美国国家公共电台 NPR ABC Bets On Nostalgia With Remake Of 'Dirty Dancing'

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now we're going to have the time of our lives.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DIRTY DANCING")

COLT PRATTES: (As Johnny Castle) What's your name?

ABIGAIL BRESLIN: (As Baby Houseman) Baby.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Oh, yes. Get out.

SHAPIRO: ABC is hoping that nostalgia¹ provides a feel-good moment tonight. Its remake of "Dirty Dancing" airs, starring Abigail Breslin as Baby.

CORNISH: Now, network TV loves its singing and dancing specials, but we're going to cut to the chase here. For many people, there's only one "Dirty Dancing." You cannot put Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in a corner.

LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE²: No, you definitely cannot.

SHAPIRO: Oh, Linda Holmes.

CORNISH: Look at this.

HOLMES: Hi, Ari and Audie.

CORNISH: Welcome to the studio, the host of NPR's pop culture blog Monkey See. So Linda, the original film came out in 1987. Why do we still care about it 30 years later?

HOLMES: Well, a lot of people when they talk about "Dirty Dancing" will talk about the dancing and the kind of this love story with this teenage girl. But it is a story that also has some serious elements. There's a story really between her and her father, who is played by Jerry Orbach in the movie. It's really wonderful. And there's also a very serious story about a woman who has an illegal abortion³. There's a lot of kind of heft to this story, and yet they also pull off a really effective kind of coming-of-age love story.

SHAPIRO: And yet all that I remember of the movie is the lift.

HOLMES: Oh, yes. Well, many people remember the lift. Many people will recall watching Patrick Swayze in the black pants dancing the first time that you kind of get to meet him. I spontaneously came of age at that moment.

And I think that for me, the most important piece of that movie is that it does have a genuine awkwardness, particularly to Baby's kind of early interactions with him. My favorite part is where she first meets him at a party, and she suffers from a little bit of typical nervous young person energy.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DIRTY DANCING")

PATRICK SWAYZE: (As Johnny Castle) Yo, cuz (ph), what's she doing here?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) She came with me. She's with me.

JENNIFER GREY: (As Baby Houseman) I carried a watermelon. I carried a watermelon.

HOLMES: We have all been that girl. We have all been the person who says...

CORNISH: Yeah, shaking your head, walking away.

HOLMES: I carried a watermelon.

CORNISH: Why did I say that? All right, so the remake airs tonight on ABC. What kind of hopes do you have for this because there have been all kinds of, like, sequels and in-betweens and other kinds of theater-like releases?

HOLMES: It's also pitched as a musical. Like, they're technically⁴ singing, supposedly.

SHAPIRO: But this is not one of those live musicals that NBC, Fox and others have been doing.

HOLMES: Right. This is just a filmed thing. Mostly it's just the movie. It's just that it's also with singing. It's very strange. I think that I have hopes for it in the sense that it's a story a lot of people recognize. I like Abigail Breslin.

It is so specific in tone - the original movie. And the performances are so important - that Patrick Swayze performance and the Jennifer Grey performance - that it's going to be hard to duplicate. I'm not going to lie.

SHAPIRO: Do you think it's a story that aged⁵ well? If a kid today watched the 1987 original, would they be like, yeah, or would they say, hey, mom, dad, what did you see in this?

HOLMES: I think anyone can appreciate "Dirty Dancing." It's one of those things that's protected from being dated by the fact that it was already a period piece when it was done. Those things tend to age a little better because they're already through a kind of a nostalgic eye.

SHAPIRO: My last question is, how have we gotten this far in the conversation without hearing the song "I've Had The Time Of My Life"?

HOLMES: I stay away from it, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Really?

CORNISH: Well, on that note...

(LAUGHTER)

CORNISH: ...Queue it up. Linda Holmes hosts NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Linda, Thanks so much.

HOLMES: Thank you, guys.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE TIME OF MY LIFE")

JENNIFER WARNES: (Singing) And I owe it all to you.

1 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。