There are few universal truths, but it's safe to say one is our mutual dissatisfaction for the end of Footloose, and if you were wondering if I've considered an alternate ending to the 1984 classic flick yes I have, many times. I'll share one:
I'm a sucker for a dramatic speech. Okay so the prom has just started, the Kenny Loggins' masterpiece is roaring, but then the mill gets raided by the FDA. Seems the FDA was nearby badgering an Amish man about selling raw milk and overheard the festivities down at the ol' Lehi Rollermills; Veteran agent Mellencamp wants to investigate. So the crotchety, yet not unreasonable agent disrupts the dance and has a few choice words for those rather decrepit looking teens:
"Stop dancing! Cut the music! Who's in charge here? Anyone? There is confetti and glitter literally pouring from the ceiling. This is a goddamn flour mill. Glitter in a flour mill uh hello! Who authorized this? Who gave unchaperoned teenagers the keys to an industrial food processing plant for a dance? This was a poor choice of venue for such an event. We will have to cite this establishment, this will have disastrous effects on your already strained local economy. Are you proud of yourselves? On top of that, I have a good mind to call my pals over at the EPA for the tractor you kids wrecked earlier in the movie that is still there, leaking oil and gasoline in the stormwater runoff. That pollution is seeping into public waterways and local water habitats. All of you are bad kids. How about the five boys we saw lying motionless in the parking lot? Who wants to explain that one? Did anyone have the civility to call an ambulance? You're a bunch of selfish monsters. You done fucked up. All for a dance.." *fade to black*
(Reverend Shaw Moore's speech from earlier in the film solemnly replays on a black screen)
"I'm standing up here before you today... with a very troubled heart. You see, my friends... I've always insisted on... taking responsibility for your lives. But, I'm really... like a first-time parent... who makes mistakes... and tries to learn from them. And like that parent... I find myself at that moment when I have to decide. Do I hold on... or do I trust you to yourselves? Let go and hope that you've understood... at least some of my lessons. If we don't start trusting our children... how will they ever become trustworthy?"
THE END.
(See it's like next level ya know, even though they seemingly defeated censorship , overturned the ban on dancing, and had the repressed townspeople reconsider their antiquated ways; they must now deal with bureaucracy and the red tape associated with that. Also, those five boys do actually die.)
(Reverend Shaw Moore's speech from earlier in the film solemnly replays on a black screen)
"I'm standing up here before you today... with a very troubled heart. You see, my friends... I've always insisted on... taking responsibility for your lives. But, I'm really... like a first-time parent... who makes mistakes... and tries to learn from them. And like that parent... I find myself at that moment when I have to decide. Do I hold on... or do I trust you to yourselves? Let go and hope that you've understood... at least some of my lessons. If we don't start trusting our children... how will they ever become trustworthy?"
THE END.
(See it's like next level ya know, even though they seemingly defeated censorship , overturned the ban on dancing, and had the repressed townspeople reconsider their antiquated ways; they must now deal with bureaucracy and the red tape associated with that. Also, those five boys do actually die.)
