My man and I were changing channels the other night and we came across the final few minutes of Flashdance. I instantly pleaded for a halt to the channel flicking. I mean, Flashdance, come on! As we watched Alex learn her mentor was dead and make the decision whether to audition for ballet school or not, I could feel myself getting all wound up in anticipation of the big dance finale. And, can I say, even after all these years it did not disappoint.
Great song, great choreography. It really is one of those iconic cinema moments – the bored, restless, snobby judges waiting to find her wanting, the light pouring in the windows, the mistake Alex makes at the beginning. Her courage in asking if she can start again. Then that great shift that comes as the music changes tempo and Alex starts to really rock out. Sigh. Big sigh. Impossible to not feel your heart lift!
For those of you unfamiliar with this cinematic gold, here’s the scene for your viewing pleasure:Flashdance finale
Confession time: when I was a teenager, I used to push all the furniture in the “good” living room to the sides to clear the decks, then I’d put on my black leotard and leg warmers and put my Flashdance soundtrack into the cassette player (yes, I’m that old). I would do my version of the Maniac song, then I’d do my interpretation of the finale.
Since I only had a couple of years of classical ballet training when I was about 5 or 6, I’m going to be kind and say my dancing was all “self-taught”. Lots of enthusiasm, very little technique. If the neighbors ever saw me, I am sure they must have thought I was either possessed by the devil and doing my damnedest to shake him off or suffering from some unfortunate medical condition. Fortunately, I never broke anything – furniture or bones. But man did I have a good time!
Anyway, that Flashdance scene got me thinking about all the feel-good moments I’ve enjoyed in movies and TV shows over the years. I’d love to hear what your feel-good moments are. Care to share? What’s your inspirational movie/TV moment? Do you have a favorite scene that always makes your heart lift? Or even a song that when you hear it you can’t help but shake it a little and maybe punch the air a time or two? (Second embarrassing confession, just to kick things off: I still get wound up over Eye of the Tiger from Rocky III.)
Come on, be brave – share the joy, even if it’s cheesy joy!
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I loved Flashback and sung What a feeling into my hairbrush many times. There are many moments in movies and TV, but the one comes to mind is the end of Hooisers (a basketball movie about a small tall team beating a large high school for the state championship) – anyway at the end when they win after the first moment of cheering this instrumental music comes on and you don’t hear the cheering anymore but spans the crowd and the players and you see the joy on their faces as this bittersweet tune plays – its very powerful but then again I was an athelete high school –
Lots of music gets me dancing. Music from the 70’s can take me instantly back to when I was 12, but the latest tune that gets me dancing even in the car is Say Hey (I love you) by Michael Franti & the Spearheads.
I meant to say small town not small tall…I need my coffee!!!!
Hey Liz, great to see you here! I just listened to the Spearhead song on Youtube – it’s very happy and I can totally understand how it would get your hips swinging and your toes tapping. I love those moments of triumph in sporting movies. I can’t watch the Olympics coverage without getting wound up, actually. The effort and preparation athletes put in is so obvious and their opportunity to succeed or fail is captured for the world to see…There are few moments in an ordinary life that are as cut and dried. Thanks for dropping by.
Oh man, there are so many, LOL. Loved Grease, and would dance all over the house with that one as a teen, and Flashdance was a given — you’re right, it’s one of those movies that just never gets old.
I also love the scene in My Best Friend’s Wedding where they all sing I Say A Little Prayer For You at the lunch table — LOVE that.
Thanks for the fun blast from the past, Sarah.
Sam
Hey Sammis! I love Grease, too. I especially love the bit at the end where Olivia turns up in her slutty/sexy gear and leads John Travolta around by the nose. Another happy ending that’s hard to resist. The strongest memory of I have of My Best Friend’s Wedding was of disappointment that Julia didn’t get to be happy at the end. Even though throughout the movie I was worried she would get the guy, since her behavior was so appalling I thought she didn’t deserve him. But then when she wound up with nothing but her gay buddy at the end, I was also disappointed. Which just goes to show I can’t be pleased, I think!
Hi, Sarah, Also enjoyed FLASHDANCE. Wish I could dance like that–or, at least, with such abandon.
Not certain if this is exactly a “feel-good”, but, I continue to be so moved by the “making pottery” love scene from GHOST. It most certainly wasn’t the most erotic ever, but, it made me feel how much the characters really loved each other. & their slippery hands, sliding all over their bodies, was definitely a turn-on–LOL.
Patricia
Hi Patricia,
I was just thinking of that clay scene from Ghost last night! Definitely an iconic cinema moment. As for dancing, I read in the paper over here in NZ that there is a group of people down in Wellington (NZ capital) who have formed their own amateur dance club. They’re all adults, and they dress in shiny lycra and glitter and leg warmers and whatever else they fancy, and they go to a church or school hall or something and rock out to the music of their teen years. Bad choreography, crap moves, dodgy backs and hips and knees – Flashdance for the middle-aged. Sounds like good fun to me!!!
Ooooo, this is easy!! For some strange reason, one of my favorite movies is THE REPLACEMENTS with Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman. It’s about substitute football players hired during a strike and the plot is exactly what you’d expect. But there is a moment when they all dance to “I Will Survive” that gets me every time. Here’s the scene on YouTube: http://bit.ly/ndJGP
Strange reason? Keanu Reeves is not strange! He’s a perfectly logical reason to love any movie. (Personally, I have a very soft spot for Speed.) Just watched the scene. Love the way the guys are reluctantly recruited into the dance. I might have to see if my DVD shop has this one since I don’t think I’ve seen it and it’s got Jon Favreau AND Keanu, so that’s got to be a good thing.
There have been so many favorite moments, it’s hard to pick one. So I’ll pick two: the dance finale in “Dirty Dancing,” and the dance finale in “Strictly Ballroom.” No, it’s not a coincidence that they’re both dance finales. When I was in middle school I often choreographed my own dance productions and forced my parents and siblings to watch me perform. And no, I wasn’t good.
Hi Katie. I love that you used to put on concerts for your family! How hilarious and wonderful. I can’t remember if I ever subjected anyone else in my family to my “dancing”. I can remember my brother slouching past when I was rehearsing throwing me disgusted, bemused looks. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes when I’m at home alone and a good song comes on my i-pod, I still break out some of the old moves.
Hi, Sarah!! I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve yet to watch Flashdance all the way through–I think I’d better go rent it! I do love Eye of the Tiger, and a bunch of other 80s songs that are pretty much guaranteed pick-me-ups
They’ve got the combination of catchy beat and danceability (is that even a word? ;)) that make me want to shimmy although that isn’t something I’d want to be caught doing publicly 
Thanks for the cheerful topic!
I heard somewhere that the music of your teen years is supposedly the music that sticks with you through your lifetime, and I am definitely an eighties girl. Everything from Duran Duran to New Order gets me out of my seat. And those movies of the eighties are stuck in my brain very strongly, too – Top Gun, Pretty in Pink, Flashdance, Footloose, Breakfast Club… I could go on and on. Ah, nostalgia. I think this is officially a sign that I am getting old… Great to catch up, Fedora. Stay well!