Patrick Swayze, as hoofer with a heart of gold Johnny Castle catapulted my entire generation boy crazy girls into puberty with what might be THE single greatest chick flicks in the history of time, Dirty Dancing. I think I saw it when I was in 5th grade when a friend of mine stole her older sister’s VHS copy of Dirty Dancing (this is the same girl who also got a copy of Madonna’s Truth or Dare which we saw in SIXTH grade, one of her parents was the ambassador from Portugal or something, I can’t remember.)
Anyhoodle, it’s been years and years since I’ve seen it because I’m afraid I’d be embarrassed at my old self for loving it so much since I’m now Entirely Too Cool for chick flicks, and I think I’d just be sad that poor Jennifer Grey got such a bad nose job.
BUT that does nothing to diminish the Eternal Hotness of Patrick Swayze who was never hotter than he was in this movie. Remember, the mambo isn’t the cha cha. The mambo starts on two.
I cried a little when I heard about his death last week — not because he was an actor I ever particularly had a thing for (although I did love to watch him dance and one of the greatest five minutes of television ever was his male stripper sketch on SNL with Chris Farley), but because pancreatic cancer was what took my dad, so I know how hard he fought to stay alive as long as he did. He deserves to be remembered for that if nothing else — he was a lionheart.
Comment by Style Spy — September 21, 2009 @ 1:02 pm
Like Style Spy, my dad died from pancreatic cancer as well- it’s one of the most deadly “common” cancers. Once discovered, it’s usually way too late, and there’s about a year or so left…
However, I definitely had a teeny-bopper crush on Johnny Castle….err, Patrick Swayze. And I really identified with the overly-protected, somewhat nerdy Baby in the movie… especially during the scenes where she felt awkward and out of place (i.e. most of the first part of the movie).
Comment by SusanC — September 21, 2009 @ 2:42 pm
Johnny Castle who, deep down, was just a sad sweet boy who cougars took advantage of. There was always something in the eyes of Patrick Swayze, wasn’t there? That worldly sadness is especially beautiful in “To Wong Foo”.
Comment by Mrs. Hendricks — September 21, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
Like Style Spy and SusanC, I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer and it was an especially painful and cruel death. Pancreatic cancer also took my mother the year after my dad. SusanC is right, once discovered it is almost always too late to do anything about it and there are no effective early diagnostic tests. I always thought Patrick Swayze was a world class Hotty (Roadhouse is still one of my favorites), but after seeing the way he conducted himself and fought the disease with such dignity and determination, he will now always be one of my all time heroes!
Comment by gemdiva — September 21, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
This was the movie that made me fall in love with Patrick Swayze. I was 7 years old when it came out on VHS, and I watched it at my sitter’s house with her 10-year-old daughter. I didn’t understand a thing beyond “that cute guy is trying to teach that lady how to dance, and why is her name Baby?” Even after re-watching it when I got older, I still thought of the movie that way.
Comment by ChloeMireille — September 22, 2009 @ 9:38 am
This was the movie that made me fall in love with Patrick Swayze. I was 7 years old when it came out on VHS, and I watched it at my sitter’s house with her 10-year-old daughter. I didn’t understand a thing beyond “that cute guy is trying to teach that lady how to dance, and why is her name Baby?” Even after re-watching it when I got older, I still thought of the movie that way.
( I think this is going to accidentally double-post, so I apologize in advance.)
Comment by ChloeMireille — September 22, 2009 @ 9:39 am
He not only fought to live, he worked and was fantastic in the Beast, using his cancer-ravaged appearance for the role. For an actor who had once been so handsome, that’s brave stuff. I am not too cool for anything and I watch all sorts of movies no matter what gender-diminishing labels people slap on them. (I see no difference between the schmaltz in a romantic film and the schmaltz of an action hero subduing an entire town of bad guys with a baseball bat. It’s all fantasy, it’s all escapism, and it’s all glorious. Bring on the movies!) I loved Dirty, I loved Ghost, and I loved To Wong Foo. After two decades, I now sing She’s Like the Wind because I’ve gotten over my belief that pop music should be “deep” somehow. This was so sad, and I really like how Plumcake featured him twice, remembering two of best roles.
PS: I was too cool to see Dirty Dancing way back when; when I recently saw it, I just loved it. It has stood up much better than one might think.
Comment by Lisa — September 22, 2009 @ 10:51 am
Those shoulders.
Comment by Margo — September 22, 2009 @ 4:57 pm