As a child of the 80’s, my memories are painted by the music and film of the era. Naturally, among those movies was a little film called Footloose. There were a number of elements that drove this film’s popularity for those in my age group. For us, the driving factors were the music and the dance. While I won’t deny that I found them interesting, the music or dance didn’t persist in my mind. Neither drove me to watch the movie subsequent times. However, two scenes kept me coming back.
In recent years, we have learned a new word, allyship. It’s when a member of a group with higher privilege assists a member of a group with lesser privilege. Prototypical examples fall along race or gender lines. For instance, if you watch the movie right around the 1:17 mark, you’ll get right to the scene at the council. As Ren McCormick, a white male teen, tries to address the council, and a woman, Eleanor interrupts him. Then the preacher’s wife, played by Dianne Weist, interjects: