I loved this movie, probably because of the dancing, but I honest to Gawd don't remember that she was auditioning for ballet school! LOL I just thought it was, like, a dance school. I guess it was because of the type of dancing she was doing (at the club) and her audition wasn't "typical" that I forgot it was ballet school.
Yes. She basically taught herself ballet, between gyrating shifts at Shawley's bar. But she never had formal training, which is why she never had the confidence to apply at the school. That and they were SUPER snobby. 😉
I am learning SO MUCH practical stuff from these series of posts, Meg! I thank you for helping me think things through. Here's my latest attempt trying to apply what I am learning from The Romantic. "Yearning, fear , and a tighter than comfortable space" - you will see your influence
I'm so glad, Sharron. And thank you for sharing your latest story with me. I've bookmarked it for this afternoon.
I have dialed back on my internet engagement quite a bit (for peace of mind, etc.) and am missing A LOT as a result. Please keep sharing anything here you'd like me to read. Or email me anytime! Thank you for keeping up with me. 💕💕
Smiles and giggles throughout reading this piece. Now I want to watch that movie again. Haha. Alex may have become a caricature-- remember Vince Vaughn in The Interns revving up the Gen Zers using an Alex analogy? Who cares? It was a great analogy. It's revival time at the Steefels!
Still singing the song, but I had completely forgotten that this movie had a romance in it!! I was there for the achieving the dream, baby. I may have to rewatch this. I haven’t seen it forever and … good to know I wasn’t the only one making up choreography to this song.
Yeah, I actually found the courtship/romance stuff distracting, but not in a good way. They had some good scenes together and he was an important ally in her quest, but eh... I was in it for the dream, too. 💕😊
I was just talking to a 20-something the other day who has never seen Flashdance. I made her promise me she would watch it. One of the best 80's movies. An amazing love story. Jennifer Beals made me love dancing, and her performance. Oh, what a feeling!
I was surprised to discover on this re-watch that Alex is only 18 in the story. I was probably a pre-teen when I first saw it, and she seemed so mature and adult-ish to me then. 😊But she's practically still a kid! As a YA author, that definitely changed my lens on the whole story this time around. The soundtrack is sooo good, too. MEMORIES!!!
I gotta watch this movie now. I was 8 years old when it came out and not allowed to watch it. Guess I never got around to it later on…I will now though!!
I was only 3 when it released, which makes me wonder how old I was when I actually saw it the first time. Probably not old enough, but then again, I likely saw a cable TV version which would have been void of nudity or profanity.
I love movies from that era for their conciseness. Movies are too long now, IMO. This one gives everything you need and nothing you don't. Well worth a watch!!!
YES! The push and pull and overwhelming WANT is what makes it so relatable. Even if the story itself is way outside our realm of experience - the gut feelings keep us connected. Inside, we're all just a bunch o' guts. 💕😊
I almost went to a performing arts private high school for dance. I still think about the “what if” scenarios… now I get my “dance” fix teaching fitness classes. (And every Halloween I bust out leg warms, French cut leotard, and sweatbands for a classic Flashdance, Perfect, or Fame costume! 😆) Excuse me while I go re-watch Flashdance to see what I notice through the lens of my extra decades of life experience! Always a pleasure to follow along with your thought streams and breakdowns.
Thank you, CB. I adore dancing. Only studied a bit in college as a musical theater major, but I've since prided myself on never letting dance become another art I inadvertently destroy for myself by trying to "make something" with it. 😂 To this day, dancing brings me nothing but joy, which is why I primarily do it in secret ... or at weddings. 💕
Be prepared to not believe me, but I've never seen Flashdance. I've also never seen Footloose (maybe there's a pattern there?), and just saw 16 Candles for the first time all the way through a couple of years ago. (It does *not* hold up the way you'd hope...)
Love the breakdown you give here! Writing about any emotion is difficult for me (I'm working on it...), so blocking it out like this step by step is a huge help. Thanks for that!
Favourite non-romantic love story? That's a tough one. "Breaking Away" has to be up there, though I haven't seen it in a while. The more recent "Nyad" was well done, but I'm not sure it resonated with me emotionally. Hmmm, I'm sure there's an obvious one I'm missing...
Actually, I latched onto the idea of EFF for that exact reason: write a poem first to try to unlock the emotions I want to express. We'll see if it's been working once I ship out a reading copy to beta readers!
If you're going back to 80s movies, I'd warn you away from St. Elmo's Fire and Less Than Zero. However, Better Off Dead holds up beautifully (though some find the two car racing dudes who learned English by listening to Howard Cosell a little cringey these days, and probably for good reason). I suspect One Crazy Summer holds up, too, but I haven't been able to track that one down since Blockbuster was a thing...
Neither are what you'd call romantic movies, so you probably wouldn't feature them here. Guess I'm just sayin'.
I loved this movie, probably because of the dancing, but I honest to Gawd don't remember that she was auditioning for ballet school! LOL I just thought it was, like, a dance school. I guess it was because of the type of dancing she was doing (at the club) and her audition wasn't "typical" that I forgot it was ballet school.
Yes. She basically taught herself ballet, between gyrating shifts at Shawley's bar. But she never had formal training, which is why she never had the confidence to apply at the school. That and they were SUPER snobby. 😉
Really enjoyed this breakdown, Meg! I loved Flashdance. Must see it again!
