A necessary rebellion

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2020)

"Footloose" is a romantic drama directed by Herbert Ross starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer. The 1980s were the natal era of the subgenre of dance films as we know them today. Contrary to its parent genre of musicals, of which the dancing was a of course a crucial aspect as well, this one focussed less on the singing and the exaggerated depiction of its subject matter, and despite its odd gambolling, centred more around establishing more or less serious, light-hearted, mainstream oriented romances for the youth instead. While the prime example of this lucrative era was without a doubt Emile Ardolino's box office hit "Dirty Dancing", there were two films prior to it that paved the way for it: "Flashdance" and "Footloose". Both were released around the same time, and as I heard it from the majority, there even was some kind of war among fans, arguing which of the two is the better one. Supposedly, this in fact trivial subject resulted in the fans building two opposing camps. When I asked my parents about it, I knew that this myth was true, as my mother is in team "Footloose", while my father considers himself an advocate of "Flashdance". That was the moment I knew that I had to explore this strange phenomenon myself, and when I by happenstance was able to obtain a copy of one of those infamous films, I had no other choice than giving both a watch. While I haven't had the chance so far to obtain the other, I was surprisingly pleased with the outcome of this 1984 flick. The basic premise of this film is how one young man from outside causes a revolution in a small town where the act of dancing has been legally prohibited. To be honest, at first, I considered it to be an absurd idea. In what sort of hicksville would something abstruse like that in fact occur? Where would it be actually realistic? The answer was a simple as astonishing: in a small town shaped by religious beliefs and values. What is shown in this film shocked me, as it wasn't just some rules laid down by some clerics, no, the members of the parish council in this film are best described as religious fanatics to me. The way they have imposed a curfew on their children, disallow them to listen to rock music, as they claim it to be the music of the devil (boy, I wonder what they would have said when Deathcore was already existing at that time), the way they outlaw the existence of dancing, ban the consumption of alcohol and drugs in any form, and even the reading of certain pieces of classic literature just made me angry while watching it. This is good old oppression of the personal development of teenagers, and not forgetting, methods used by Nazis in some way (who else burned books stating that it doesn't fit the general ideology?). From the start on, the film wants to establish a classic enemy image and characterizes the town's regime as the hostile that requires to be rebelled against, while Ren MacCormack, a shy yet talented boy new in town, is established as the saviour. I personally like this structure, as Kevin Bacon is really pleasant as the rebellious outsider and becomes the identification figure pretty quickly, someone who doesn't just take what he is said and fights for the freedom of himself and his fellow teenagers who haven't dared to disobey before he arrived. That is what I love this flick most for. The aspect of dancing functions only as a means to an end in this film and is only an exemplary expression of resistance against a system that doesn't want them to be what they want to be. Even if it isn't masterfully executed, I still acknowledge what it aims for. Even if the film tends to express an extremely biased opinion towards the parental generation, it also tries to explain their point of view and why they treat their children with this extraordinary strictness. Kept in perspective, it is still undeniably wrong to oppress children like this, but as it was mentioned that Reverend Moore (decently played by John Lithgow) initiated all this as the result of his own personal trauma after the untimely death of his own son, it took a lot of his apparent malevolence away and gave him a lot of humanity instead. Furthermore, his wife (portrayed by the lovely Diane Wiest) functions as the voice of reason for her vulnerable and overprotective husband and decreases the one-dimensionality even more. What is there worth criticising then? Well, even if the values it wants to convey are powerful and utterly important, the story at times didn't dare to go to the extremes, the conflict could have been more intense and the resistance on the part of the parents could have been more intensive. I mean, this uncouth young boy arrives at their town, starts a revolution and threatens to disturb the peace and destroy the system of oppression they tediously built up and they seemingly tolerate it just like that. Also, aside from Bacon's presentation in the abandoned factory, the montage of him teaching his buddy how to do dance correctly and the final scene at the senior prom, the film has literally no other scenes that involve dancing at all. For a film that revolves about this topic and makes it its primary focus, this lack appears quite inconvenient to me. Bacon and the rest of the cast are apparently extremely talented, no doubt whatsoever, but they just don't get enough time to present their skills, nor the opportunity to shine as they all deserve it to. No, the film has some undeniable flaws in terms of narration, but the thing that keeps me from disliking it, is how it represents the mindset of a whole generation that desired to express themselves and what they believed in, no matter what others say about them. Even if it is far away from being as masterful as the exact film, it is commemorative of counterculture classic "Easy Rider", as both convey the ideas of their respective, by parents and the mainstream despised generation. All in all, this classic dance film might lack some narrative strength and a certain kind of conflict potential, but it is utterly entertaining, light-hearted and bares messages too important to ignore. The performances are acceptable, the dialogue isn't all cheesy and makes me feel good the whole time, nevertheless. It has got, heart, rhythm and a catch soundtrack. An essential, light-footed and uplifting drama that knows to be iconic and essential for a generation and knows to bust a move. No masterpiece, but a lovely film that is too enjoyable to be ignored. We'll see how well its direct opponent will do.