Are we comparing these films on their entertainment value or on their class politics?
On both axes, Dirty Dancing reigns supreme. James Cameron is only capable of feigning outrage at injustice; in all of his films, he fetishizes it. And as for Pretty Woman, well, it just scrubs sex work of its exploitative dimension.
In Dirty Dancing, it is the proletariat Patrick Swayze who wins in the end, exposing the shallow prejudices of the resort members, especially Baby’s father. And he doesn’t have to die for this either. In that movie, liberation is thinkable.
― treeship., Tuesday, 4 August 2020 02:33 (three years ago) link