Watching Footloose

I finally watched Footloose last night - the original - because somehow I'd never seen it. And I know the remake looks terrible, but I fear I will give in and see it anyway (though I plan to hold out for DVD - I'm not that dedicated to awful dance movies), so I figured I should see the original first. And it's one of those things that I can watch and recognize how it would have been such a monumental thing for viewers who caught it at the right age, but now it looks mostly like a cultural artifact - a bizarre, sometimes hilarious artifact. (I felt the same way about St. Elmo's Fire, for example.) Watching it now was somewhat entertaining, but more useful as a way to understand a set of pop culture references I'd always missed.

Nevertheless, it certainly had some impressive dancing. And I love the implication that all the Troubled Teen Boys really want is to be allowed to DANCE OUT THEIR FEELINGS.