Missing the Magic: What Happened to Men in Movies?

A strange thing happened while watching Dancing with the Stars last night: it brought me to tears. I wasn't going to even watch this season. With Bristol Palin and the Hoff, I wasn't really feeling it. But, then I heard Jennifer Grey would be on the show and I knew I would have to tune in whether I wanted to or not. In a way, I wish I hadn't.

The clip of her practice with Derek where she finds out they'll be dancing to 'These Arms of Mine' brought me to sobs before it even hit her - it was a song on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. I immediately felt the absence of Patrick Swayze and felt a significant ache at knowing he's gone.

I have always enjoyed movies -- probably more than I should. But even more than my love for movies, I've had a love for certain characters in them.

Johnny Castle was one of these characters.

It's hard to believe that it's been over 20 years since Dirty Dancing hit theaters. I still remember the first time my parents took me to see it. I left the theater on a sunny afternoon dancing in the parking lot. I was only 7 years old. And I was in love.

Baby became my hero and Johnny -- remember, at the age of 7 -- became my ideal man. It took one viewing of the movie and I was convinced that I was destined to live a life like Baby's and end up falling in love and dancing with a guy like Johnny.

But Johnny wasn't the first Hollywood movie crush I experienced. About 2-3 years earlier (yes, when I was about 4-5 years old), my very first crush was on Christopher Reeve's Superman.

It's pretty remarkable that even so young I could recognize a great thing when I saw it. Tall, handsome, honest, strong... what wasn't to love?

I still felt that crush every time I watched any of the Superman movies (Christopher Reeve versions only though) later in life. And when Christopher Reeve was injured and later passed away, it felt bittersweet: it was incredibly sad that he was gone, but I felt relief that he would always live on through his characters.

Remembering the loss of these two magic men made me think about movies of our current generation. What characters can even come close to comparing to these favorites?

Sure, the girls like their Rob Patz and Taylor Lautner. But it isn't the same. We had Rob Lowe and Michael Schoeffling. Before there were "I love Jacob" t-shirts, we had "I love Jake Ryan" t-shirts. These teen dreams come and go in every generation. But few rise above and reach icon status.

Christopher Reeve reached icon status for a great number of people - crossing generational lines. Patrick Swayze certainly reached that status in my eyes.

So what happened? Why are so few characters fall-in-love-worthy? What happened to the magic in the movies that made you want to jump into the TV so you can fly around the world or be saved at Niagara Falls, or so you can practice doing the lift in a lake with a half-naked dancer?

Sure, I have my movie crushes now -- but these days they're fleeting and usually only last as long as I'm watching the movie. The crush isn't EPIC.

Maybe it's because I just can't imagine crying over the loss of someone I've never met now -- but then, if that was the case, why cry during Dancing with the Stars when I thought about Patrick's absence?

I think characters just lack that magical quality that seemed to ooze out of both of these guys' characters. I miss that magic in movies.

Until Hollywood sweeps me away with a new epic crush, I guess I'll just have to watch my worn DVD's of Superman and Dirty Dancing -- just thinking about that puts a smile on my face. Nothing wrong with being old enough to drink a glass of wine while watching two lifelong favorites.