Mia Torres
Dr. Bolton
ENGL 394
9 May 2022
Saturday Night Fever: Dancing out of Bay Ridge
Saturday Night Fever, the 1977 classic film directed by John Badham, captured the essence of the disco era in New York City during the late 1970s. Set in Brooklyn, the film follows the story of Tony Manero, a working-class young man who finds an escape from his life by dancing at a local disco club. His life becomes increasingly more complicated as he becomes disillusioned with his friends, neighborhood, job, and family. With the help of his new dance partner, he begins to question his values, aspirations, and future. Finally, after a night of tragedy, he decides to leave home behind and take a step in a new direction. The movie’s iconic soundtrack, featuring songs by the Bee Gees, became a cultural phenomenon and solidified the disco craze of the time. However, while the music and dancing were undoubtedly integral to the film’s success, the locations where the story unfolded also played a significant role in capturing the era’s essence.From the gritty streets of Brooklyn to the pulsating lights of the discotheque, the film’s locations are as much a character in the story as the people themselves. This essay will explore the importance of location in Saturday Night Fever and how specific neighborhood locations contribute to the film’s meaning.
Most of the film takes place in Tony’s home neighborhood in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Originally a settlement of the Canarsie tribe and then a Dutch settlement used for farming, by the 1970s, most of Bay Ridge’s inhabitants were working-class Italian Americans and had a large German, Irish, and Arab population. Bay Ridge is a largely residential area, with a few central shopping districts, such as 86th Street and 4th Avenue, featured in the movie. Tony lives and works in northern Bay Ridge but spends his free time in the southern portion of the neighborhood with his friends.
Multiple locations featured from South Bay Ridge are the backdrop for discussions about upward mobility. At a car park, Tony stays quiet while his friends have a neoliberal conversation about how the only way for them to move up in the world and experience economic prosperity is to take advantage of other people. These young men are convinced of this reality and spout clichés like “dog-eat-dog world,” “nobody gives you nothing,” and “it’s a stinking rat race” (00:28:04). This mentality affects their behavior which gives them cause to believe they are right to cause a ruckus at a White Castle, harass a young gay couple at John J. Carty Park, and sexually assault women in their vehicles.
Tony is particularly interested in the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. The bridge symbolizes his complicated desire to leave Bay Ridge and the lifestyle of living there. Tony’s relationship with Bay Ridge develops throughout the movie. When the film begins, he doesn’t worry about his future. He admits to his employer at the paint store that he can’t see past the night ahead of him. He defends Bay Ridge when his love interest, Stephanie, talks about how she needs to leave Brooklyn. But Stephanie helps Tony realize that he is outgrowing his friends and what Bay Ridge has to offer them. After the Verrazano-Narrows bridge is transformed from a symbol of fun and practical jokes into one of danger and loss, Tony runs away from Bay Ridge to Stephanie’s apartment on the Upper West Side.
Stephanie’s original home was in South Bay Ridge, but she has a significant upgrade when she moves into the artsy Upper West Side. Stephanie believes she belongs there and knows that the life she wants isn’t in Bay Ridge. Before the move, Tony takes Stephanie to a coffee shop in a metropolitan part of Bay Ridge. They discuss the feelings of helplessness and entrapment in Bay Ridge. Despite her constant mispronunciations, very thick Brooklyn accent, and frequent grammatical errors, she thinks she’s too refined and classy for Bay Ridge. Tony seems to see through it but doesn’t care because he appreciates that she’s trying to change herself into someone she thinks is better. Tony gets (temporarily) fired from his job when he takes her across the Brooklyn Bridge and helps her move to Manhattan.Stephanie’s determination and successful escape from Brooklyn inspire Tony to do the same. But in the film’s final moments, it’s evident that Tony doesn’t know how to do that. He can’t remember which apartment is Stephanie’s, and he doesn’t know how he’ll get out of Brooklyn or if he can even be friends with a woman. But all he needs is something bigger, an out, and at that moment, to Tony, the answer is Manhattan.
