Great Character: Johnny Castle (“Dirty Dancing”)

This month’s theme: Attractor characters. Today: Johnny Castle from Dirty Dancing written by Eleanor Bergstein.

In the 1987 musical romance dance floor drama Dirty Dancing, actress Jennifer Grey (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) plays the recent high school graduate Baby Houseman, capturing that whimsical teenaged heart murmur known as “Summer Love.” The object of her instant electric affection during her upscale family vacation is the resort’s intense dance instructor Johnny Castle, a role that the late, great Patrick Swayze remains closely associated with. Johnny is a bold attractor character that is everything that Baby’s firm family man father feels threatened by: street savvy, rebellious, provocative, not Ivy League educated and sexually active.

Dirty Dancing IMDB:

Spending the summer in a holiday camp with her family, Frances “Baby” Houseman falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor Johnny Castle.

Johnny Castle utilizes his headstrong demeanor, athletic build, fast footwork and open honesty to cope with his working class woes. But his blue-collar background doesn’t prevent the affluent Baby Houseman from pursuing Castle during her pre-college excursion. If anything, Johnny’s total lack of pompousness that Baby’s more prosperous circle emits is clearly refreshing to her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRdy4CcRchU

Baby’s not-so silent attraction to Johnny’s rhythmic aura clearly turns on a switch in him that ignites his curiosity and threshold for temptation. But Johnny’s performing art duties at this exclusive upstate New York getaway make Johnny reluctant to give Baby the keys to his “castle.”

JOHNNY CASTLE: Look, spaghetti arms. This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don’t go into yours, you don’t go into mine. You gotta hold the frame.

Even with Johnny’s cautious boundaries diligently guarding his melancholy heart, Baby’s genuine good nature, open-minded outlook and glowing excitement lift Johnny’s conflicted spirit. Weighed down by the constant reminder that his wealthy employers and customers don’t except him, Johnny’s maturity decodes his fleeting female customer conquests as simply his body getting leased with no option to buy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFhlnBzdOtk

Sure, there is no guarantee that Johnny’s private time with Baby will ever become a fulltime union once this summer outing comes to a close. But even at the risk of stumbling into the unknown odyssey of forbidden love, Johnny takes pleasure in finally finding an upbeat, idealistic young lady from this seemingly glamorous world that doesn’t dwell on his financial limitations, but instead recognizes his infinite potential.

JOHNNY CASTLE: Now, you’ll hurt me if you don’t trust me, all right?

The sultry swaying and breath-taking body language that is communicated with each dance lesson that Johnny shares with Baby adds an extra layer of growth to her race towards womanhood and his desire for unconditional love. The evolution of their mutual attraction offers brand news flavors to Baby’s vanilla life, and a positive reinforcement of Johnny’s value to his harshest critic — himself.

These feelings that they share privately still pose potential complications when they are presented publically — especially after Baby convinces her dad to become “Off-Duty Doctor” after a homemade abortion for Johnny’s female friend becomes problematic.

JOHNNY CASTLE: Fight harder, huh? I don’t see you fighting so hard, Baby. I don’t see you running up to daddy telling him I’m your guy.

Johnny Castle finally accepts the crown for his kingdom that Baby Houseman has seen gleaming over his scalp all along when he returns, after being fired, for one final dance.

JOHNNY CASTLE: Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

For his giant talent for gyration and his journey to claim absolute self-respect — Johnny Castle is a GREAT CHARACTER among those in the alluring attractor archetype.

Johnny Castle reminds us that Attractors are not only females. The more we, as writers, move beyond romance figures being simple objects of desire, the better.

Thank you, Jason, for this post. Please hit Reply and join us in comments to discuss Dirty Dancing.

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