Flashdance (1983)

In Adrian Lyne's MTV-style, feel-good, R-rated sleeper hit - a musical romantic drama with energetic, glossy music-video style dance sequences. It was a major box-office success and cultural touchstone, and generally regarded as a formulaic, implausible Cinderella story. Pop rock music by Giorgio Moroder and other hit tunes (Irene Cara's "Flashdance - What a Feeling" and Michael Sembello's "Maniac") showcased an independent-minded 18 year-old woman who had dreams of being a legitimate dancer.

The musical film popularized ripped off-the-shoulder baggy sweatshirts, aerobic dancing, street break dancing, and other fashion trends (ankle warmers, etc.) of the era. It also had some raunchy dialogue, such as: "Did you know that the smallest penis ever measured was 1.1 inches?" A sub-plot told about a rescue of the heroine's friend Jeanie Szabo (Sunny Johnson) from a real nude strip club named Zanzibar, after the dancer had sold out on her own dreams.

• in the early iconic - and erotic - opening scene, Pittsburgh steel-mill welder and gorgeous, exotic bar dancer Alexandra "Alex" Owens (Jennifer Beals in her first lead role although quite a few of her scenes were performed by body double/ professional dancer Marine Jahan) performed in a quasi-strip club named Mawbry's Bar; she was supine on a chair; wearing a tight red leotard as water splashed down on her (mostly in dark silhouette); she was accompanied by the song "He's a Dream" sung by Shandi Sinnamon (as Shandi); then, "Alex" rose from the chair and danced

Dancing And Being Splashed with Water

• in another sweaty gym scene, Alex engaged in a vigorous workout (with two others who were providing dating advice) with equipment and weights - to the tune of "I Love Rock 'N Roll", sung by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
• in the film's 90-second, influential, trend-setting street scene, Alex (in a long-shot) came upon a group of B-boys (Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost, Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon, and the Rock Steady Crew), who showed off their break-dancing moves to the tune of Jimmy Castor’s "It’s Just Begun"
• Alex lived in the loft of a huge abandoned and converted warehouse, she also aspired to become a professional ballet dancer; another of the film's major iconic images was of Alex's torn/cut-off-the-shoulder gray sweatshirt (she deftly removed her black bra under the sweatshirt)
• she initially entered into a reluctant romance with her persistent, handsome, older, wealthy steel-mill boss Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri); later, there was a suggestive and tantalizing scene between the two of them during a lobster dinner; dressed in a black tux; she slowly nibbled and sucked soft pieces of seafood while making suggestive comments: "What turns you on? (during the conversation, she moved her leg up under the table to tantalizingly touch his crotch with her stockinged toes) You like phone booths?"; when Nick's ex-wife Kate (Belinda Bauer) showed up to introduce herself, and made insinuating comments about Alex's work as a welder and stripper, Alex removed her tuxedo coat jacket (leaving the front piece of only a white shirt and cuffs without sleeves), and candidly described her provocative first date with Nick: "I f--ked his brains out"

Sexy Lobster Dinner with Nick

• in another physically-demanding sequence, Alex performed an intense foot-pounding, stretching, hair-spinning, practice exercise routine in a black leotard, to the tune of Michael Sembello's hit song "(She's A) Maniac" ("And she's dancing like she's never danced before"); it began with black leotarded Alex taping up her feet in preparation for an intense workout of running in place, twirling, and stretching (usually performed by body double Marine Jahan); there were lots of closeups, fast cuts and blurred action typical of the MTV style

"(She's A) Maniac" Dance Sequence

• the climactic scene was of Alex' audition (with a black leotard and ankle warmers) before the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory to the tune of the Oscar-winning Best Song "Oh, What a Feeling!" (sung by Irene Cara); at first she stumbled and faltered, and asked to start over ("Can I start again?") - the film's final line of dialogue, and was allowed to continue - with a combination of moves (including break-dancing at the end), she was able to gain entrance to the Conservatory
• the loving and cliched, upbeat romantic conclusion, including a clinch - after her important dance audition, Alex met Nick; she received a handful of long-stemmed red roses, a twirl and a loving kiss in the freeze-framed, dialogue-less conclusion - to the tune of "Flashdance - What a Feeling!"