Dirty dancing ending explained

One of the most iconic romantic movies in cinematic history is dirty dancingAnd the ending of the movie is what makes this film such a classic. A tale of old age, dirty dancing Follows Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Gray) as she spends summer vacation at a resort in the Catskills with her father, mother, and sister. In the summer, she meets a dance instructor named Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), and the two fall for one another despite their different economic backgrounds. Through Johnny and Baby’s relationship, the movie explores themes of classism, first love, sexuality and courage.

While dirty dancing Has many memorable sequences, the most popular scene is the finale. Johnny returns to the resort after being fired for having a relationship with Baby. In front of all the resort staff and guests, Baby and Johnny dance to the song “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. during the performance, Baby is brave enough to complete the lift dance move, Showcasing her transformation and completing her coming-of-age journey. Although the scene ends dirty dancing is a classic, it leaves the future of the character up to the interpretation of the viewers.

The future of Johnny and Baby’s relationship

Their future is ambiguous at the end of dirty dancing

In the last scenes of dirty dancingMultiple storylines come to a conclusion. Baby embraces her relationship with Johnny and her newfound confidence, while Johnny stands up for himself against the resort’s owner, Max (Jack Weston). The final image of dirty dancing Provide unity as the resort’s entertainment staff and upper-class guests dance together. While romantic films will sometimes give a concrete ending of what happens to a couple, dirty dancing does not.

The ambiguity of the dirty dancing The ending matches that of a coming-of-age story, and the characters are left at a jumping-off point that could go anywhere. In the beginning of dirty dancingBaby plans to join the Peace Corps after attending Mount Holyoke College. The age of the baby dirty dancing is never stated, although it can be assumed that she is either 17 or 18 years old since she is about to start college.

Johnny doesn’t have long-term career plans, and he works as a dance instructor and other jobs to make ends meet. At first, it appears that Baby and Johnny have nothing in common. Once they fall in love, they encourage each other to be the best versions of themselves. Since the summer, it is unclear if Baby and Johnny will stick to their original plans or if they will go on new paths.

How Johnny finally earns the respect of Baby’s father

Jake learns that Johnny is not guilty of his alleged indiscretions

Even though the characters’ futures are left up to interpretation at the end of dirty dancingThe writers hint Baby and Johnny are serious about a future together. When they first start a romance, Baby and Johnny keep it a secret because Baby’s father Jake (Jerry Orbach) thinks Johnny got Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) pregnant. Johnny confronts Baby about hiding him. During the argument, he refers to himself as Baby’s “boyfriend” and he shares his concern that Baby will never let their relationship be public. Johnny’s declaration demonstrates his intention to have a serious relationship with Baby.

Once Johnny returns to the resort for the final dance, he earns the approval of Baby’s father. Before the iconic final dance scene in dirty dancingJake found out that Robbie (Max Kantor) was the one who got Penny pregnant and that he left her afterwards. Realizing that Johnny took responsibility for Penny and took the blame away from Robbie, Jake earns respect for him and admits to Johnny that he was wrong. With Johnny having the approval of Baby’s father, the insecurities he has about his relationship with Baby are resolved by the end of dirty dancing.

There are hints that Johnny and Baby will stay together

Deleted scenes have Baby and Johnny talking about the future

After Johnny is fired from the resort, he and Baby say goodbye to each other. Their farewell is as bittersweet as their embrace. Johnny tells baby he “will never be sorry,” Admitting that he didn’t regret getting fired if it meant he could be with her. Baby agrees and tells him, “I won’t either.” Johnny kisses her and tells her, “I will see you.”

Although there is obviously a heartbreak over the fact that they have to part earlier than planned, Johnny’s casual comment hints that he and Baby have plans to reunite once Johnny lands somewhere and Baby is out from under her parents’ roof. when dirty dancing Premiered in 1987, there were a number of scenes that didn’t make the final cut. Over the years, a handful of deleted scenes have been shared online. One deleted dirty dancing Scene Shows Baby and Johnny talking about their future during the ending dance scene.

Baby worries that people in their lives will criticize their relationship so much that they won’t want to be together. Johnny insists that they will only fight harder for their relationship. Even though the deleted scene doesn’t jump far into the future, it confirms that Baby and Johnny intend to stay together once the summer ends.

