Patrick Swayze, action star, becomes a ghost
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The world is saying goodbye to Patrick Swayze, who died yesterday after a very public battle against cancer.
Swayze was in four of my favorite movies and two of the movies I hate the most, which means at least the guy acted in stuff that was important enough to get a rise out of people.
First, the movies I loved: “Red Dawn,” “Point Break,” “The Outsiders,” and “Road House” – Four quintessential “guy movies” packed with action among tough guys. I imagine that if the Russians landed outside of my high school and started blasting the place, I’d want a big bro just like his character to whisk me away and get payback. His bouncer/zen master in “Road House” was a bit cheesy, yet not easily forgotten by young men seeking role models. He brought a similar spirituality to the role of Bodhi the surfing bank robber, seeing his dramatic demise on screen in a crashing super-wave. And Swayze was right there with Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruz, and Diane Lane in the superb ’50s gang war tale “The Outsiders.”
Chicks, however, love and remember him for two films I despise, “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost.” Okay, “Ghost” wasn’t that bad because I would definitely put off going into the light for a chance to have a spectral go at Demi Moore at the potter’s wheel. “Dirty Dancing,” however, was a grueling (and oft repeated) experience where Swayze’s character gives Jennifer Grey’s “Baby” character the courage and support she needs to find herself, ie., he molests a much younger girl in a highly inappropriate hookup while making money on the side “giving dancing lessons” to bored housewives in the ’60s Catskills. Why women dig that movie so much is beyond me, but they really go for Swayze’s wounded tough guy dancer.
He always had that Chippendales dancer vibe to him, but not in the gay way because he demonstrated he could break your nose in about 2 seconds. Maybe I just have that image of him at a male stripper audition next to Chris Farley on “Saturday Night Live.” I didn’t get why he went drag queen in “To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar,” but at least the guy was secure enough in his masculinity to take creative chances. When was the last time you stuck your neck out on a limb, bro?
I respect Swayze the man, the professional actor who always carried himself with class and dignity. You didn’t see him in the tabloids until they started buzzing around his cancer-striken body like a bunch of buzzards wanting a fresh carcass to chew on.
Rest in Peace, Patrick Swayze!