Before making this monumental final decision, Tony experiments with places outside Bay Ridge back in Brooklyn. His two favorite spots are outside of his neighborhood. The dance studio and the disco. The studio is in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood that in the ’70s was called “Brooklyn’s Little Italy.” The disco was located just a few blocks from Bay Ridge, in Sunset Park, a neighborhood whose history and demographics are similar to Bay Ridge. The disco scene’s dancing, fashion, and music were Tony’s favorite ways to experience escapism and feel confident in himself. The physical distance of these locations from his home demonstrates how Disco is disconnected from his family, who don’t understand or respect him the way they do his older brother.
Another critical location in the film is Borough Park, a neighborhood recognized for its dense population of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. Interestingly, Tony and his friends visit Borough Park to hit a gang of Spanish-speaking residents, the Barracudas. This gang, who have likely been wrongly accused of attacking Tony’s friend, Gus, does not fit the demographic of the people living in Borough Park. However, it is possible that the choice to position their base in this neighborhood is to frame them as outsiders, making them an easy target for Tony’s bigoted friends to pick on. In addition, the audience can understand Tony’s unfamiliarity with the area, to mean that Tony is in a foreign territory and messing with powers he doesn’t understand. Similarly, Tony is an outsider in Borough Park, and the violence at the Barracuda Club is likely to ingrain them in a turf war.
Finally, the last location outside of Bay Ridge featured in the film is the 53rd St subway station, among other stations that were momentarily shown. Tony uses public transportation for the first and only time in the movie, right before it ends. On the train, he is isolated and left alone when he decides to leave Bay Ridge and go to Manhattan.Throughout the rest of the film, Tony either walks to his destinations, is driven by his friends, or borrows Bobby’s car.Tony is limited by his legs and his friends, who restrict him in Bay Ridge, and don’t encourage Tony to be a better person.There is an inversion of public and private in this film, as Tony uses private transportation through nearly the entire movie, but it’s not until he uses public transportation that he’s entirely independent of his influences.
Another way the film demonstrates how free or restricted Tony feels is by making a location appear claustrophobic or open. For example, Tony feels trapped in his home. His family and plates crowd the dinner table; he shares a room with his brother, and in one scene, he appears to be suffocating during dinner when he eats with a sheet covering his outfit.This cluttered and restricting setting is an outward display of all the pressure Tony is put under by his family, who depend on his income as his parents are unemployed.
Similarly, Tony spends much time in a cramped car with his friends, his biggest influences. Tony feels pressured by them to act a certain way and model his sense of masculinity around them. Likewise, at his job at the hardware/paint supply store, Tony is in a crowded space. There are looping aisles and tight angles to work around. Even when Tony is outside, there’s not such a feeling of open space as on the dance floor. In the park, the expressway towers over him. On the street, he looks small, standing under the store signs, streetlights, and large buildings. In all these Bay Ridge locations, the theme that Tony is trapped in his neighborhood is portrayed visually.
In contrast, some locations are open-spaced or clear the way for Tony. The best example of a claustrophobic space opening for Tony is at 2001 Odyssey. When Tony and his friends enter the discotheque, they bump shoulders with people and squeeze past others to get a table. But when Tony hits the light-up dance floor, people move out of the way to watch him dance. He moves freely, and people follow his lead. Even in the dance studio, he has plenty of open space, made to look even more expansive with the big mirrors. On the dance floor, Tony is king; he is the best; he feels high; he’s not “the shit of the family.”
The final way the film sets the tone associated with different locations is with lighting. For example, the Barracuda Club is only seen at night, which makes the area seem dangerous and threatening. The perilous atmosphere is re-established with the claustrophobic scene after Tony and his friends crash a car into the club and fight the gang.
On the other hand, darkness doesn’t always imply risk. For example, 2001 Odyssey is only ever seen at night, and despite all the colorful lights, the interior scenes are still moderately lit. In this case, the darkness, in combination with the disco lights, creates a sense of fun and intrigue.
However, there are locations where its meaning changes depending on the brightness. For example, the same block on 4th Avenue is featured twice in the film: once in the evening as Tony is picked up by his friends to go to the disco, and a second time in the day when Tony runs into his friend, Gus, and steals his groceries. The lighting completely changes the mood of the setting. The night version presents a night full of potential and mystery ahead. The day version feels safe because Tony is not concerned about stealing from his friend. Likewise, Bobby’s car takes on a different meaning depending on the time of day. During the day, it’s just a mode of transportation. But at night, it’s the designated hookup spot for Tony and his friends. Unfortunately, it’s also the location the boys go to assault women.
