Not long before "Footloose" was originally released 15 years ago, I was assigned by an editor to go to Jenison High School, the only school in the Grand Rapids area that did not have a prom. My article was supposed to answer the question "what do teens who can't dance do for a good time?".
After checking with our lawyers, my boss decided the answers were unprintable.
Suffice to say, the youth of Jenison had a good deal in common with the kids of Bomont, the sleepy hamlet that serves as the setting for "Footloose," a movie which still has a lot to say about parent-child relationships. Although Bomont has successfully outlawed dancing, that hasn't stopped their young people from drinking, smoking pot and raising hell every time the adults are out competing for the attention of Reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), Bomont's self-appointed spiritual leader.
Ironically, the Reverend is a much better father to the community than he is to his 17-year-old daughter Ariel (Lori Singer), one of the sassiest and most obnoxious kids around. Rev. Moore's idea of concern is to constantly check up on Ariel, something she's come to resent. "How come when I'm here at home you're never as interested in what I do or say as you are when I walk out that door?" she asks him, in a scene sure to make more than a few parents uneasy.
The scenes between Rev. Moore and Ariel are beautifully played by Lithgow and Singer and, much to his credit, director Herbert Ross has given them just as much weight as the movie's showier segments. One of the many elements that puts "Footloose" far ahead of most pictures about teen life is that Dean Pitchford's script doesn't automatically paint everyone over 21 as an idiot. Nor is Ariel's irresponsible behavior presented as something to emulate; only when she stops hanging out with rednecks and sleeping around does she find a purpose in life.
"Footloose" is primarily remembered as the "dance movie" that made Kevin Bacon a star, but it's a good deal savvier than it seems on the surface. While the plot revolves around a clash between new kid in town Ren McCormick (Bacon) and the Bomont town council -- led by Rev. Moore -- over a proposed senior prom, interestingly "Footloose" does not condemn the church. Instead of looking like a buffoon, Rev. Moore comes off as a genuinely concerned, albeit somewhat misguided man who is torn between doing what he feels is right for his followers and what his daughter wants him to do.
His wife Vi (a superb performance by Dianne Wiest) is the voice of reason in the house, serving as a mediator between the two sides. She's supportive of her husband, but recognizes his weaknesses, including his tendency to debate with Ariel instead of listening to her. "You can lift a congregation up so high, they have to look down to see Heaven," Vi tells him. "But it's the one-to-one where you need a little work."
Gradually, we come to realize the majority of the townsfolk have simply been overreacting to a tragedy that occurred five years ago, in which several teens (including Rev. Moore's son) were killed in a drunk driving accident following a party. In their shock, the Bomont town council elected to abolish drinking and dancing, and, in the time since, some of the locals have become progressively more paranoid about other possible "corruptions." The movie's real villains are the ultra-conservative couple Roger (Alan Haufrect) and Eleanor (Linda MacEwen), who organize book burnings and get rid of teachers who assign Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five."
Yes, there are musical numbers in "Footloose" (including the memorable "Let's Hear It For The Boy" sequence in which farm boy Christopher Penn learns to strut his stuff), a few uninspired fight scenes and some now-unbelievable bits involving "Sex in the City" goddess Sarah Jessica Parker as Ariel's dowdy best friend. But, like "Saturday Night Fever," another movie adapted for the stage, it's essentially a sturdy drama that could hold up even if you cut out all the dancing and fighting. In fact, the only thing that truly dates the movie is its soundtrack, which holds up lame metal acts like Quiet Riot and Moving Pictures as examples of "subversive music"; if this kind of stuff was considered shocking, imagine what the Bomontians would have made of Marilyn Manson and Korn.
Although the conflict over the prom is resolved predictably, the relationship between Rev. Moore and his daughter is not. Instead of one triumphing over the other, they reach a compromise. "I just don't know that I believe in everything you believe in," Ariel tells her dad. "But I believe in you." It's moments like that that make "Footloose" much better than its reputation might lead you to believe. James Sanford
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