Critical Context

For Dirty Dancing I read the article titled: "You don't own me!:" Dirty Dancing as teenage rite-of-passage film" by Sian Lincoln. In the article the author goes through all of the main points in the film that can be seen as rite-of-passage moments for Baby. Some of the ones she referenced were: losing ones virginity, holiday romances, being with an older guy, finding yourself, defying ones parents, among others. Lincoln describes how these are all critical points in a teenagers life and they are important for one to taking the step into adulthood. I would have to say that the author analyzed the film quite well and I feel the points she brings up really do demonstrate a lot of the struggles that teenagers go through in this transition period. Although I feel like going through all of these struggles like how it happens in the film is a little exaggerated, simply because everything happens in the period of a few weeks while some of these things happen over a period of years in the real world. But we can't sit and watch a movie for that long so I understand where the filmmakers are coming from. Again on the authors point I feel this film like many other films of the time do a really good job of showing what a lot of regular people go through as they move from teenagers to young adults. Also after having read Lincoln's article there were a lot of details in the film that I simply missed since I have only seen the film once. Little bits and pieces of the characters that I missed are now more pronounced and a lot of the issues and topics in the film make a lot more sense. For the most part I would have to say that I agree with Lincoln's take on the film and what it represents to a lot of women (and perhaps men as well) that are growing up and dealing with many of these issues firsthand.

Lincoln, Sian. ""You Don't Own Me!": Dirty Dancing as Teenage Rite-of-Passage Film" The Time of Our Lives: Dirty Dancing and Popular Culture. Eds. Yannis Tzioumakis and Sian Lincoln. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2013. 131-146.