Economics of "Dirty Dancing"

          A society’s culture can be defined by many different factors.  Race, religion, and gender are major influences on a particular society’s way of life or way of thinking.  Socioeconomic groups play a significant role in defining societal values as well.  In the essay “The Politics of Culture”, Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan describe culture as a hierarchical capitalist society (1026).  Members of a society who are genetically linked to upper-class echelons will develop character traits and personalities where they learn to appreciate certain forms of culture which will, in turn, help them secure a prominent place in the class hierarchy.  Alternatively, working or lower class people will develop familial practices and norms that situate them towards the bottom of the class ladder.  Following this description, societal and cultural activity can be divided into two incomparable perspectives; culture from above and culture from below (Rivkin and Ryan 1026).
          Culture from above is driven by mass media such as television and film.  Typically owned by large corporations and managed by men, the media delivers the imagery and content to mass audiences that has been dictated from those at the top of the social hierarchy.  Conversely, culture from below focuses on the fundamentals of the way the content is presented and expresses personalities that are in conflict with the capitalist social order.  Television shows and film often reflect characteristics of culture from above or below.
          Emile Ardolino’s “Dirty Dancing”, released in 1987, reflect both economic perspectives.  Yet, the ideals of the lower social order show dominance in the film.  Set in the Catskill Mountains of New York in the 1960’s, “Dirty Dancing” is a story of a privileged young girl, Francis "Baby" Houseman, who vacations with her family at a high end resort only to become infatuated with the main dancer, Johnny Castle, who was hired to work at the resort for the summer.  Through a series of circumstances, Baby develops an infatuation with Johnny and they ultimately end up consummating their relationship.  Clearly on opposite ends of the socioeconomic chain, the lovers must keep their affection for one another secret because both of their respective groups have prejudices and assumptions of the other group which affect the two characters.
          There are numerous incidences throughout the movie that express both the working class and upper class discrimination toward the other group.  Both groups, over the course of the movie, tell members of their class not to associate with “them” which separates the two class distinctions with both groups coming across as superior.  In one scene, the manager of the resort is telling the workers to “be nice to them, even the dogs” (Dirty Dancing).  When the manager referred to unattractive guests as “dogs”, he projected negativity and actually dehumanized them.
          Moreover, the workers living quarters and socializing areas are not only isolated from the resort guests, but also are located geographically down hill from the resort.  This is symbolically significant as it indicates the workers are below the guests or at the bottom of the economic ladder. However, the scene that shows the most dominance and support of the "culture from below" perspective uses the iconic line "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" (Dirty Dancing).  Johnny was asked to leave the premises as a result of his relations with Baby.  Assuming that Baby's family does not have management ties with the resort as they are simply guests, it is provocative that they would have the influence to get a long term employee fired simply because of the relationship.  Her family had the power because they are upper class and Johnny was not.  Johnny returns to the resort, walks up to where Baby and her family were seated, and with conviction recites the iconic line taking her away from them to perform on stage.   Symbolically, this scene represents the working class exercising agency to stand up against the hegemonic ideals of the upper class.  On stage, Johnny says "I always do the last dance of the season, but this year someone told me not to.  So this year, I'm going to do my kind of dancing..." (Dirty Dancing).  The "someone" that Johnny is referring to are presumably the dominant leaders of the upper class, and the "my kind of dancing" represents the fundamental ideals of the working class.
          The movie focuses on the romantic aspect of the story line, yet it is clear to the audience that there is an “us and them” type of mentality with regards to the economics of the film.  Class differences and prejudices are a huge part of today’s society, and collision of two different socioeconomic classes has proven to be challenging; both in fictional movies and real life.

References:

Dirty Dancing. Dir Emile Ardolino. Vestron Pictures.  Film. 1987.

Internet Movie Database. Imdb.com.  Web.  12 July 2014.                  

Rivkin, Julie and Michael Ryan eds. Literary Theory: An Anthology.  Malden: Blackwell. 1998.