Finally, the Verrazano-Narrows bridge is the most important location with a variable meaning dependent on whether it’s day or night. This bridge symbolizes hope and aspiration when Tony admires it during the daytime. At night, it’s a thing to be conquered. Tony and his friends climb it, dance, and tease each other. It’s a seemingly fun place, but there’s a real risk associated with it that they are all aware of and play with. They prank Annette into believing that an accident occurs on the bridge, only for them to laugh and act as if they have dominated the bridge and that it poses no risk. In the end, this backfires on them, as a bridge is impossible to defeat, and Bobby falls off and loses his life for doing the same thing they had done before.
There are a few locations that are only displayed in a literal positive light. These are the Brooklyn Bridge and both of Stephanie’s homes. Her Bay Ridge home is only shown from the exterior, and since she is leaving it behind, it makes sense symbolically for it to be daytime. The Brooklyn Bridge is shown as being very vast and expansive. As the connection between Brooklyn and Manhattan, it’s the road that takes them to the land of hope and dreams, which is why it’s practical to see how large it is in the daylight. Stephanie’s home on the upper west side appears twice in the movie.When Tony comes to apologize, he tells Stephanie that he can stay in the dark corner if it makes her more comfortable, but she takes him to the large window that illuminates the spacious apartment with the highest ceiling in the whole movie.By the window, they talk about Tony’s future and the possibility that they could be friends. The light coming from the window washes them in hope. Since all of these locations are symbols of fulfilled dreams to escape Bay Ridge, it makes sense why they are brightly lit and relatively open-spaced.
Overall, Saturday Night Fever is more than a story about a disco dance competition. It is a story about a young man coming to terms with the limitations of his neighborhood and his search for identity. The film’s masterful use of locations within and outside Bay Ridge serves as a powerful visual metaphor for Tony’s journey. He experiments with areas outside of Bay Ridge before finally deciding that it’s time for him to grow up and leave. With the help of Stephanie, he realizes that the people in his life are not the people he wants to keep around him. The film uses locations within and outside of Bay Ridge to showcase what is and isn’t available to Tony. It showcases certain qualities and sets the tone of each site by moderating the brightness and the clutter. By portraying the contrasting qualities of each location, the film highlights the social and economic barriers that Tony must navigate to find his place in the world. Ultimately, Tony’s realization that he must leave behind the people and places that have held him back is a universal theme that resonates with audiences today. His story inspires audiences to explore the world beyond their neighborhoods and discover who they are without the people they’ve been tied to.
Works Cited
Badham, John, director. Saturday Night Fever. Paramount Pictures, 1979.
Brooklyn Magazine. “Lenny’s Pizzeria, Made Famous for Its ‘Saturday Night Fever’ Cameo, Is Closing.” Brooklyn Magazine, 18 Feb. 2023, www.bkmag.com/2023/02/18/lennys-pizzeria-closing/.
“Filming Locations for Saturday Night Fever (1977), around New York.” The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, www.movie-locations.com/movies/s/Saturday-Night-Fever.php. Accessed 9 May 2023.
Fischer, Muriel. “Third Avenue: A Microcosm of the Ever-Changing Brooklyn Scene.” The New York Times, 6 July 1975, www.nytimes.com/1975/07/06/archives/third-avenue-a-microcosm-of-the-everchanging-brooklyn-scene.html.
Landmarks Preservation Commission. Brooklyn Bridge - New York City, s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0098.pdf. Accessed 9 May 2023.
“Our Story.” - White Castle, www.whitecastle.com/about-us/our-history. Accessed 9 May 2023.
Phillips, Mark E. “Saturday Night Fever (1977).” NYC in Film, 8 Apr. 2023, nycinfilm.com/2023/03/09/saturday-night-fever-1977/.
Scott On Tape. “Saturday Night Fever Filming Locations Then & Now | 1977 John Travolta Disco Classic All Locations.” YouTube, 5 Mar. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BAQAh_prKo&t=1162s.
Torres, Mia. “Saturday Night Fever.” SIFTR, 2023, siftr.org/SaturdayNightFever/.