alex and Jeanie had a cute friendship that I'd like to see more of, although I did get a bad vibe when Alex shamed and berated Jeanie for working at the strip club. Contrary to popular belief, strippers and sex workers actually are real people with lives and emotions. Most of the time, they're just working in those fields as a quick way to make ends meet, and they shouldn't be shamed for that. Alex's actions in that scene were very much slut-shaming, and I didn't like that at all.
At the end of the day, I'd give Flashdance a 4/10. It was pretty underwhelming and I struggled to really find many interesting things to say about it. I’m not sure what movie next week’s post will be about, but I just hope it’s more interesting than this.
Stellar
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