History Film / Footloose

* MoodWhiplash: The 2011 remake starts off with kids at party having a blast dancing to Music/KennyLoggins' "Footloose" with a small group of friends leaving for the night. [[spoiler: They're still listening to the song on the stereo enjoying themselves before the driver is momentarily distracted veering onto the wrong side of the road and getting plowed by an oncoming semi-truck killing everyone inside. The song cuts off at the moment of impact just to let the audience register what they just saw.]]

* MoodWhiplash: The 2011 remake starts off with kids at party having a blast dancing to Music/KennyLoggins' "Footloose" with a small group of friends leaving for the night. [[spoiler: Those same friends are still listening to the song on the stereo enjoying themselves before the driver gets momentarily distracted veering onto the wrong side of the road and then plowed by an oncoming semi-truck killing all inside. The song cuts to silence at the moment of impact just to let the audience register what they just saw.]]

* MoodWhiplash: The 2011 remake starts off with kids at party having a blast dancing to Music/KennyLoggins' "Footloose" with a small group of friends leaving for the night. [[spoiler: Those same friends are still listening to the song on the stereo and enjoying themselves before the driver gets momentarily distracted veering onto the wrong side of the road and is then plowed by an oncoming semi-truck killing all inside. The song cuts to silence at the moment of impact just to let the audience register what just happened..]]

* TheEighties: When the movie is set.

* GenreBusting: Comedy? Drama? Romance? Musical? Your guess is a good as any.

->''"If ''Footloose'' has taught me anything, it's that there are people everywhere trying to shut you down just for the crime of ''being young''!''"
-->-- '''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'''

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: When Willard is voigin his concerns about how Rea plans to speak on behalf of dancing.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: During some productions, during ''Mama Says'' one of Willard' buddies [[TooDumbToLive starts to raise his hand and sit up]] before being yanked down by another buddy after Willard sings ''who can argue with that?'' in regards too using a toaster in the shower.

* GreekChorus: Rusty and her cohorts Urleen and Wendy Jo.

* SmallTownBoredom

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* RuleAbidingRebel: Ren actually ''does'' try to follow the rules most of the time (as restrictive as they may be) but is still labeled a rebel simply because he's from out of town. [[invoked]]. The labeling eventually backfires on the town, because the constant ostracism by the townsfolk, Ariel's suicidal obsession with his supposed wild behavior, and the actual ne'er-do-wells of the town (that have somehow been conveniently ignored by the townsfolk, especially in favor of Ren) framing him as the bad influence the town sees him as are what actually spur Ren to finally do something about it. Had he been left alone, he would have stayed out of everybody's way like he was planning to.

* PacManFever: The music-and-dance montage at the drive-in abruptly ends when Rev. Moore presses the stop button on the blaring boombox. Everyone stops celebrating and bows their heads in shame, including the reverend's daughter, Ariel,and the sound of Pac Man dying can be heard from the arcade.

* GenreBusting: comedy? drama? romance? musical? You tell me.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Wes is much supportive of Ren in the remake. When Reverend Shaw tries to get him to make see that Ariel is too good for Ren, Wes replies that it's most likely the other way around. He also explains how Ren spent his mother's last years taking care of her, after his father left.

* MeaningfulName: Ariel. [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare The spirit from]] ''Theatre/TheTempest'' who longs for freedom. (This was five years before the [[SmallReferencePools more readily available]] [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid use of the name]].)

On Earth, we have a legend about people who don't dance. It's called... ''Footloose''. [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy And in it, a great hero, named Kevin Bacon, teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing, well, is the greatest thing there is.]][[note]]"[[LiteralMinded ...Who put the sticks up their butts?]] That is cruel."[[/note]]

After his parents' divorce, Ren (played by Creator/KevinBacon) moves with his mother [[FishOutOfWater from Chicago to a small town in middle America]]. While he finds many of the town's backwards ways frustrating, there is one inexplicable rule that really catches his attention: Rock music and dancing are illegal. He soon makes it his mission to try and reform the law before senior prom, but Ren faces some stiff adversaries. His main opposition comes in the form of the extremely conservative Reverend Shaw Moore (Creator/JohnLithgow), who is certain that if rock music is allowed in the town, then all the young people will end up pregnant cocaine-addicts.

Obviously.

* BeYourself: Don't conform to what your parents want you to be.

* During the GameOfChicken Ren keeps nearly bailing out, but stopping at the last moment as everyone watches intently. [[spoiler: then the camera shows that his shoelace is caught. He ''can't'' get out, doesn't know the tractor well enough to stop it and can't be heard over the rumbling engines as he and Chuck get closer to each other. Fortunately, Chuck panics and goes off the road first]].

* LightswitchSurprise: Ariel's father awaits her when she returns late at night while the curfew was on.

* GameOfChicken: On ''tractors,'' set to "HoldingOutForAHero" to great effect. Ren wins [[spoiler:because his shoelace gets caught on the gas pedal]].