Why ABC's 'Dirty Dancing' Disappointed Me
Start writing a post
Entertainment

Why ABC's 'Dirty Dancing' Disappointed Me

SPOILERS ahead - but maybe just watch the original instead

119
Why ABC's 'Dirty Dancing' Disappointed Me

The common theme in today’s entertainment has been remakes, reimagines, and reboots. From a full female casted Ghostbusters in 2016 to the coming summer remake of Baywatch with Zac Efron and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – this day and age, nostalgia proves to bring people to TV screens and box offices.

Ultimately, there are some movies that, I believe, should not be remade because the first was so well-received and successful – so much to the point that it considerably defined an entire era.

Most recently ABC decided to make a musical special of Dirty Dancing with Abigail Breslin as “Baby” and Colt Prattes as (the legendary) “Johnny Castle.”

Due to the fact that I am a huge Dirty Dancing fan, and have been ever since my sister showed me the movie when I was a child, this special automatically made me nervous.

In my eyes, the 1987 movie was created perfectly. Between the original cast that included Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayzee as the famous couple, the classic soundtrack, and the general storyline, the movie had no flaws in my eyes. Yes, this could mean that I am obsessed, but the main point is that Dirty Dancing is a classic, and it’s really difficult to recreate gracefully.

To begin, the one issue I had with the reimagined version was the fact that they changed the ending. I’m completely okay with using creative freedom and expression to differentiate the original from the remake, but in this case, the ending was not satisfying and it did not make sense with plot in general.

I never saw Johnny Castle choreographing a Broadway show – in my mind, he’s way too rebellious and talented for something that mainstream. Also, this could just be me being a hopeless romantic, but I thought that it was insinuated that Baby and Johnny ended up together. In general, that’s an assumption on my part, but I think every fan thinks that and really expected the remake to follow through with the original ending.

Another issue I had was with the musical interpretation of Dirty Dancing. As I said before, the soundtrack is BY FAR one of the most loved qualities of the original and to add modernized qualities to the songs didn’t seem right. One song specifically hit me hard, and that was the recreation of Swayzee’s “She’s Like the Wind.” It was turned into a duet – which wasn’t a terrible idea, but it wasn’t even comparable to the original version, which is disappointing and probably made Swayzee roll in his grave a little bit.

Although I found a lot of issues with this movie event, one thing I actually didn’t mind was some of the casting, especially Nicole Scherzinger as “Penny.” I think Scherzinger is so talented and her acting as one of the main, troubled characters while doing it justice was pretty remarkable.

Overall, the Dirty Dancing remake was a disappointment and although society is going through a phase of nostalgia based creations recently, some classics shouldn’t be remade.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
beer on the beach

Summer is hot and humid, and it's almost like summer was made specifically to drink the refreshing, cold, crisp wonderful, delicious, nutritious nectar of the gods. Which is none other than beer; wonderful cold beer. With summer playing peek-a-boo around the corner while we finish up this semester, it's time to discuss the only important part of summer. And if you haven't already guessed, it's beer. There are few things I take more seriously than my beer, in order are: sports... and beer. Here are my favorite summer brews:

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

7 Reasons SoCal Rocks!

75 degrees and sunny, plus, no humidity. I mean do I really need to say more?

1417
woman in black and white long sleeve shirt carrying girl in red jacket in Venice beach
Photo by Jeff Hopper on Unsplash

SoCal summers are the best summers by far, and honestly, no argument is needed. But, if you aren't sure why SoCal summers are the best, here are 7 reasons why!

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

25 Lyrics for Selfie Captions

Because let's be honest, we all use lyrics.

53745
woman takes a selfie for social media
Pixabay

Sometimes you can't think of the perfect caption for your Instagram post. I love using lyrics as my captions because there's so many great lines in songs that just seem to fit in the moment. Here are some lyrics that could work for your selfie or pictures of you with your friends!

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Bruce Springsteen's Top 7 Lyrics

Everything Bruce says in his classic rock songs.

20203
bruce springsteen album cover born in the usa

Anyone who was born and raised in New Jersey (or anywhere really) knows of Bruce Springsteen, whether or not they like him is a whole other situation. I hope that his hundreds of classic rock songs and famous high energy performances, even in his sixties he can put on better concerts than people half his age, are at least recognizable to people of all ages. Love him or hate him (I identify with the former) you have to admit that some of his songs and interviews have inspirational quotes and lyrics.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

New England Summers Are The BEST Summers

Why you should spend your next summer in New England.

4998
Marconi Beach

Three years ago, I chose to attend college in Philadelphia, approximately 360 miles away from my small town in New Hampshire. I have learned many valuable lessons away from home, and have thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in Pennsylvania. One thing that my experience has taught me, however, is that it is absolutely impossible to beat a New England summer.

You cannot beat the beach. Believe it or not (which many people may not), New England has a long and beautiful coastline. Most of my high school summers were spent sitting on the Wall at Hampton Beach, getting sunburnt and eating Acai bowls from The Secret Spot. The Wall was the place to be both during the day and at night. We begin our days there with a KB's bagel and coffee, and end them with pizza and ice cream. It’s not a New England summer without that 4 p.m. text from someone, “Who wants to meet at the Wall tonight?” Nighttime is for Tripoli’s Pizza, the sound of waves, and wishes on shooting stars. Wednesday nights are especially important, as those are the nights that Hampton Beach sets off the weekly firework display.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments