I Carried A Watermelon?

As part of the month of me, I feel compelled to include my favorite movie of all time: Dirty Dancing.

Dirty Dancing is certainly the best film ever created. I can see the eyes rolling. I can hear the cries: "What about the Godfather? What about Citizen Kane? Casablanca?!" This is my reply: the first time I watched Dirty Dancing my mother revealed to me that Patrick Swayze is my real father. Any movie that can make an otherwise sane woman tell such a blatant lie, any movie that has such power over you that you tell your impressionable pre-teen daughter such a thing... well, that's what movies are all about. Escape, fantasy, romance, Dirty Dancing has it all. And although it's been years since I actually believed my mother, I still hold a tiny grudge against my father for not being able to Mambo.

For those of you who don't know, Dirty Dancing is the story of Baby and Johnny's summer romance at a resort in the Catskills. It is a secret affair, since Baby is a guest of the resort and Johnny is merely the poor dance instructor. But the dirty dancing going on in the staff quarters brings them inexorably together, and when Johnny's regular dance partner gets knocked up and can't perform at the big summer show, Baby steps in to learn the dances and save the day. When Baby's parents find out she's been sneaking around with Johnny, things come crashing down and Johnny is fired from his job. Can Johnny prove what a good guy he is to Baby's ultra-conservative father?

It's the most 80's 60's movie ever. Even with her new nose, Jennifer Grey remains the icon of my teenage world.