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Abigail Lafferty
Professor Russell
LIBA 102
27 March 2015
Footloose Research Paper- 1st Draft
In the movie Footloose, the main character Ren gives a powerful speech toward the end
of the 1984 film, where he seeks to persuade the town council to approve a senior prom, in a
town where dancing has been outlawed. He hopes to convince them through rhetorical strategies
such as appropriate appeals to ethos and logos, as well as employing kairos and conveying the
correct decorum for the situation. Rens speech was incredibly well planned because he knew
his audience and what they would respond to best. This final monologue demonstrates how
much religion, especially when focused in such a small community, can affect our perceptions of
certain situations, and can also be used as an extremely powerful rhetorical tool. Religion being
used in this way can be a very persuasive tool, especially if you select bible passages that will
help make your point.
The movie Footloose was actually inspired by several towns across the country that had
outlawed dancing, one of which was Elmore City, Oklahoma. In Elmore, it was the same plot as
Footloose, there were city-wide bans on dancing, and the teens had to fight for a prom. This city
was actually the one that the movie was specifically based off of. The reasons in the movie for
the laws against dancing were dramatised a bit, because in the real life story many of the people
just didn't believe in dancing, and saw it was a sin. This was also the case in a town called
Anson, Texas. The town council was made up almost entirely of members of the Church of
Christ, and dancing had been outlawed there since 1933 before it was challenged in 1987. In real

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life examples, and in the movie Footloose, religion is the main reason dancing has been
outlawed, and its the reason its so difficult to appeal these laws. With religion being something
that is so deeply ingrained within us, it can be difficult to change someones opinion on
something so seemingly fundamental to who you are. In the Footloose monologue, Ren uses
religion to his advantage by proof texting, as in finding bible passages that portray dancing in a
positive light. His speech cators to his audience in a very specific way, because he knows that
the extremely traditional town council wouldnt respond to different approaches.
A movie that was very similar to dirty dancing came out around the same time, called
Dirty Dancing. A review of a book about his movie brings up some points about why movies
like this are so timeless. The plots in both movies are similar, and both have withstood the test of
time. Common themes between the movies are teen rebellion, music and dance, and a somewhat
forbidden romance. Both movies had a climax where the main male character gave a speech,
and had a big finale dance number. The motivations for the speeches were slightly different
through, in Footloose it was to be allowed to dance, and in Dirty Dancing, it was to be able to
dance the way you want. The reasons for both for these movies being considered classics today
is because they are so similar. Both had a great soundtrack, cast, and script.
Religion has had to adapt over the years to reach the masses. In 1984 everyone was
exposed to religion when the went to church on Sundays, but now religion has to take on new
forms in order to affect everyone who isn't going to church. Religious aspects are in a lot of the
things we are being exposed to, and often times we don't even realize it. This is religion in
rhetoric at work right now in music and tv shows. In Footloose, religion was blatantly used to
try to persuade the town council, and it ended up having the desired effect, because they gave in
and allowed the seniors to have their dance.

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In the 80s this genre of movie was fairly popular. Movies like Flashdance and Dirty
Dancing had similar themes, and the plots and character developments could all be roughly
predicted from an outline given in an essay called Dance, Culture, and Popular Film. Jade
Boyd describes how all these movies either follow a similar storyline, or the characters tend to
take of the same features. For example, women in these movies are always valued for their sex
appeal, or they tend to lean to the overly-masculine side. The movie will almost always end in a
final dance or audition, and dance becomes a prize that outweighs everything else, and whatever
authority there is, it is usually challenged through dance. This is how the movie Footloose plays
out, A young man moves to a small town and has to convince the town council to repeal the law
that bans dancing within the city limits, and when he succeeds, the big finale is the senior prom.
The reason for the conflict about dancing in this movie has to do with religion. Boyd, in her
essay, explains that men tend to be more reasonable and level headed, so Ren, the main character,
appeals to the town council. He appeals the them in a way they would respond to, by using
passages from the Bible. Since it is a highly religious town, Ren knew that his best chance of
convincing them, would be to use the one thing they believe in above all else. Religion is
something that is very prominent in the lives of a lot of people, and if you happen to be religious,
you may see things through that specific lense. This is why using religion as a rhetorical tool can
be extremely effective.