Thanks, Amanda! It's a CLASSIC. 💕
I am learning SO MUCH practical stuff from these series of posts, Meg! I thank you for helping me think things through. Here's my latest attempt trying to apply what I am learning from The Romantic. "Yearning, fear , and a tighter than comfortable space" - you will see your influence
https://sharronbassano.substack.com/p/in-the-vicolo-san-marino
I'm so glad, Sharron. And thank you for sharing your latest story with me. I've bookmarked it for this afternoon.
I have dialed back on my internet engagement quite a bit (for peace of mind, etc.) and am missing A LOT as a result. Please keep sharing anything here you'd like me to read. Or email me anytime! Thank you for keeping up with me. 💕💕
👍🏻❤️
Smiles and giggles throughout reading this piece. Now I want to watch that movie again. Haha. Alex may have become a caricature-- remember Vince Vaughn in The Interns revving up the Gen Zers using an Alex analogy? Who cares? It was a great analogy. It's revival time at the Steefels!
I don't remember the Vince Vaughn bit. I'll have to look for it. Or maybe not. Maybe I don't want him to spoil ALEX for me. 😊
It’s very funny. Check it out. Cute movie too.
Still singing the song, but I had completely forgotten that this movie had a romance in it!! I was there for the achieving the dream, baby. I may have to rewatch this. I haven’t seen it forever and … good to know I wasn’t the only one making up choreography to this song.
Yeah, I actually found the courtship/romance stuff distracting, but not in a good way. They had some good scenes together and he was an important ally in her quest, but eh... I was in it for the dream, too. 💕😊
I was just talking to a 20-something the other day who has never seen Flashdance. I made her promise me she would watch it. One of the best 80's movies. An amazing love story. Jennifer Beals made me love dancing, and her performance. Oh, what a feeling!
Hi Dawn! Thanks for reading!
I was surprised to discover on this re-watch that Alex is only 18 in the story. I was probably a pre-teen when I first saw it, and she seemed so mature and adult-ish to me then. 😊But she's practically still a kid! As a YA author, that definitely changed my lens on the whole story this time around. The soundtrack is sooo good, too. MEMORIES!!!
I gotta watch this movie now. I was 8 years old when it came out and not allowed to watch it. Guess I never got around to it later on…I will now though!!
I was only 3 when it released, which makes me wonder how old I was when I actually saw it the first time. Probably not old enough, but then again, I likely saw a cable TV version which would have been void of nudity or profanity.
I love movies from that era for their conciseness. Movies are too long now, IMO. This one gives everything you need and nothing you don't. Well worth a watch!!!
My parents didn’t spring for cable until us kids were all gone to college 🤣
And absolutely on run time. There are movies I absolutely will not watch on principle because of how long they are.
Even romcoms are clocking in at 2 hours 20, which is WAY too long. It’s the reason I can’t watch movies at bedtime anymore!
For sure. We struggle to make it through NCIS!
Such a great breakdown of all the FEELS! The best romances are about yearning and the heart... always being in conflict with itself.
YES! The push and pull and overwhelming WANT is what makes it so relatable. Even if the story itself is way outside our realm of experience - the gut feelings keep us connected. Inside, we're all just a bunch o' guts. 💕😊
I almost went to a performing arts private high school for dance. I still think about the “what if” scenarios… now I get my “dance” fix teaching fitness classes. (And every Halloween I bust out leg warms, French cut leotard, and sweatbands for a classic Flashdance, Perfect, or Fame costume! 😆) Excuse me while I go re-watch Flashdance to see what I notice through the lens of my extra decades of life experience! Always a pleasure to follow along with your thought streams and breakdowns.
Thank you, CB. I adore dancing. Only studied a bit in college as a musical theater major, but I've since prided myself on never letting dance become another art I inadvertently destroy for myself by trying to "make something" with it. 😂 To this day, dancing brings me nothing but joy, which is why I primarily do it in secret ... or at weddings. 💕
Yearning. Great word. A mighty sensibility to weave into a tale. Lovely piece. Yearning for more!
Thanks for sticking with me, Barrie!
Yearning is great. It's also exhausting. 💕😉
It’s a bit sad that I’m loving the word ‘yearning’ for its possibilities in a story!
Be prepared to not believe me, but I've never seen Flashdance. I've also never seen Footloose (maybe there's a pattern there?), and just saw 16 Candles for the first time all the way through a couple of years ago. (It does *not* hold up the way you'd hope...)
Love the breakdown you give here! Writing about any emotion is difficult for me (I'm working on it...), so blocking it out like this step by step is a huge help. Thanks for that!
Favourite non-romantic love story? That's a tough one. "Breaking Away" has to be up there, though I haven't seen it in a while. The more recent "Nyad" was well done, but I'm not sure it resonated with me emotionally. Hmmm, I'm sure there's an obvious one I'm missing...
I've considered dissecting Sixteen Candles in here. It's one of many teen love stories that ends the WRONG way, IMHO. 😂
I should watch Footloose again, too. And Dirty Dancing. I suspect they'll all offer something I was too young to grasp when I first saw them.
Freewriting around a particular emotion out of context is kinda a nod to the EFF process. 🙂
Actually, I latched onto the idea of EFF for that exact reason: write a poem first to try to unlock the emotions I want to express. We'll see if it's been working once I ship out a reading copy to beta readers!
If you're going back to 80s movies, I'd warn you away from St. Elmo's Fire and Less Than Zero. However, Better Off Dead holds up beautifully (though some find the two car racing dudes who learned English by listening to Howard Cosell a little cringey these days, and probably for good reason). I suspect One Crazy Summer holds up, too, but I haven't been able to track that one down since Blockbuster was a thing...
Neither are what you'd call romantic movies, so you probably wouldn't feature them here. Guess I'm just sayin'.