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An engaging exploration into the enduring popularity of Dirty Dancing and its lasting themes of feminism, activism, and reproductive rights
When Dirty Dancing was released in 1987, it had already been rejected by producers and distributors several times over, and expectations for the summer romance were low. But then the film, written by former dancer Eleanor Bergstein and starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze as a couple from two different worlds, exploded. Since then, Dirty Dancing's popularity has never waned. The truth has always been that Dirty Dancing was never just a teen romance or a dance movie - it also explored abortion rights, class, and political activism, with a smattering of light crime-solving.
In The Time of My Life, celebrated music journalist Andrea Warner excavates the layers of Dirty Dancing, from its anachronistic, chart-topping soundtrack, to Baby and Johnny's chemistry, to Bergstein's political intentions, to the abortion subplot that is more relevant today than ever. The film's remarkable longevity would never have been possible if it was just a throwaway summer fling story. It is precisely because of its themes - deeply feminist, sensitively written - that we, over 30 years later, are still holding our breath during that last, exhilarating lift. The Time of My Life weaves together the sharp, incisive, wryly funny story of the making of a young feminist who found inspiration in an unexpected place, and the former teenage mambo queen who turned her love of dance, music, and social justice into an unlikely blockbuster hit about an illegal abortion: Dirty Dancing.
Andrea Warner lives in Vancouver on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Her books include Rise Up and Sing!: Power, Protest, and Activism in Music and Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography. Andrea is also the co-writer and associate producer of the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On.
"When Dirty Dancing showed up on cable, I watched it only half-heartedly, but Andrea Warner's The Time of My Life brilliantly explains how wrong I was. With memoir, music criticism, reception theory, and feminist politics, she foregrounds how vital a movie this was and especially (but not only) how its depiction of abortion and bodily autonomy has today become even more radical." - Steacy Easton, critic and author of Why Tammy Wynette Matters and Daddy Lessons
"Andrea Warner is a gift to pop culture commentary, and The Time of My Life is even more proof. Through her rich and thoughtful analysis, Warner reminds us that Dirty Dancing is more than a love story, it's an absolute triumph, just like this book." - Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares
Sales and Market Bullets
• POP CLASSICS SERIES: The Time of My Life is the newest installment in ECW's Pop Classics series: small books that pack a big punch and argue for why a certain pop culture phenomenon matters.
• FOR READERS OF: I Carried a Watermelon: Dirty Dancing and Me (Katy Brand), Out of the Corner: A Memoir (Jennifer Grey).
• A FEMINIST FILM: The Time of My Life unpacks sisterhood, literally and metaphorically, in Baby's relationships with older sister Lisa and pregnant dancer Penny. The complexity of feminist care, finding community, and coming of age unfolds in myriad ways amidst Baby's first rebellious acts, including lying to her father, funding her friend's illegal abortion, and pursuing bad boy dancer Johnny Castle.
• COMPLEX ISSUES: Addresses the multilayered power dynamics between Baby and Johnny (and how they played out in real life between Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze), as well as Dirty Dancing's issues of white-washing and cultural appropriation in extracting from Latin and Black dance and music. Warner elaborates on the ways Dirty Dancing confronts class divisions and stereotypes, navigates familial obliga
When Dirty Dancing was released in 1987, it had already been rejected by producers and distributors several times over, and expectations for the summer romance were low. But then the film, written by former dancer Eleanor Bergstein and starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze as a couple from two different worlds, exploded. Since then, Dirty Dancing's popularity has never waned. The truth has always been that Dirty Dancing was never just a teen romance or a dance movie - it also explored abortion rights, class, and political activism, with a smattering of light crime-solving.
In The Time of My Life, celebrated music journalist Andrea Warner excavates the layers of Dirty Dancing, from its anachronistic, chart-topping soundtrack, to Baby and Johnny's chemistry, to Bergstein's political intentions, to the abortion subplot that is more relevant today than ever. The film's remarkable longevity would never have been possible if it was just a throwaway summer fling story. It is precisely because of its themes - deeply feminist, sensitively written - that we, over 30 years later, are still holding our breath during that last, exhilarating lift. The Time of My Life weaves together the sharp, incisive, wryly funny story of the making of a young feminist who found inspiration in an unexpected place, and the former teenage mambo queen who turned her love of dance, music, and social justice into an unlikely blockbuster hit about an illegal abortion: Dirty Dancing.
Andrea Warner lives in Vancouver on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Her books include Rise Up and Sing!: Power, Protest, and Activism in Music and Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography. Andrea is also the co-writer and associate producer of the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On.
"When Dirty Dancing showed up on cable, I watched it only half-heartedly, but Andrea Warner's The Time of My Life brilliantly explains how wrong I was. With memoir, music criticism, reception theory, and feminist politics, she foregrounds how vital a movie this was and especially (but not only) how its depiction of abortion and bodily autonomy has today become even more radical." - Steacy Easton, critic and author of Why Tammy Wynette Matters and Daddy Lessons
"Andrea Warner is a gift to pop culture commentary, and The Time of My Life is even more proof. Through her rich and thoughtful analysis, Warner reminds us that Dirty Dancing is more than a love story, it's an absolute triumph, just like this book." - Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares
Sales and Market Bullets
• POP CLASSICS SERIES: The Time of My Life is the newest installment in ECW's Pop Classics series: small books that pack a big punch and argue for why a certain pop culture phenomenon matters.
• FOR READERS OF: I Carried a Watermelon: Dirty Dancing and Me (Katy Brand), Out of the Corner: A Memoir (Jennifer Grey).
• A FEMINIST FILM: The Time of My Life unpacks sisterhood, literally and metaphorically, in Baby's relationships with older sister Lisa and pregnant dancer Penny. The complexity of feminist care, finding community, and coming of age unfolds in myriad ways amidst Baby's first rebellious acts, including lying to her father, funding her friend's illegal abortion, and pursuing bad boy dancer Johnny Castle.
• COMPLEX ISSUES: Addresses the multilayered power dynamics between Baby and Johnny (and how they played out in real life between Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze), as well as Dirty Dancing's issues of white-washing and cultural appropriation in extracting from Latin and Black dance and music. Warner elaborates on the ways Dirty Dancing confronts class divisions and stereotypes, navigates familial obliga
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Extended Details
- SeriesPop Classics (ECW Press) #13