When thinking about what I wanted to write about this week, I called up Carlton Hargro, my editor, and said the usual, “Hey man. Just trying to figure out what I’m going to write about this week.” He said, “Please don’t write about Kanye West.” I said, “No worries because I don’t give a f#$% about Kanye West. Besides, why would I write about him when Patrick Swayze, one of my all-time favorites, is so much more interesting?” Carlton said, “I guess you know what you’re going to write about.” I answered, “I guess I do.”
Iconic dancer and actor Patrick Swayze passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. I put “dancer” before “actor” because he grew up dancing in his mother’s dance studio and eventually made his way into acting.
I remember hearing that he was sick and seeing the photos of a once fantastic-looking man becoming pale and gaunt and a shell of his former self. I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear that someone is ill, especially with cancer, I literally get sick to my stomach. Why? Because cancer is a beast, and I have watched too many wonderful people succumb to one form of it or another.
Swayze’s illness struck me because my paternal grandfather also died from the disease in 1998. He too was a good-looking old guy (much older than Swayze) with so much energy and enthusiasm. I loved my grandpa so much because he was always happy to see us. He always greeted us with a smile and spoiled us as grandparents do. When I heard that my grandpa was sick, I immediately felt nauseated — and then went to see about him. The first time I saw him after the diagnosis, he looked like the Grandpa Earl I remember — a strong, robust man. The last time that I saw him alive, however, pancreatic cancer had literally eaten him away, and so quickly.
As I watched Patrick Swayze decline in the public eye, I thought about the toll this illness was taking on a man once known for his physical power and prowess on the dance floor; that was the part of the illness my grandpa hated the most.
Swayze was also loved for his ability to work around Hollywood, a town known for fluff, yet maintain his good ol’ boy charm. After his success with Dirty Dancing, the industry tried desperately to put him in the sex-object box. People pulled on him from multiple directions — he was asked to endorse a cologne and to record an album, but he resisted, wanting to be something other than what Hollywood imagined him to be.
Patrick Swayze fought back and embarked on what he jokingly called “a conscious decision to have a great time screwing up my career.” He took roles that offered some depth (Donnie Darko) and those that didn’t, but allowed him to fulfill his action-film yearnings (Point Break). America’s favorite hero in Dirty Dancing and Ghost turned around and played a villain and pedophile, perhaps the most loathed villain on and off screen, many said to his detriment.
It was his personal fulfillment as a man and actor that allowed him to go in a direction that was contrary to what those in the industry had decided for him. Like my grandpa, Patrick Swayze was his own man, which is a rare find in Hollywood — and I would argue in society at large. He did what he wanted and needed to do for him and his family in spite of the backlash or the “loss of traction” that performers fear in Hollywood.
Swayze’s career path and personal life were not without challenges. He did a stint in rehab in the 1990s and lost a sister to suicide shortly thereafter. Swayze rebounded and decided to be present in this life and was until the end.
Even after his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, Swayze went back to work on television, shooting an entire season of The Beast — which would be his final performance. Against the odds and his doctor’s wishes, he endured a 12-hour day, while going through chemotherapy. He did not take the prescribed pain medications because he felt it would negatively impact his performances, so he withstood the pain to give his colleagues and fans the performance that they deserved. He was his own man up until the very end.
In memory of Patrick Swayze, I’m going to put “Unchained Melody” and “She’s Like the Wind” in heavy rotation on my iPod and have a movie marathon that will include Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Point Break, Donnie Darko, Red Dawn and The Outsiders. And yes, I own all of them.
I say farewell to a brave performer whose energy on the screen was matched by his courage and enthusiasm off-screen. Unlike many other celebrities in Hollywood who teach us what not to do, Patrick Swayze taught us what we ought to do in life and when facing a terminal disease.
Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. is managing editor of TheLoop21.com. She is an assistant professor of Communication and Media Studies at Goucher College and writes the blog Tune N (http://nsengaburton.wordpress.com), which examines popular culture through the lens of race, class, gender and sexuality.
This article appears in Sep 22-29, 2009.
