Class Topics

During class we had the chance to analyze the film a little bit. We talked about different things that they showed in the film and we talked about in class. One of those is different socio-economic class which we saw a great deal in the movie. One of the ways we saw this was simply by what they wore in the movie. The higher class usually had very nice clothes on that were generally a lighter color. While the lower class usually had black on which we saw quite a bit with Johnny—black top, black pants, black leather jacket, black shades on. Also the way the different classes danced in the movie. The higher class danced to a lot slower less sexual music, while lower class was all like grinding and sexual dancing.

We also talked about the topic of abortion. In the movie Penny gets pregnant from Robbie. She originally thinks that they had something, but Robbie proves he just wanted some action. So Penny decides to get an abortion and Robbie agrees with this decision. When we talked about this in class we discussed about who should have the say to get an abortion. In a case like this where the two won’t stay together I think it should be Penny’s decision (even though abortion is illegal at this time). Due to the fact that she will be the one going through labor and Robbie really won’t be around and also he doesn’t want anyone to know about it.

One of the last topics of the movie we discussed in class was the part about coming of age and how dancing really shapes Baby into Frances. She comes into the summer camp as a daddy’s girl who is focused on helping the world and interested in her education, but before she knows it she is with a man-- that her dad does not approve of at first—and dancing really steps in and takes place of her education. I think this is a common theme where the “good girls” go after the “bad guys” in hopes to catch a thrill in a sense. I have also seen this in real life, but most of the time the ending is a lot different than the movie. In the movie Frances seems to change Johnny just as much as Johnny changes Frances. Johnny seems to be less of the kind of guy where he wants sex from all these different girls and Frances becomes more out-going and living for the day in a way. In real life what I have seen is the “good girl” starts taking on very bad roles such as drugs and forgets about her parent’s thoughts and cares about their boyfriend. While in the movie Frances’ dad takes on a liking to Johnny towards the end of the movie.