Please say it isn't so. A remake of "Dirty Dancing." No thanks.
I'm a little horrified right now. I saw the news yesterday, but still had to digest it. Lionsgate is
remaking "Dirty Dancing."
This is a nightmare, wrapped in another nightmare. Am I in "Inception" right now?
But, alas, the news is accurate. Lionsgate even sent out a press release, announcing that original choreographer Kenny Ortega will direct a remake of the 1987 sleeper hit.
Now the blogsphere and Twitterverse have exploded and names are being tossed around, such as Lea Michele as Baby and Derek Hough from "Dancing with the Stars" as Johnny. What the what?
Why do this to us again? I get the money part. The recent remake of "The Karate Kid" with Jaden Smith made more than $350 million world wide. But this movie is different.
The original filmmakers captured lightening in a bottle. A coming-of-age film about a young woman (rare at the time, this genre usually focuses on young men), set to the backdrop of exciting, and very racy for the time, dancing that we'd never seen.
The 1960s's music ("Oh, be my baby") was a wonderful throwback during that time of late-'80s pop. I had the soundtrack and played it endlessly.
And, of course, Patrick Swayze was brilliant. This was a true "star is born" moment. He made dancing seem masculine and exciting again -- a Gene Kelly kind of performance. He was one of a kind. There's just no recapturing that.
I'm not alone here. We bloggers and pop culture purists are all singing the same tune: Please make this stop.
Only active print or digital subscribers of the Tulsa World are allowed to post comments on stories posted to Tulsaworld.com. After you fill out the form below and click submit, your comment will be published instantly online along with your screen name.
By clicking "Submit" you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.
