I have watched Dirty Dancing many times, first at the movie theatre, then on cable TV. I always looked at the film as a great romance story with music, but I was so very wrong. It took me reading Andrea Warner’s book The Time of My Life: Dirty Dancing to really understand the lessons within the film.
The Author
Andrea Warner is known as one of the best music journalists in Canada. Born and raised in Vancouver on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, Andrea not only writes books, including Rise Up & Sing! Power, Protest, and Activism in Music, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the ’90s and Changed Canadian Music…but Andrea Warner also co-hosts the weekly feminist pop culture podcast, Pop This! and is an associate producer at CBC Music.
The Book
Andrea Warner’s The Time of My Life: Dirty Dancing covers many social subjects within this fast reading yet thought-provoking book. Andrea was only nine when she secretly watched the film in her cousin’s basement, and so we get her first impression of what she understood even at that young age. Sometimes, a child will see the truth much faster than an adult. I, on the other hand, was forty years old when I first saw Dirty Dancing. I was working full time, with a grown daughter and a granddaughter. When I saw the film, I concentrated on the romance and the great dancing while missing the whole political activism and advocation of safe abortions…which is quite strange now that I think about it because I marched for Women’s Rights and Civil Rights in the ’70s.
Thankfully for us readers, Andrea Warner understood perfectly what she was watching, and it made a difference in her life. Andrea’s book not only covers the film, about a teenaged girl called Baby (Jennifer Grey) who goes on a summer vacation where she meets a young dance instructor (Patrick Swayze), but she also writes about Johnny’s friend, Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) who was in desperate need of an abortion. Remember, abortion back in the ’60s where the storyline takes place, was illegal.
Andrea also writes about the woman behind Dirty Dancing, Eleanor Bergstein. She talks about why Eleanor Bergstein fought so hard to get this film made. And as an added bonus for the book, Andrea talks about the music in the film along with a little background information on the music and performers.
Conclusion
When Andy Burns asked me to review The Time of My Life: Dirty Dancing, I was wondering if maybe I agreed too soon. What could this book tell me, especially after seeing the film so many times. Boy, was I wrong. Andrea Warner opened my eyes to everything that I missed in the film. I can’t wait to watch Dirty Dancing again, but this time…I am taking notes. Thank you, Andrea, for teaching an old dog new tricks.
