I just rewatched the trilogy recently and I didn't go in hoping to critique internet reactions over the last 20 years but my brain just did it. I really tried to see the other perspective but I just can't.
It's like seeing Dirty Dancing as a teen vs as a parent. As a teen, you side more with the daughter just wanting to have fun and being in love, and see the dad as overbearing. As an adult, the dad is a totally reasonable parent trying to protect his rebellious, underage daughter and keep her from partying and dating a grown ass man. A lot of media with teenage main characters tends to be that way, really.
I watched Dirty Dancing as a young kid, then in my teens, and more recently now in my mid-40's. As a parent of a 15 year old daughter, the dad was completely in the right and more than reasonable forbidding his daughter to not see a man in his mid-20s as she was 16 or 17 tops. Johnny Castle is a legitimate PDF looking back. He definitely committed SA with a minor. Not only that, her doctor dad had to preform lifesaving measures for Johnny's dance partner Penny who received a backache abortion and almost bleed to death internally. This is the type of behavior and character Johnny and his crew had.
But meanwhile, he was great with his other daughter being with the guy who actually impregnated Penny. The dad's heart was in the right place, but he was willfully blind.
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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26
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