I went to see Footlooose 7 times in the theatre. I was 13. It may have had an effect on me.

Total Footloose flashback: I saw it with my mother, and there's a scene where John Lithgow's family (I'm pretty sure) is eating dinner, and some character says, "I think he's a fox," and there's some significant reaction, so my mother turns to me and says, "Did she say 'fuck' or [now I can't remember the other vulgar F word -- fart??]?" Har.

There are people posting in this very thread who were barely alive when Footloose came out.

I was five or six. As far as pop culture went, I was just barely aware of Michael Jackson; I think Footloose passed me by entirely.

I did, however, have a t-shirt with the Flashdance slashed neckline, which just goes to show how big the trend was.

And Fame is one of my favorite movies.

They should keep off the lawn too.

t makes note to stay offa Perkins' lawn

Fame is fun to watch for the very young Paul McCrane.

Speaking of first films, I caught the last 30 minutes of Witness on tv this weekend. I had forgotten that it was Viggo's first movie! Also, every time I see it, I'm reminded how strikingly beautiful Kelly McGinnis is in all her non-made-up glory. She has such an un-Hollywood face that she really stood out on the screen.

I was in a summer program taking enrichment classes at LSU and living in a dorm when Flashdance came out. Our chaperones or whatever they were called - the college students who were supposed to keep us out of trouble - took us to see it. Good times.

I caught the last 30 minutes of Witness on tv this weekend. I had forgotten that it was Viggo's first movie!

I had the same reaction when I saw the movie again recently. I'd forgotten that he played the Hochleitner brother and cheered when he appeared. I think Witness holds up pretty well, despite it's McGuffin-y nature.

t defiantly dances all over the lawn

Kevin Bacon had some fun things to say about Footloose on Fresh Air earlier this year. [link] Scroll to 20:40 into the interview to get to the Footloose stuff. He was 23 when he made that movie, and to prep for it, he enrolled as a new outsider student (as Ren McCormick) to a high school in Utah.

Also, damn kids!

Here's a Kevin Smith observation from ComiCon that I thought was interesting (and in his usual style):

Smoking on the Green Room porch, I’m thrown by how star-studded the San Diego ComiCon has become. Back in ’95, the first time I ever attended, the biggest non-comics name in attendance was maybe Bruce Campbell. Now, it’s like ShoWest Junior there. No less than three of the most recent Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Actress (Adrien Brody, Charlize Theron, and Jamie Foxx) were whoring their latest projects (“Kong”, “Aeon Flux”, and “Stealth”) to the Con crowds. It’s nuts how much power the geek audience now wields, whereas we could never even so much as get a handjob back in the day.