What I Watched -- Save the Last Dance

This is not a particularly good movie. And it hurts me to say that, because Julia Stiles is just so darn cute. I love her, whether I like it or not. In fairness, though, Save the Last Dance is a tad better than a lot of the movies of its genre. This one tackles a big issue and gets into some character development. It's just that this isn't typically a great style of movie to begin with. We're working within very confining boundaries here.

The movie goes like this: white ballet dancer Sara has to move, for reasons both unfortunate and beyond her control, to live with her long lost father in the Chicago ghetto. She falls in love with Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), the only black guy in her high school who's going anywhere with his life, and nobody is happy about that - not even Derek's sister Chenille (played by a young but talented Kerry Washington), who's Sara's only friend. Things look bad, but it's not over yet.

However, there is one aspect of the movie that K might appreciate, so I will post about it. (T, now is the time to stop reading, if you haven't already.) Sara's new school is pretty much all black, but for whatever reason, her appearance there does not seem to surprise the student body. Which is kind of cool, and also kind of odd, because I think in real life her appearance would raise some eyebrows. But the serious issue comes out when Sara gets the straight dope, as it were, from Chenille about why everyone has a problem with Sara's relationship with Derek.

Chenille: "You and Derek act like it don't bother people to see you two together. Like it don't hurt people to see."
Sara: "Well we like each other. What is the big damn deal? It's me and him, not us and other people."

Chenille: "Black people Sara. Black women. Derek's about somethin'. He's smart, he's motivated, he's for real. He's not just gonna make some babies and not take care of them, or run the streets messin' up his life. He's gonna make somethin' of himself, and here you come, white so you gotta be right, and you take one of the few decent men we have left after jail, drugs, and drive-bys. That is what Nikki meant about you up in our world.
Sara: "There's only one world, Chenille."
Chenille: "That is what they teach you. We know different."

Now, regardless of your feelings about the statements made, you have to grant that they are pretty thought-provoking, especially for a teen movie. Not the kind of thing you'd expect. Immediately preceding that is a scene with Chenille and her baby daddy, which reveals her life struggles on the other side of that coin.

Kenny: "What's wrong with him?" [Baby screaming in Kenny's arms.]

Chenille: "He don't know you Kenny."
Kenny: "I'm his father, he knows me. What should I do?"
Chenille: "Come around more often."
Kenny: "See, I can't talk to you!"
Chenille: "And I can't depend on you. What do you think I use to raise this baby? Oxygen? He has needs, Kenny, and his needs require money."
Kenny: "Here we go."
Chenille: "And we're gonna keep going until I get what I need from you to raise your son."
Kenny: "I'm doing the best that I can. But do you think that your mouth helps the situation? I'm just tryin' to deal with this shit! I didn't ask for this!"
Chenille: "What? And I did? I climbed on top of myself and got pregnant?"
Kenny: "You know what? I don't have time for this. You want me to take him to my mother's? I'll take him. Now get his shit ready. Get his shit. Get him ready!!"
Chenille: "Oh, no. You not goin' nowhere with my son tonight. Not on that temper, and not with that attitude."
Kenny: "You know what? Fine. Then I won't take him. I'm outta here."
Chenille: "Go ahead, leave. That's what you're good at. Your son ain't seen nothing but your back since he was born!" [Door slams.]

In the special features, there's a similar but deleted scene, which was perhaps replaced by the above fight between Chenille and Kenny. It's less angry, more emotional.

Chenille: "So what, I'm supposed to be happy because you decided to swing through and put a dollar on the table?"

Kenny: "Look, it's more than a dollar, and it's all I got." [Chenille drops the money on the table.] "They cut back on my hours at work Chenille. Money's tight. That's why I ain't been comin' around."
Chenille: "No, money ain't got nothin' to do with it. You don't come around 'cause you don't feel like comin' around. As long as I'm here, you know your son is being taken care of."
Kenny: "That's not true."
Chenille: "We got well baby clinic on Wednesday. You said you would come. You comin'?"
Kenny: "Wednesday? You said Wednesday? Look, the boy ain't sick or dyin' Chenille. It's a check-up!"
Chenille: "Like I said. You do what you gotta do. You ain't got no worries when it comes to him."
Kenny: "And you ain't got no feelings when it comes to me. Yeah, all you do is bitch and complain about what I don't do. And I get tired of that!"
Chenille: "Be tired of it! You ain't gotta see me to see your son."
Kenny: "Yeah, well that'd be a hell of a lot easier."
Chenille: "Then don't see me!"

The conversation continues, and you realize that Chenille is still in love with Kenny, but she knows that he's never going to be there for her and their baby. Tragic.

(Aside: I was googling the movie title to find a picture of the cover to post for you all to see, and I found this San Francisco Chronicle film review. The reviewer has a point that Derek's story is undoubtedly an interesting one which gets overlooked in favor of Sara's, but I especially enjoy how he goes on and on about the racist undertones of the movie, but he can't spell the black dude's name right. It's D-e-r-e-k. It's like he assumes because Derrick Rose and Derrick Thomas are black, that all black people with that name spell it D-e-r-r-i-c-k. Bad journalism. And kind of funny.)

Bottom line: interesting questions asked, but not a good movie. And for a flick called Save the Last Dance, I sure wish there had been more dancing. Although there are about 3 solid minutes of Sara's dance routine at the end - that was the best part!