Dirty Dancing - Johnny specifically

[musicalfrog]

Just watched this again, having watched lots as a younger woman. Seeing it differently.

Today I thought, what did Baby see in Johnny? Where is his personality exactly?

Only perks I could see were:

• good dancer

• a nice friend to Penny

Does this film just not travel as well to older folk? I'm not sure I'd rush back to it again 😅 fantastic soundtrack though!

He sees her as a young woman rather than a “baby”
He has a very different background to hers which can be attractive, he has made his own way in the world
He’s sexy
He’s determined
I haven’t seen it for ages so can’t think of anything else!

I would have said it was his handsome good looks and bad boy image tbh! She was such a goody too-shoes naive kinda gal. Sounds a bit like me and my first love 🤣

Loyal, principled, not stuck in her stuffy upper/middle class world. Spent time getting to know who she really was and took time to teach her properly. He was a really decent guy just trying to make his own way in a world that looked down on him. What’s not to like?

She was 17, wasn't she? Sexy, bad boy dancer is reason enough!

She also saw the other side of what the bloke her dad approved of (Robbie?) was like. He was the one who had got Penny pregnant and turned his back on her and then cheated on her sister. Her father backed him for med school (until the end) but treated Johnny who had behaved more honourably like shit.

She was still treated as the Baby of the family in every sense, not really a person in her own right with feelings, personality, dreams, just their little girl. Her dad in particular is patronizing towards her.

Johnny sees her as a fully formed person, he sees qualities in her that he admires. He sees her as an individual and treats her like a grown up. It's not so much his personality as how he views her.

You really can't see why a hot bad boy would be attractive to a young woman!?

Is it really his personality we’re meant to think she liked though?

Yes, I suppose so, there was obviously an instant physical attraction.

I get what everyone is saying about how he treats her differently than her family, but that was only after a time. He was initially quite dismissive of her.