Robbie Gould -- The Rahm Emanuel character in 'Dirty Dancing'... 'Some people count, and some people don't...'
As Chicago moves into the largest confrontations in history over the school closings being foisted on the city's (mostly) African American schools by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, it's fun to review the historical antecedents and literary models that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is following. One of my favorites comes from the 1987 movie "Dirty Dancing," which our students (and their mothers) loved when it was popular in the late 1980s (and used in many of our classes to raise issues of class, even among white people).
Twenty-six years after "Dirty Dancing" became a major hit and reminded people of class politics, Rahm Emanuel is playing the Robbie Gould role by ordering the closing of the largest number of public schools in the history of the USA. "Some people count, and some people don't..." as Rahm has said.In the Rahm Emanuel scene, the privileged Ivy League waiter at the hotel is talking to "Baby", the leader character. "Robbie Gould," the waiter, is a fan of Ayn Rand (long before her version of reality became the dominant narrative and way of thinking in the White House while Rahm was Chief of Staff for Barack Obama).
In the scene, Baby is talking about the fact that one of the dancers has gotten pregnant, and some suspect the father is the privileged Ayn Rand preppie, Robbie:
Robbie Gould: I didn't blow a summer hauling toasted bagels just to bail out some little chick who probably balled every guy in the place.
[Baby is pouring water into glasses for him]
Robbie Gould: A little precision please, Baby. Some people count and some people don't. [brings out a copy of The Fountainhead from his pocket]
Robbie Gould: Read it. I think it's a book you'll enjoy, but make sure you return it; I have notes in the margin.
Baby: You make me sick. Stay away from me, stay away from my sister or I'll have you fired. [Baby pours the jug of water on his crotch]
