Tonight, I have two dance scenes to share with you. The first one was recommended to me by fellow TSL contributor, Valerie Troutman. It comes from 1985’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! I haven’t seen this film but I enjoy this scene. It pretty much just screams “1985,” doesn’t it?
(And who wouldn’t want to spend all day watching Dance TV?)
I’ve shared this second scene before but, since we’re on kind of an 80s theme tonight, I simply had to share it again. From 1989’s Teen Witch, here’s “Top That!”
So, I’ve never actually sat through the 1989 movie Teen Witch but, thanks largely to Val and her review of the second Nightmare On Elm Street film, I have sat through several YouTube clips. Fortunately, Teen Witch is going to be coming to Netflix in February so I’ll be able to get some context to go along with the two scenes below.
First off, there’s this scene featuring a bunch of suburban teenagers telling each other to “top that!” It’s hard to know where to start with this scene. I’ve watched it a countless number of times and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. The main theme seems to be that teenagers in the 80s were incredibly lame but I’ve seen Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, and Say Anything so I know that can’t be totally true.
Another odd thing about this clip is that looking at the guy wearing the suspenders fills me with an indescribable rage. If I ever ran into the actor, I would probably end up yelling at him, freaking him out, and then feeling really bad about it afterwards.
ANYWAY! Here’s the Top That scene from Teen Witch! It’s a scene that I love despite myself:
And here’s the second scene from Teen Witch that I love, the I Like Boys musical number. Seriously, if I didn’t know this was a low-budget teen movie from the 80s, I would think it was a documentary filmed at J.J. Pearce High School.
I’ll be so happy once February arrives and I will finally be able to put these two scenes into the larger context that is Teen Witch.
Through the Shattered Lens 