Footloose (1984)

I must have seen this film in pieces in the past. I remembered sections but I didn’t remember the entire story.

And what a weird story it is. A city boy moves to a repressed town where dancing is outlawed. He rebels in a very reasonable way.

“Reasonable” is the key word, here. The characters in “Footloose” are unexpectedly reasonable (except Ariel, she’s got a lot to process). When you peel away the silly high school stuff–like the tractor fight–you’ll find that the central conflict of this film is not resolved with a dance off but through empathy, respectful discourse, and active listening.