Jive talkin' 12 June 2003, 00:26

Saturday Night Fever reminds me of a story.

I remember now that as I roamed the wilds of daycare in second grade, disco, Saturday Night Fever, Grease and general John Travolta overexposure had filtered down to our grade-school consciousness. We were always playing the music, singing the songs and doing the dances.

But I didn’t see the movie until 2000. It was such a hard-edged movie (the male lead and his buddies are gang members, fer Chrissakes). And it was like Rocky as a dance movie: they win because they fixed the contest, and give up the prize because they know it (Rocky loses the fight, but his opponent agrees “No rematch”). And he doesn’t get the girl. It was so full of ambivalence and honesty that it stole my heart. Thus, it beats Grease.

Besides, I have never gotten over disco.

Grease was a movie I was actually allowed to see sometime between second and fifth grade. Also, I actually didn’t see Star Wars until 1994, because when it came out I refused to see it because I equated sci-fi with “scary.” And I was resistant to hype, even then.

---

Commenting is closed for this article.