English Assignment - Essay Example

One of the most apparent similarities these films have was the inclusion and introduction of a new dance routine apart from the previous routines of the lead characters. The introduction and its corresponding activities paved way in the establishment of a love affair between them. In the case of Dirty Dancing, the newly incorporated dance routine was the ‘Mambo’, ‘Paso Doble’ for Strictly Ballroom and ‘Hip-hop’ for Save the Last Dance. Another similarity that could easily be observed was that the lead females for the movies have been struggling, as a newbie, to unleash their full potential in dancing.

As what we have observed, they had acquired the confidence to move forward and become proactive through the encouragement, motivation and inspiration given to them by their teacher/partner. It could also be noted that among the films, there was a presence of supportive and loving father which initially will be the cause of hindrances in their relationship and activities but eventually the differences and constraints was sorted out. Finally all the movies portrayed awesome finale performances by the lead characters (Ardolino; Carter; and Luhrmann).

Aside from differences, these three films also depicted differences. Some of the notable variances were the gender of the lead characters and their family conditions. Baby for Dirty Dancing is a girl that came from a rich family not literally involved in dancing, Scott on Strictly Ballroom is a male coming from a middle income family that is into ballroom dancing, and Sara on Save the Last Dance is a female dreaming to be a ballerina and living with her estranged father since her mother died from a car accident.

Another difference that these films had were the hindrances that the lead characters encountered in their pursuit of excellence, one is from the father who misunderstood the situation and prevented her daughter to have any form of affair to the instructor, another is from a deceitful friend that never wanted them to win their much coveted competition and lastly was from an ex-girlfriend and a friend with illegal undertakings (Ardolino; Carter; and Luhrmann). Though there are several differences and similarities in the main plot, it can be inferred that dance was used in these movies in such a way that it aided the main characters in their search for love, fame, happiness and self-expression.

It was evident that dancing was used to express their feelings and serves as an outlet for what they strongly felt about. Also, dancing encouraged and motivated the main characters to be an achiever and discover along the way their true potentials. For every movie we had watched before, there were these characters that catch our attention, not because they are the main characters but because the characters they portray have either big or small resemblance to our own experiences or experiences of the people we know and love.

In these particular movies, the characters that I can relate the most are the lead characters of Strictly Ballroom and Save the Last Dance; Fran, Scott, Sara, and Derek (Ardolino; Carter; and Luhrmann). Fran, being a daughter of a not so well off family and initially an ugly duckling who dreamt of becoming a grand prix dancer, seized the opportunity to achieve her dream the moment it was available. She never let disappointments,