On a wire between will and what will be

September 21, 2007 /

Have you ever woken up on a Saturday morning with visions in your head, scenes that tell you exactly how you’ll be spending your afternoon? You lay there, eyes not yet open, and you see a middle aged fat man, dancing in a bunny suit at a Halloween party. You hear the sleazy strip club owner call the failed comic in the alligator suit, “Izod”. You hear Alex calling for her elderly friend…”Hannah…Hannah…”, then the capable older woman bluntly says, “She died….yesterday.” Then you see Alex smoking cigarettes and picking at the threads in the holes of her 501s while Kim Carnes sings “I’ll be here where the heart is”, in her throaty voice. You think about the final dance sequence, which you and your dancer best friend payed to see over and over again, WONDERING how one person could do all of those moves (answer, nope, it was many people, and the break dancer was a man who refused to shave his face for the role…).

Unwilling to come to full consciousness, you consider the many messages of the film…that while some folks follow their dreams, work hard, and succeed (Alex and Nick), other folks follow their dreams, work hard, and fall flat on their ass (Jeanie the ice skater and Richie her failed comic boyfriend). Then there’s the message of what true friendship means. If your best friend falls on her ass, and decides to become an exotic (aka, topless, g-string clad in the sleazy strip club, as opposed to the semi erotic dancing you’ve been doing in the oddly artsy blue collar bar down the street…) dancer, you need to get down there to that sleazy strip club pronto, and pull her (nearly) naked ass out into the street, and yank the money from her g-string, and throw it into the gutter. That’s just what friends DO for each other, OK?

You finally open your eyes, and you realize…you have no choice. The schedule is clear, and you’re going for it. Even if it means sitting through the disgusting eating scenes (corn on the cob…blech…lobster…double blech…), ignoring the lack of any real dialog, and the fact that the film is basically one long music video montage. Doesn’t matter. You have these visions running through your head, and you need to see the film.

So…tell me…have you ever woken up needing to watch Flashdance on a Saturday morning? No? Really? Um…er…me neither.

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURE: YouTube!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4eHYiW96Zs[/youtube]

I think this may be the first break dancing I ever saw…and of course, it offers an explanation as to why Alex makes her famous back spin move at her audition.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtNQX_rMXUA[/youtube]

This is a groovy dance sequence, because due to the pancake makeup on the dancer’s face, they don’t have to keep her in shadow, as they did most of the dancing scenes, since Jennifer Beals didn’t do the dancing in the film. Watch this sequence, esp. the dancer’s legs…WHERE DID THOSE ELECTRIC BLUE LEGGINGS COME FROM? And what dumpy blue collar bar has sets like this? I’m guessing, none. I also like the owner of the bar…he’s so confused by the whole thing, yet the other dancer is totally into it. He’s like, “whatever keeps the girls happy, I guess…but don’t get my cards wet!”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwFCa9fy7AQ[/youtube]

Here’s the scene where 35 year old Nick first notices 18 year old Alex and thinks, ‘yeah, I’d like me some of that..”

I’ve been looking for a clip of that final dance scene, but I’m mostly finding parodies…I wanted you to see her spin on the floor with her facial hair, and a couple of scenes where they actually show her face, and it’s clearly not Jennifer Beals, and of course, how BORED the judges are. See? It’s an illness to know or care this much…

UPDATE…

OK, a couple of you have never seen the film. Gina, you totally have no 80s street cred if you haven’t seen this film. If you tell me you didn’t see Footloose either, we’re going to need to schedule an intervention. I couldn’t find the awesome final scene, where Alex pulls the record, sans jacket or dustcover or anything, out of her dance bag, the guy blows his nose along to the music, Eliza Jane from Little House claps her hands in joy…so I decided this video would have to do. Since the film has so little dialog, this pretty much sums it up for you pretty darned well. It’s only missing the dark period, and her friendship with Hannah, which I liked a lot.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y_wQHMXPKg[/youtube]

And if you’re watching the dance scene at the end, note that MOST of the dancing is done by Beals’ double, but she didn’t make all of those turns at the end, it’s just camera work…a fact that was beyond Rosemary and me at the time…the jump through the air? A gymnast.  The spinning, again, the break dancer who refused to shave.  Look closely now…

16 Comments

  • Autumn's Mom

    September 21, 2007 at 8:20 am

    OHMYGOD. you made me laugh. Can I tell you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen this one all the way through. Not even back when it came out. Now there are movies I wake up with a hankering for..this just isn’t one of them!

  • J

    September 21, 2007 at 9:14 am

    AM, come on by, and we’ll watch it. I have it on video…that’s not DVD, that’s video. 😉

    Jenny, it is indeed lame. LAME. But I love it.

  • Py Korry

    September 21, 2007 at 3:07 pm

    After watching the third dance sequence I’ve come to realize the brilliance of Flashdance: I think it’s one of the first postmodern movies of the 80s. I mean where else are you going to find arty farty dancing in a blue collar bar? Genius! No…it’s SUPER genius.

  • Karen

    September 22, 2007 at 8:47 am

    I really liked that movie when it came out… great dancing. But now I wonder why, sort of cheesy (but then, so were most of the 80’s). Jennifer Beals is very well-preserved now, I think she gets more beautiful the older she gets. I liked the girl who played her friend – I think she married Richard Marxx and stayed at home with their kids… now how do I know that ?!
    For some reason, I always remember that restaurant scene with the shinanigans (sp?) under the table. I was truly shocked at the time.

  • Maya's Granny

    September 23, 2007 at 2:21 pm

    I never understood how you could like this. It is such a fairy tale to think that a girl who worked as a welder and club dancer would get into a ballet company, even with a rich patron. But, the dancing was wonderful, even if it was doubled by a man with a beard and camera and editing tricks. I know you have always enjoyed it, and that’s what’s important. Goodness knows I like a lot of things that don’t speak to you.

  • J

    September 23, 2007 at 4:02 pm

    The real beauty, MG, is that it’s based on a true story. 😉 Although in real life, I don’t think the dancer/welder had any dreams of getting into a ballet company. I remember thinking that with no formal training, it was unlikely, and someone saying, anyone who could dance like THAT, would get in.

    But yeah, it’s a dumb movie fairy tale, and it was good dancing.