Why ABC's 'Dirty Dancing' Disappointed Me | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

Why ABC's 'Dirty Dancing' Disappointed Me

SPOILERS ahead - but maybe just watch the original instead

120
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.
Student Life

How To Prepare For The Library: Finals Edition

10 ways to prepare for finals week—beginning with getting to the library.

349
How To Prepare For The Library: Finals Edition
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

It’s that time of year again when college students live at the library all week, cramming for tests that they should have started studying for last month. Preparing to spend all day at the library takes much consideration and planning. Use these tips to help get you through the week while spending an excessive amount of time in a building that no one wants to be in.

Keep Reading...Show less
girl roommates
StableDiffusion

Where do we begin when we start talking about our roommates? You practically spend every moment with them, they become your second family and they deal with you at your best and at your absolute worst. They are there to make you laugh just a little harder, cry a little less and make each day a little better. We often forget to thank them for the little things that they do to make college even a tiny bit easier and more fun. This list of 26 things are what you should thank your roommates for right this minute and every day that you live with them.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

20 Thoughts While Studying For Finals

I may or may not be stressing right now.

1533
Thoughts While Studying For Finals
StableDiffusion


That time of the semester has arrived once again, finals. The worst week ever. Who thought it was a good idea for all your classes to have exams all in the same week? Definitely not me. Here's 20 thoughts you may have studying for finals.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Disney magic for New Year!

The "Happiest Place on Earth" has a lot of characters with some pretty great advice.

6511
Disney magic kingdom castle on new years
StableDiffusion

Disney movies are well known and very popular in today's world. Although many people appreciate the plot and the storyline, not many people appreciate the wisdom these characters possess. Every Disney movie has unique advice that can be applied to everyday life. Here are 11 Disney quotes to help start your New Year off right:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

40 Gift Ideas for the Indecisive

It's a time of love, family, memory-making, and gift-giving. But also a time of stressing over the perfect gift.

120639
Christmas gifts around a tree
StableDiffusion

It's officially December. There is less than a month of 2024, and I still feel like yesterday was summer. Now comes the merriest time of the year, the Christmas season.

Everyone has been waiting for this time of year since mid-October (which is way too early, in my opinion) or before. It's a time of love, family, memory-making, and gift-giving. A lot of times when I ask friends and family what they want, I get a lot of "I don't know" or "I don't care."

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments