Breakin' (1984), Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984), and Rappin' (1985)

People have been noticing movie tropes for ages.  There are certain story beats or plot details that have permeated throughout the movie landscape.  They get used time and time again to tell a story.  These tropes get pointed out on a regular basis for how derivative they can be.  Look at the slasher movies coming out of the 1980s and 1990s and the trope of the black person dying first.  People noticed it because it happened all the time.  But it’s not the only trope to gain attention.

Another big trope is the “Save the rec center” trope.  This trope involves everyone banding together to save a location from foreclosure, or to save themselves from losing that location.  Someone wants to take a place away from this group of characters and they fight to keep that from happening.  It’s a story trope that has happened frequently throughout movie history.  The notable instance where it became a bigger thing was Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.

1984 was a big year for the Breakin’ franchise.  Breakin’ was released on May 4, 1984.  Kelly (Lucinda Dickey) was a jazz dancer who was trying to make it in the business.  She met Ozone (Adolfo ‘Shabba Doo’ Quinones) and Turbo (Michael ‘Boogaloo Shrimp’ Chambers) and turned her focus to their style of break dancing.  Together, they and manager James (Christopher McDonald) tried to find success in the business.

It was quickly followed up by Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo on December 21, 1984.  This was where the “Save the rec center” trope came into the franchise.  Ozone and Turbo were hanging out at Miracles, a local rec center, and getting their breakdance on with all of the other rec center regulars.  Kelly was off having her dancing career.  When she returned to town, she went to visit her old friends.  They found out that a businessman named Mr. Douglas (Peter MacLean) convinced the city to foreclose the property so that he could build something new there.  Everyone that hung around Miracles banded together to raise the money they needed to keep the rec center.

There are a few details of the “Save the rec center” trope that are usually, but not always, present.  The first is that the location is an important part of a community.  The rec center is the place where the people of the community hang out.  It might not be a rec center specifically, though.  In a few cases, it’s an entire neighbourhood or even something else.

Rappin’, the spiritual third movie in the Breakin’ franchise used the neighbourhood in its “Save the rec center” story.  John Hood (Mario Van Peebles) returned home after a stint in jail.  His old buddy Duane (Charles Flohe) wanted nothing more than to prove his superiority over John, but John wouldn’t fight.  That all changed when Cedric (Rony Clanton) started evicting people to try and take over the neighbourhood.  He hired Duane and his gang as bodyguards.  John and his friends had to put up a fight to keep their neighbourhood and the people within it safe.

It wasn’t a rec center that was being taken away in Rappin’.  It was the entire neighbourhood.  Cedric was trying to get rid of the people by any means necessary.  He wanted to develop a better, more profitable area in the neighbourhood, but that would cause problems for everyone there.  Thus, the heroes banded together to stop it.

If that development aspect sounded familiar, it’s because that comes up frequently with the “Save the rec center” storyline.  In many cases, the person coming into the neighbourhood to take an important location from them is someone who wants to replace the location with something else.  They want to make money off a neighbourhood that doesn’t tend to make them money.  The developer will push people out of the neighbourhood to get what they want.

A movie that was clearly inspired by the Breakin’ movies was Step Up Revolution, the fourth film in the Step Up franchise.  Sean and Eddy oversaw a flash mob dance group called “The Mob” that was shutting down parts of Miami to perform protest dances.  They were protesting the arrival of William Anderson, a businessman planning to tear down the waterfront and develop it into something bigger.  This area was the home to many of the members of The Mob.  They were fighting for their home as a businessman was trying to force them out.  They were fighting capitalism, like any good “Save the rec center” movie.

Step Up 3-D also had some hints of the “Save the rec center” storyline.  One of the big things with this kind of story is how the location is saved.  In most cases, it comes down to raising money.  The whole performance at the end of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo was a way to raise money to keep and renovate Miracles.  In Step Up 3-D, the main characters had a dance studio they always hung out at.  They weren’t making enough money to pay the rent, though, and they were evicted.  They had to win the dance battle tournament in order to raise the money to save their hangout.  Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was the same, where the Average Joe’s team had to win a dodgeball tournament to get enough money to keep their gym.

As a way to show how permeated the “Save the rec center” storyline is in the movie world, here are a few more examples.  The Muppets, a 2011 release, saw the Muppets banding together to put on a performance so they could raise money and save their theater from an oil tycoon.  Jason Segel wrote his own “Save the rec center” story with the Muppets.  The Goonies, a 1985 release, had kids going on a treasure hunt to get enough treasure to pay off the mortgages of their homes and keep a golf course developer from buying up their neighbourhood.  The Blues Brothers, which came out four years before Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, had the brothers on a mission from God to get money to save an orphanage.

The “Save the rec center” trope has been used in many movies.  It’s not always a rec center.  It could be an orphanage, a gym, a theater, or a neighbourhood.  The trope is the same every time though.  Someone tries to take that location away.  They want to turn it into something else to make more money.  The people that frequent that place fight back.  The capitalists will never take that place away from them.

The popularity of certain movies can ebb and flow over time.  They’ll gain popularity, they’ll lose popularity, and they’ll become popular again.  Tropes, however, will always stay.  They’ll always pop up in the movies and television shows that people watch.  And what would movies and television be without them?

This post wouldn’t be much without these notes:

• Joel Silberg directed both Breakin’ and Rappin’.
• Ice-T was the only person to appear in Breakin’, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, and Rappin’.  He was also in Leprechaun in the Hood (week 120).
• Adolfo Quinones was in Xanadu (week 216) before appearing in Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Michael Chambers was in Breakin’, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, and Dudley Do-Right (week 336).
• Then there was Kevin Schumm, who was in Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.  He would also turn up in Mac and Me (week 125).
• They weren’t the only Sunday “Bad” Movies three-timers, though.  Jean-Claude Van Damme had a non-speaking role in a few scenes in Breakin’.  He could also be seen in Double Team (week 193) and Street Fighter (week 280).
• Mark Caso made his third appearance this week in Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.  He was also in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (week 140) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (week 184).
• Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo featured Helen Kelly from Ed (week 11) and Hamburger: The Motion Picture (week 197).
• Finishing out the three-timers was Susie Coelho, who was in Perfect (week 195) and Theodore Rex (week 223).
• There were a bunch of people who appeared in the first two Breakin’ movies.  They were Lucinda Dickey, Bruno Falcon, Amy Golden, Bond Dale Jackson Jr., Cooley Jackson, Jeff Parker, Lela Rochon, and Ana Sanchez.
• Kara Vallow was brought over from Breakin’ to Rappin’.
• Ernest Cunnigan made it into Rappin’ after appearing in Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Now it’s time for people making their second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance.  Let’s start with Don Lewis, who was in Warriors of Virtue (week 88) and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Daniel Riordan returned to the Sunday “Bad” Movies this week.  He was first seen in Jingle All the Way (week 160), and now appeared in Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo also saw the return of Robert Hammond who was previously in Captain America (week 181).
• Amelia Kinkade had roles in both Road House (week 200) and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Lonny Carbajal was in Xanadu (week 216) before Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Nick Segal was the last actor to make their second appearance in Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, with the previous film being Chopping Mall (week 306).
• Rappin’ saw Kadeem Hardison return to the Sunday “Bad” Movies for the first time since Bratz (week 63).
• Rutanya Alda also returned to the Sunday “Bad” Movies with Rappin’, after first appearing in Steel (week 127).
• Edye Byrde was in both Hell Comes to Frogtown (week 206) and Rappin’.
• Finally, Mario Van Peebles starred in Rappin’.  He played one of the major supporting roles in Jaws: The Revenge (week 240).
• Have you seen Breakin’ or Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo?  How about Rappin’?  Have you seen any movies that use the “Save the rec center” trope?  Do you enjoy it?  Let me know all this and more on Twitter or in the comments.
• You can also use the comments or Twitter to let me know about movies I haven’t watched but should put into the Sunday “Bad” Movies schedule.  I’m always looking for unknown to me movies.
• Also take a moment to check out the Sunday “Bad” Movies Instagram account.  I’ve got things going on over there.
• There will be a post coming out soon about my top ten favourite movies from year six of the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  Be ready for it when it comes out.
• And now for week 351.  We’re past this big week and we’ve got a little while before another one.  That’s why I’m starting small with week 351.  It’s a little something you might not know about.  Pets to the Rescue is one of those kids movies that I picked up in a bargain bin multi-pack a while back, and I’ll be checking it out.  See you next week with a post for that one.