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Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Footloose

Our Gen X Life | April 8, 2026



Footloose is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year! We’re kicking off our Sunday shoes and kicking off a new series, 80s Dinner & Movie Night! We invited our friends to join us for a themed dinner and classic 80s movie. After watching Footloose, we engaged in a lively discussion where we covered a wide range of topics relating to the movie (and of course everyone’s favorite scene, Ren’s angsty dance rant, LOL!!) We hope you enjoy revisiting this awesome 1984 film as we share our thoughts watching it again 40 years later.

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🔴 WATCH NEXT – Footloose Dinner & A Movie:
https://youtu.be/Hp5rjiz7txo

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Music: Epidemic Sound

Special thanks to our friends Travis, Cheryl, Mark, and Susan!

Written by Our Gen X Life

Comments

This post currently has 11 comments.

  1. @sharonm.t.2492

    April 8, 2026 at 12:27 pm

    My first car was an 88 Honda Civic. Before that, I relied on my boyfriends and friends to get me around. They included Chevy Camaros, Pontiac Firebirds, 4×4 trucks, Chevy Malibus & Novas, plus many others. I also lived in an island town in the SF Bay area , so we could also get around on foot, too. Our island was about 3 miles long and a mile wide, so you get it!

  2. @btetschner

    April 8, 2026 at 12:27 pm

    x I thought Ariel's character as the out-of-control preacher's kid was an archtype that needs to be on more films, she really nailed the drama of it!
    x I thought it was interesting that they included a game of tractor chicken, never heard of that before!
    o My hometown is an agricultural community and they offered a tractor safety program at our junior high and high school to acquire a tractor's license at age 14 (I completed the program and received my license).

    x I thought the dance scenes were really fun, I especially liked the one where they were in the western-style dance club.
    x I thought the film was excellent!
    x The film is an interesting contrast to my experience as we had B.A.D. (Burwell Against Drugs) Dances from the time I was in 7th grade till my graduation.
    o I went to at least 70 dances before graduation and it was the most unique consistent tradition (actually none of the communities around us had them).
    o At our dances, it was a rare occurence that anyone showed up drunk or high and it was always just a couple of people when it happened.
    o If we had sexualized dancing at those dances (which we did not), they would have certainly been cancelled and there would have been no more B.A.D. Dances.

  3. @Tr0nzoid

    April 8, 2026 at 12:27 pm

    "I don't know if I loved it in the '80s because I don't think I really understood it. I mean I was probably in about fourth grade."
    Gosh. I was a touch younger and was very much a fan of it. Something is lost in the reflection of this movie and the minimizing of its appeal by thinking that the guys liked it for a girl, and the girls like it for the guys.
    "Footloose" represented everything that was happening in the country and with MTV. It happened to come out right when MTV had really hit mainstream, with the channel being added to more and more cable providers, and it was bringing the new wave and soul pop into small towns all over. It was a part of the spring and summer of 1984, a year heavy with soundtrack song movies. That was what made up much of the allure of "Footloose," and we mostly went to the movie after having heard the songs and their videos leading up to it. I had the soundtrack before seeing it, as would often happen, and would then notice the songs as they popped up in the movie.

  4. @bigalcincinnatikidadventur7692

    April 8, 2026 at 12:27 pm

    I was just a little baby when Footloose came out. But I remember first hearing the song when I was real young though and I first saw the movie when I was in my teens. The remake was eh, ok, but it didn't top the original. While I was in Kroger's shopping for one thing, I heard the other song from the movie that I liked from Kenny Loggins called "I'm Free". Chris Penn was also in Rumble Fish, the movie Wild Life, At Close Range with his brother, and Beethoven's 2nd just to name a few!!!

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