THE FANS' LOVE STORY: How The Movie 'DIRTY DANCING' Captured The Hearts Of Millions! (15 page)

That’s a lot of reasons. How do you think
Dirty Dancing
impacted you personally? Any of the choices from the questionnaire apply to you?

It definitely gave me hope that love still exists. I think that it shows love on many levels. I mean even the love he had for the people he worked with and how they looked out for each other, and then the relationship he had with Jennifer Grey’s character. I liked that—the whole looking out for each other, unconditional love. Everybody had each other’s back. I really liked that. Also, I think it did give hope that people will do the right thing. Towards the end, the father lightened up because he kind of had pre-judged him (Johnny) for his lifestyle, and then he realized how much his daughter really loved him, and how he was good for his daughter. I think in the end, it showed people are about doing the right thing.

In addition to
Dirty Dancing
, are there other movies that you’ve seen many, many times? And if so is Patrick in them?

Ghost
. I love
Ghost
. I’ve seen that a lot.
The Outsiders
. I was a big
Outsiders
fan. I’ve seen that many times.

Are there other movies though, that Patrick is not in, that you’ve seen a lot of times?

It’s an older movie. It’s called
Sparkle—
Irene Cara was in it and Philip Michael Thomas. It was about three sisters that were entertainers. It came out in the late ’70s. I’ve seen that movie at least thirty times.

Anything else?

Imitation of Life
. There are two versions. The one with Lana Turner—that one I’ve seen about I would say about twenty times. There are two of them. There is one that came out like in the fifties and then that one I think came out in the seventies but Lana Turner was the actress in the one I like . . . It was about two women, a black women and a white woman, and both had daughters and the black daughter actually looked white, and so she was passing as white. People were finding out she wasn’t a white girl . . .

Have you ever met Patrick or anyone else from the
Dirty Dancing
cast?

No, I have not.

Will you continue to watch
Dirty Dancing
?

Yes, it was fun, and if I ever have children—that’s it—that’s the kind of movie that anybody can relate to that you would show the younger generation. So it’s definitely kind of like a
West Side
Story
kind of movie where everyone just sees it because it’s like nostalgia. I definitely will watch it again. I’ll probably end up getting the twenty–year DVD.

What do you think about the movie being made in to a stage production?

Definitely, ’cuz it’s basically music so it would fit right into like a play. I think that would go off very well. I would go see it. It definitely has all the elements for Broadway.

What do you think about a movie sequel being made at this point?

If they do it right. And what I mean by do it right is like maybe add new, fresh characters, but yet don’t forget the old characters . . . It should stand on its own though ’cuz sometimes when people do sequels, I think they mess up because if someone hasn’t seen the first movie, a lot of people can’t relate to the second movie . . .

What other things do you want to say about
Dirty Dancing?

I just think that anybody that’s into music and dancing—it’s just another genre of dancing that we should take heed to. And just like everybody is trying to own that
Dancing With The
Stars—
you know born now. I think DD has its own culture and its own fan base, and I think it will always live because anybody that’s into music and dancing will appreciate it. I mean if you are somebody that’s into dancing, this is definitely a must see movie if you have not seen it. It’s definitely a classic when it comes to that.

It’s a movie that you know, so many movies out today are so serious—it lends itself to a sense of fantasy element too, so I think it’s just a happy movie. It’s a positive movie. Sometimes we see so many dark movies. This is an uplifting movie. And I like the theme song. I really like that.

Do you have a favorite character or scene?

Would you say the finale scene is your favorite?

Actually, the finale scene was good, but I think leading up to it was better—like when they were practicing and she was kind of quirky with it. Jennifer Grey definitely stole the show for me. She was really good. I mean Patrick was good, but just her character being quirky and so naive in a sense. I really liked the character, and she was kind of like timid and she became confident towards the end. She was my favorite character, and he was second to her.

I also liked the scene when the dad finally figured out that Patrick Swayze’s character was the one that was helping out with that guy—the guy who was playing on his other daughter. I kind of like how that was revealed—like the bad guy was finally found out.

Additional Demographic Information

Marital Status:
Single (never been married)

Education:
Eastern Michigan—Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications/Film

Saginaw Valley State University—Masters in Leadership and Public Administration

Profession:
Freelance Television News Reporter—Fox Toledo News

Auto Show Spokesperson (represents Chrysler)

Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club member:
Not yet

Kelly and I then had a discussion about arts in the schools.

I was just commenting about Beyonce and how Beyonce feels about music in the inner city curriculum in schools. She had made a comment, as she’s part of the campaign to save the music [SAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION], which Gloria Estefan is also part of, and many other well-known artists. But basically, Beyonce said that the reason why she’s pulling for schools in the inner city (and just in general all over) to have music in their curriculum—is because if she did not have it in her school at that time, she said she probably wouldn’t be the artist that she is today—for the simple fact that she was a shy student, and that she expressed herself through music. So that is why she’s very for music in the school system because that’s how a lot of the students grow.

