Patrick Swayze’s unusual star appeal helped make the supernatural romance the biggest hit of 1990 despite being resolutely unhipAmerican cinema has never had a star quite like Patrick Swayze, who now seems like a bridge between eras, redefining masculinity after an 80s dominated by brute-force heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and, to a much lesser extent, Chuck Norris.
Jean-Claude Van Damme had some of his velvet-hammer appeal – the romantic coupling in Bloodsport was about showing off his body, not his girlfriend’s – but Swayze’s gentle, zen-like self-assurance was much rangier, unlimited to any one genre.
It was not just the Catskills that were scandalized by his sexuality in Dirty Dancing, but the culture at large, and it kept slipping through even in male-oriented, adrenalized action fare like Roadhouse and Point Break.Related: Total Recall at 30: a thrilling reminder of Paul Verhoeven at his bestContinue reading.
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