Friday, April 16, 2010

My Big Epiphany

I stumbled on the 1980s film Breakin' today. I loved that movie! I thought it was awesome when I saw it in the theater. I started calling myself Special K like the girl in the who joined the Ozone and Turbo dance crew. Watching it today, well . . . not so much. While the dancing still seemed pretty cool, the acting was some of the worst I've ever seen. I mean ever. The writing was trite. The plot was silly. But it still felt exciting to watch it. Go figure.

At the end the group goes to a hoity-toity audition where they are denied entrance. They won't waste their time on "street dancers" the judges say. Then Ozone announces they his group will be dancing next. They rip off the sleeves of their coats and walk aggressively onto the stage, staring the judges in the eyes. "What are you people doing? You can't just come out here! We told you to leave!" the judges exclaim. But then they start to dance (don't know where the music came from) and suddenly the judges can't help themselves. They are so good that they can't be denied.

It dawns on me that maybe this is where the people who audition for "American Idol" get the idea that they should ignore the judges when they tell them to take a hike. It's such a feel-good moment in the movie. I'm sure this isn't the only cinematic example of this, but that's my big epiphany for today. So there you go.

2 comments:

Ink said...

OMG, I remember watching that movie, too! Reminded me of Flashdance. And agreed on the badness of the acting, but wow, can those kids dance!

Whatever happened to breakdancing? Love the gravity-defying nature of it and haven't really seen it around much lately.

The Steel Magnolia said...

I'm thinking that the people who originated it are old, for one thing (if my husband is any indication--he walked in on the movie & HAD to show me his moves, which I'm guessing were not much better in 1985). And perhaps the absence of boomboxes also has something to do with it. Interesting.