I heard Patrick Swayze when he came to the Music Hall (Detroit) twice (2002 & 2004) and talked about this subject—the importance of the arts for kids. He came with Complexions Contemporary Ballet. They are awesome. They go all over the world giving dance concerts and they do outreach to inner city kids—give dance workshops. Patrick, is on the advisory board of directors (and so is Lisa, his wife), and so he would travel sometimes with the company to have charity benefits. He introduced Complexions Contemporary Ballet—didn’t dance. I sat in the front row. It is not the best place to sit to see the dancing, but that is where I wanted to be to see and hear Patrick. In his introductory speeches, he talked about how important the arts are and how the arts distinguish us humans from beasts. Also, he spoke about how important it is to get the kids away from the TV and computer, and get them involved in dance and the arts, before it is too late. He also said that through dance, we can unite the world. After the dance concert (both times), Patrick hosted a gala reception at the Detroit Athletic Club to raise money for Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Patrick gave autographs and pictures.

Note: After Patrick Swayze passed, Mr. Dwight Rhoden, Artistic Director, Co-Founder, and Resident Choreographer at Complexions Contemporary Ballet, created “Mercy”—a two part ballet dedicated to Patrick Swayze. “Mercy” was premiered at the Joyce Theater in New York in 2009.

Age 41. Lives in Landsburg, Germany.

February 2008 (e-mail interview). August 2008 (e-mail follow-up questions).

Has seen
Dirty Dancing
101–500 times.

What year did you first see
Dirty Dancing
and how old were you? How did you happen to see
Dirty Dancing
? Did somebody tell you about it? Were you already a fan of Patrick from
North and South
?

I saw it first 1987 and I was twenty-one. I knew Patrick from
North and South
and I loved him . . . I was twenty-one years old and I loved dancing very, very much. I can’t remember if anyone told me about this movie, but I remember that I went to the cinema on my own, without any friends, and I loved this film from the first minute. I went to cinema every day (and sometimes twice a day) for about one week, to watch DD.

Why do you like
Dirty Dancing
so much?

It gave and gives me a good attitude towards life. I love the dancing and the music. I love Patrick and it is a big dream of mine to dance with him. I love the story. It’s so romantic. It’s a real feel-good movie for me.

How has
Dirty Dancing
impacted you personally?

The courage of “Baby” inspired me to find my own courage.

The dancing of Patrick and the others inspired me to find my own way of dancing.

In addition to
Dirty Dancing
, how many movies have you seen multiple times? Is Patrick in them?

I saw
North and South
multiple times and also
One Last Dance
and some other Patrick movies (for instance
Road House
,
Forever Lulu
), but none of them as often as DD.

There are some other movies without Patrick that I also watched multiple times. I think about approximately five.

Have you ever met Patrick or anyone else from the cast?

No, unfortunately not.

I am a great Patrick fan since
North and South
and [the] DVD came out. But after that time, my life had many challenges for me and “to be a fan” has taken a back seat until last year spring. It was March or April when I thought that it would be nice to watch DD again, and I bought the DVD. The movie fascinated me again and I became a member of Patrick’s fan club. In this time, I found out that it could get real to meet him one day because on the fan club website were many reports about the possibilities the fans have had in the past to get in touch with him. So it became a very big dream of mine to meet him one day.

Will you continue to watch
Dirty Dancing
?

Yes, at the moment I watch
Dirty Dancing
once a day. It is always a time of a few weeks when I watch
Dirty Dancing
so intensive. Afterwards, I make a pause of a few weeks and then I start again.

What do you think about
Dirty Dancing
, the movie being made into the stage production, and do you plan to see the stage production?

For me,
Dirty Dancing
is connected with Patrick and Jennifer, and I don’t plan to see the stage production.

Please say more about your statement on the questionnaire that said:

“has given me hope for my life, that I will have the courage to find my way especially in dancing.”

I had a sad time with big family differences behind me. Watching
Dirty Dancing
gave me hope because I began to feel like “Baby.” I admired the courage “Baby” has in the movie. She stands by her feelings and fights for them against her father and society. I had worked hard for many years to find my way and with watching
Dirty Dancing
again and again (last spring) my change in this part began. I had to become forty-one years old to tell my parents my point of view—not accepting bad compromises. And now I feel comfortable with my decision.

I rediscovered my love for dancing. I loved dancing so much since I was a teenager until I was about twenty-five years old. After this time, I was very interested in martial arts, qigong, and taiji. My love for dancing had taken a back seat. I graduated trainings as a qigong teacher and women’s self-defense teacher. I worked freelance in both areas besides my main job in an office. But ten years later, I stopped teaching qigong and women’s self-defense because I did not know if it really was the way I want to go. Afterwards, I only practiced taiji for myself. And after some years, DD came again into my life and inspired me to find my own way of dancing. I always wanted to do partner dancing, but most of the time I had no partner. Now I want to find my way of single dancing. I’d like to express my feelings in dancing. I’d like to get in touch with my body in a completely new way. I’d like to become fit and flexible in my movements and to find my own rhythm. And perhaps I’d like to teach my kind of dancing one day.

What do you think of a
Dirty Dancing
movie sequel being made?