# Footloose. Is this a joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425 "2011-08-28T22:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/1 "2011-08-28T22:40:12Z")
Plot summary: Brash young punk from the city moves to conservative small town. Offends the town by doing such scandalous things as listening to loud music, driving a VW bug, and dancing. Town responds with harsh measures such as calling him queer for wearing a tie and kicking him off the high school gymnastics team (!?!?!?). Our hero blows off steam by playing music, dancing, and doing a gymnastics routine through an abandoned factory. Other ridiculous things happen and the end result is they have a prom in the town next over. If that sounds absurd, the actual movie is ten times more WTF. Was it received as some sort of big joke, or should I just chalk it up to being the 80s? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/2 "2011-08-28T22:47:28Z")
[The real town](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_City,_Oklahoma), which loosely inspired the movie, only dropped its ban on dancing in 1980. Otherwise, I can’t say how the movie was received as my experience was biased by my babysitter at the time. Her name was Louise, and that summer you would have thought Kenny Loggins was singing to her personally the way she reacted (I didn’t actually see the movie until many years later). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/3 "2011-08-28T22:54:24Z")
Everybody Everybody Everybody Everybody cut footloose! We liked it in my crowd. Of course, we were enjoying the proliferation, these days, of this obscene rock and roll music, with its gospel of easy sexuality and relaxed morality . ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/4 "2011-08-28T23:00:40Z")
It’s a dozen music videos. You’re not supposed to make more of it than that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/5 "2011-08-28T23:18:36Z")
I lived in a small, conservative bible belt town growing up, and you could dance all you wanted. Wouldn’t stop you from being called a queer, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/6 "2011-08-28T23:23:12Z")
> [@treis](#): > > If that sounds absurd, the actual movie is ten times more WTF. Was it received as some sort of big joke, or should I just chalk it up to being the 80s? I assume that you’re referring to the 1984 original film, and not the stage musical or the remake scheduled for release later this year. In any case, the film was really popular at the time. The bit I found most amusing was how skilled all of the kids were at dancing, considering the town-wide ban on dancing. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/7 "2011-08-28T23:29:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I assume that you’re referring to the 1984 original film, and not the stage musical or the remake scheduled for release later this year. In any case, the film was really popular at the time. The bit I found most amusing was how skilled all of the kids were at dancing, considering the town-wide ban on dancing. I remember getting the impression(where, I don’t know) that Ren(Bacon) was teaching them in secret. Still doesn’t explain the very high competence but it’s something. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/8 "2011-08-28T23:34:33Z")
They were also watching MTV from an illegal sat hack. My theory anyways… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/9 "2011-08-28T23:37:18Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > They were also watching MTV from an illegal sat hack. > > My theory anyways… Except the town this was based on allowed dancing in 1980, one year before MTV. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/10 "2011-08-28T23:40:40Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Except the town this was based on allowed dancing in 1980, one year before MTV. Broke several laws then, huh? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/11 "2011-08-28T23:49:02Z")
It was a popcorn flick and I enjoyed it as such, even at the ripe old age of 37. Kevin Bacon was watchable back then. Here’s an [updated version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMjgSkfQPSY) of one of the scenes, courtesy of Flight of The Conchords. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/12 "2011-08-28T23:52:48Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Footloose. Is this a joke? Well, it wasn’t a documentary. 😃 Seriously though, any more odd than its contempories? [ul] [li]The Big Chill (1983)[/li][li]Flashdance (1983)[/li][li]**Footloose (1984)**[/li][li]Breakfast Club (1984)[/li][li]St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)[/li][li]Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)[/li][li]Dirty Dancing (1987)[/li][/ul] Yeah… it was the 80s! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/13 "2011-08-28T23:54:48Z")
I think it should be remembered that Hollywood movies often bear only the most scant relation to reality. Movies are created with the idea in mind of manipulating their audiences’ emotions, so real life goes out the window and whatever advances the story the movie wants to tell comes in. It doesn’t matter a whit whether some little town allowed dancing in reality or not, all that matters is that the movie sets it up that way to provide a setting against which young people can rebel and prevail. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/14 "2011-08-29T00:02:55Z")
Why single out that eighties? How often do you see a musical comedy that makes sense? Did _42nd Street_ or _Guys and Dolls_ or _Singin’ in the Rain_ or _Top Hat_ have a good story? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/15 "2011-08-29T00:05:10Z")
> [@treis](#): > > If that sounds absurd, the actual movie is ten times more WTF. Was it received as some sort of big joke, or should I just chalk it up to being the 80s? What about it seems absurd to you? It’s certainly not a documentary, but as someone who was a teenager in the Bible belt in the 80’s it didn’t seem terribly far-fetched to me at the time. The first girl I asked to my junior high prom had to turn me down because her religious parents forbid her to dance. And being identified as a queer certainly would set you up for all sorts of harassment. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/16 "2011-08-29T00:17:53Z")
**ANGRY DANCE!!!** With saxophones! > [@Apollyon](#): > > Well, it wasn’t a documentary. 😃 > > Seriously though, any more odd than its contempories? > > [ul] > [li]The Big Chill (1983)[/li][li]Flashdance (1983)[/li][li]**Footloose (1984)**[/li][li]Breakfast Club (1984)[/li][li]St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)[/li][li]Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)[/li][li]Dirty Dancing (1987)[/li][/ul] > > Yeah… it was the 80s! 🙂 Come on, the four non-dancing movies on that list have nothing in common with _Footloose_. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/17 "2011-08-29T00:24:12Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I remember getting the impression(where, I don’t know) that Ren(Bacon) was teaching them in secret. > Still doesn’t explain the very high competence but it’s something. Ren teaches his friend how to dance in secret but he doesn’t teach everyone in the school. The beginning of the movie shows that the teens are used to heading off to an area on the county border to listen and dance to bootleg tapes. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/18 "2011-08-29T00:30:43Z")
It made $80 million domestically on an $8 million budget. Die Hard made $83 million domestically (and yeah I looked those up, I don’t have a lot of footloose facts in my brain ready to fire). Apparently there is also a remake coming out in October. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/19 "2011-08-29T00:38:31Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > [ul] > [li]The Big Chill (1983)[/li][li]Flashdance (1983)[/li][li]**Footloose (1984)**[/li][li]Breakfast Club (1984)[/li][li]St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)[/li][li]Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)[/li][li]Dirty Dancing (1987)[/li][/ul] > > Yeah… it was the 80s! 🙂 Please, do you have to remind us? I’m trying hard to forget how forgetful they were. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425/20 "2011-08-29T00:58:19Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > What about it seems absurd to you? It’s certainly not a documentary, but as someone who was a teenager in the Bible belt in the 80’s it didn’t seem terribly far-fetched to me at the time. The first girl I asked to my junior high prom had to turn me down because her religious parents forbid her to dance. And being identified as a queer certainly would set you up for all sorts of harassment. I don’t think the illegal to dance kid from the city story is absurd. Just things like: (1) One of the locals is pissed at him, so he challenges the new kid to a front loader chicken match. (2) A small town in Oklahoma has a Men’s gymnastics team. That’s what I mean. I’m just watching Kevin Bacon on the high bar going WTF is this a joke? (3) The dancing/gymnastics in the factory scene. (4) The joint scene. “Do you think I’d flush a real joint down the toilet?” Because teachers often return joints to busted students. (5) It was over dramatic to the point of absurdity as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footloose-is-this-a-joke/594425.md?page=2)