The ambiguity of the Dirty Dancing ending works

The ending was never about Johnny and Baby’s future together

in his heart, dirty dancing is a coming-of-age story with a romance tinged in it. Baby learns to stand up to her father and she lets go of her naivety about the world. By the end of the movie, she is ready to achieve her goals with the newfound confidence instilled in her by Johnny. Meanwhile, Johnny gains more self-worth and no longer views himself as less than the upper-class resort guests.

Other characters like Baby’s father learn to challenge their preconceived notions. The dirty dancing The ending was a success because viewers see the characters change but don’t see what happens after the lessons are learned. For a coming-of-age story to work best, characters must be challenged and go through a metamorphosis that signifies their coming adulthood. Even if they don’t become legal adults during the film, they mature psychologically and morally in a way that changes their worldview.

The dirty dancing Endings work because viewers don’t need to know if Baby and Johnny stay together. It’s not the length of their relationship that matters, but the impact they have on one another. The openness of the ending allows viewers to trust that the characters are permanently changed going forward and will implement what they learned without needing to spell it out.

The real meaning of the dirty dancing ending

The film was about Baby and Johnny’s social status

The dirty dancing The real meaning of the ending is more about acceptance than the love story between Johnny and Baby. The whole idea of ​​the resort is about wealthy American family units coming together and celebrating their wealth. This means that people like Robbie, who got a girl pregnant and then ducked all responsibility for it, are glossed over while blue-collar working guys like Johnny take the blame and are treated terribly as a result. The idea that a “rich girl” should fall for a “bad boy” was a nightmare for the class.

dirty dancing Then rich privilege creeps in throughout the movie, and in the end, it’s the working-class guy who proves to be the best of them all. When the end comes, there is a slight misstep with everyone celebrating and dancing together, regardless of class, but this is the real meaning – that the whole party at the end, with everyone dancing together regardless of social status, is mostly the ideal dream Situation for the story of the film.

How the end of dirty dancing was received

The audience loved it more than critics

dirty dancing is a beloved classic, but it may be hard to believe that if you only look at the reviews of the critics. The film has a 72% fresh rating on Rotten tomatoes But has a very high 90% Fresh Popcornmeter rating from the audience score. Most audience members loved the characters and musicwith one writing, “Baby is a beautiful character, fully developed, equal parts strong brave and innocent. Swayze does an incredible job. The dancing and music and story are all top notch. And a beautiful ending.“

Legendary film critic Pauline Kal praised the film, saying she left the theater “Giggling happinessshe wrote,The dance here brings out the sensual dreams of the songs. Dirty Dancing – What a great title! – is such a bubble-headed, retro vision of growing up in the sixties (or any other era), that you walk out of the theater giggling happily.However, not all critics were so happy with the movie or its ending. Roger Ebert Wrote that he felt the film did not get into its real subject matter:

“The movie itself never, never … says out loud what is obviously the main point of the plot: the family’s opposition to a guy boyfriend of low social status. I guess people who care about such things are supposed to be able to read Between the lines, and the great unwashed masses of American moviegoers are doomed to think that the old man doesn’t like Swayze’s dirty dancing.”

It will be a sequel to Dirty Dancing

Jennifer Gray will return as Baby

Since dirty dancing is so well known in pop culture, there have been multiple variations since the original 1987 film. A stage version of the film titled Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage was made in 2004. In the same year, Swayze appeared in a prequel to the movie called Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights Like an unnamed dance instructor.

A 2017 remake of dirty dancing was released on ABC, and it was directed by the 1987 film’s choreographer, Kenny Ortega. Multiple plot points from the original were changed, and the remake’s ending shows Johnny and Baby split up years into the future. Although Swayze died in 2009, a planned sequel to dirty dancing is at work. Gray is set to reprise her role as Baby. The film will not be a remake of the original, nor are there any plans to recast the role of Johnny with a different actor.

Dirty Dancing 2, Directed by Jonathan Levine, it was set to be released in February 2024, but it was delayed thanks to the WGA and SAG strikes. The release date has since been moved to the summer of 2025, although no official release date has been set, and the production status remains unknown. However, these dirty dancing 2 History has been revealed. Baby returns to Kellerman’s Resort, and her story will intertwine with a new story about a young couple at the resort.