John Travolta explores the dark side of toxic masculinity in this ’70s dance drama.
The Big Picture
-
Saturday Night Fever
‘s portrayal of teenage boys in Brooklyn delves deep into the grim realities beneath the disco lights. - John Travolta’s iconic dance scene in
Saturday Night Fever
helped revolutionize the disco era and solidified his stardom. - The film is a dark exploration of toxic masculinity and the struggles of boys growing up in a gritty, sexist era.
Teenage boys coming of age in Brooklyn under disco lights is much darker than its pop culture legacy would have you remember. There’s more than just killer moves being burned up on the dance floor in Saturday Night Fever. The 1977 classic turned John Travolta into a star, and made the Bee Gees one of the highest selling musical groups of all time. The film has become a staple in ’70s pop culture, and is beloved for its stylish aesthetic, Travolta’s one-of-a-kind dancing, and iconic soundtrack. While there’s glamorous disco lights and plenty of white-teethed teen smiles flashing at the 2001 Odyssey club, Saturday Night Fever is a dark exploration of boys growing up in a gritty, sexist era.
Directed by John Badham, Saturday Night Fever is based on the 1976, mostly fictional article, “Tribal Nights of the New Saturday Night,” by Nik Cohn. The film and soundtrack went on to change pop culture, and caused a disco frenzy across the nation. But, it was much more than just a cultural phenomenon that featured Travolta’s strutting in a white suit. It was a bleak depiction of boys turning into men in working-class Brooklyn, and the price they paid to have some fun once a week on a Saturday Night.
Saturday Night Fever
Anxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.
- Language
- English
- Actors
- John Travolta, Karen Gorney
- Release Date
- December 16, 1977
- Run Time
- 119 mins
- Director
- John Badham
- Studio
- Paramount Pictures
What Is ‘Saturday Night Fever’ About?
Saturday Night Fever stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a 19-year-old, Italian-American living in Brooklyn with his family. Working at the local paint store during the week, Tony lives for the weekend, especially Saturday nights. He and his friends drive to the popular discotheque, 2001 Odyssey, and leave behind Brooklyn for a night. Thanks to his style and highly skilled dance moves, Tony is somewhat of a celebrity at the disco, and is coveted by every woman.
John Travolta Turned Down One of Tom Hanks’ Most Iconic Roles
Travolta opted out of the chocolates.
Tony and his friends engage in many varied forms of debauchery, including drinking, drugs, and sexual deviancy. His friends include a harrowing performance by a young Barry Miller as the most innocent of the group, Bobby C., alongside Paul Pape and Joseph Cali as Double J and Joey, respectively. Together, the group of friends brings out the worst in each other, from drinking too much to encouraging womanizing behavior that leads to sexual assault against women in the third act. Always on the prowl for the next “prize”, Tony begins to fall in love with the sophisticated Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney), a woman he meets at the disco who he then enters into a dance competition with. As she tries to teach him ways in which to further himself along in life, he goes in the opposite direction with his friends. Tony begins to lose his grip on his future, indulging in their very toxic boys club.
‘Saturday Night Fever’ Is a Dark Exploration of Toxic Masculinity
“Boys will be boys” is an age-old, problematic saying that’s been passed down for generations justifying men’s toxic behaviors in a patriarchal society. Saturday Night Fever takes aim at that phrase, sets it on fire, and burns it with a withering gaze. The film has aged well in that it calls out the darker side of the 70s, and how men’s blatantly sexist behaviors used to be tolerated. It also shows its age in other parts, and romanticizes the same behavior too. Women throughout the film are seen as objects and prizes, and Tony cannot accept Stephanie’s refusal of romance. But he still remains the film’s hero, though he is far from being one.
“You’re nowhere, on your way to no place.” Some of the cruelest, most truthful lines in the movie are spoken by Stephanie to Tony in their fantastically written scene at a dark diner. Tony and his friends may be getting older, but they aren’t moving forward. At 19-years-old, many of the boys have passed the point where the future was a promise, and it has now become a threat. Bobby Miller’s performance of a depressed teen is the most gut-wrenching story of the men. At a time when most teen films in Hollywood were set in candy-coated worlds full of happiness and innocence, Saturday Night Live explores what happens when innocence was never there in the first place.
John Travolta Performs An Iconic Dance Solo Set to The Bee Gees
The scene that turned Travolta into a true Hollywood star comes during the second half of the film. During a riveting sequence at the disco, Travolta performs his now famous dance solo that solidified him as a star. Dancing to one of the Bee Gee’s original songs for the film, “You Should be Dancing,” sent the soundtrack to number one on the billboard charts. Travolta’s dancing in the sequence alone revolutionized dance across the country and began a disco craze.
The dance routine has become one of the most iconic scenes in film. Every detail in the scene screams originality while being a product of its time, from the flashing lights, to the silk shirts, and, of course, the music. It’s also the most crucial scene in the entirety of the film for Tony. 2001 Odyssey is an elusive planet he can only visit once a week, and it’s always fleeting. When he’s dancing, it’s the only time there’s any color or joy in Tony’s life. After Saturday, it’s back to the gray Brooklyn void of music or happiness. At the disco, he can be who he truly is, and do what he loves.
John Travolta Gave a Career Best Performance and the BeeGee’s ‘Saturday Night Fever’ Remains One of the Best Selling Albums
John Travolta rightly became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after Saturday Night Fever. His performance stretches far beyond his dance moves at the disco, or his iconic opening scene of strutting down the street in his red boots. No one has a swagger like Travolta has in the opening scene, but it is hiding something much more poignant. His over-compensation of his masculinity is hiding a self-conscious teen unsure of where he belongs in society. The problem is that the disco lights always fade, and won’t be there for him forever, just like his fleeting youth. Travolta received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance, but lost to Richard Dreyfuss for The Goodbye Girl. Travolta remains one of the youngest actors to ever receive the nomination, and revisiting his performance is like revisiting a complex masterpiece of a budding chauvinistic male drenched in ’70s galore. His performance proved he was a highly skilled actor with much more to offer than a jazz square.
The Bee Gee’s soundtrack still remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, and is a fantastic juxtaposition to all the dark, depressed feelings many of the characters battle throughout the film. Travolta followed up the 1977 classic with another musical smash hit the following year as Danny Zuko in the musical film, Grease. Both Saturday Night Fever and Grease often get placed in the same category as they both feature Travolta as a womanizing teenager cutting up the dance floor with his unique style. But, where one is a somewhat rose-colored framing of teens coming-of-age in America, the other is a stark reality with no happy ending. There’s only tomorrow and the threat of the future, which is what haunts the boys in Saturday Night Fever.
Saturday Night Fever is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
This article was originally published on collider.com