The Johnny/Robbie Flaw…

We all remember the story of Dirty Dancing, right?

It’s the story of a girl who falls from the wrong guy; wrong meaning a sexual dancer that her father does approve of.

It’s also the story of the girl’s sister who falls for the right guy; right meaning the clean cut medical student who turns out to be a baby laying scumbag but the father approves of for most of the movie.

In a loose sense, Johnny, the character played by Patrick Swayze turns out to be the hero, but Robbie, the medical student, is somewhat of an antagonist. If you call the fight scene between Johnny and Robbie, the one where Johnny says, “hit me,” the climax, everything else that happens after it is fluff, including the epic dance scene at the end.

But the whole flip flop in Baby’s dad’s head never sat well with me from a logistical standpoint. Baby’s father is fine with the sister dating this Robbie, and even when it’s revealed that Robbie knocked up one of the dancers (Johnny’s partner), it doesn’t seem to phase Baby’s dad. I mean, you don’t really see the sister with Robbie for the rest of the movie, but you also don’t see the dad scold the sister.

On the other side, after Johnny sets Baby’s dad straight on his way out of town, Baby’s dad still holds a grudge against the nice guy who treats his daughter right. It’s not until Johnny’s famous, “nobody puts Baby in a corner” line that the father actually admits that this guy and his dancing are right for his daughter. Even then, Baby’s dad tries to chase Johnny as he walks away, only to be pulled back by Baby’s mom.

I guess it’s all to progress the loose plot and tell the coming of age story, but I really don’t see how there’s any consistency between the way Baby’s dad comes around with both Johnny and Robbie, especially since he’s the one who was left to clean up the mess that Robbie created.

I don’t know; I guess I’d expect more from Hollywood script writers.

It’s still one of my favorite movies.