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Ariel Moore: I have been so lost! I've been losing my mind! And you don't ever see it! You don't even care!
Rev. Shaw Moore: Of course I care. Of course we care. We don't expect you to understand everything we do that's intended to keep you safe.
Ariel Moore: Stop it! I hate it when you treat me like I'm a child!
Rev. Shaw Moore: Well, whether you like it or not, young lady! You are my child!
Ariel Moore: I'm not even a virgin!
Rev. Shaw Moore: Please... Please don't talk like that in here.
Ariel Moore: Well, what are you gonna do? Pass another law? 'Cause that sure as hell didn't keep him out of my panties!
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Willard: [referring to Ariel] You can stick a quarter in that girl's backpocket and tell whether or not it's heads or tails. You're trying to knock boots with her, aren't you?
Ren MacCormack: No, I'm not.
Willard: Yes, you are. He is.
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Woody: Public dancing is against the law under 18 in Bomont.
Ren MacCormack: Wait, wait, wait. Jump back. Are you kidding me? *Dancing* is against the law?
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Willard: [referring to Ariel] Daddy gonna take her out to the woodshed.
Ren MacCormack: What the hell does that mean?
Willard: That means she's in deep shit.
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[first lines]
Rev. Shaw Moore: *He* is testing us. Our Lord is testing us. Especially now, when we are consumed with despair. When we are asking our God why this had to happen. No parent should ever have to know the horror of burying their own child. And yet, five of Bomont's brightest have lost their lives. Among them, my only son... my boy, Bobby. We have other children to raise here in Bomont. And one day, they will no longer be in our embrace and in our care. They will belong to the world. A world filled with evil, and temptation, and danger. But until that day, they are ours to protect. That is the lesson to be taken from this tragedy. That is our test. We cannot be missing from our children's lives.
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Ren MacCormack: What are you doing here?
Ariel Moore: What are *you* doing here?
Ren MacCormack: Well, I thought I was alone.
Ariel Moore: Not in this town, you're not. There are eyes everywhere.
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Willard: [Dusting himself off after bus crash, in singsong voice] "The wheels on the bus go BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!"
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Rev. Shaw Moore: I am standing before you today with a troubled heart. I've insisted on taking responsibility for your lives. That I am really, just like a first-time parent, who makes mistakes and learns as he goes along. And like that parent, I find myself at that moment when I have to decide. Do I hold on or do I trust you to yourselves? Do I let go and hope that you have understood my lessons? If we don't start trusting our children, how will they ever become trustworthy. I'm told that the senior class of Bomont High School has secured the use of a warehouse in nearby Bayson for a senior dance. Please join me in keeping them in our prayers that our Lord would guide them in their endeavors.
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Willard: [Jumping onto Ren's bus, which is on fire] Hey, you know your bus is on fire?
Ren MacCormack: Yeah, no shit!
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Ren MacCormack: [after his bus catches fire] And I'm on fire.
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Ren MacCormack: [addressing the town council] I wasn't here three years ago, when tragedy struck this town. And I know it's not my place to mourn the lives that were lost because I didn't know them. But it doesn't mean that I don't think about them every day. Like a lot of students at Bomont, I see those pictures every day at school. And each time I see their faces, I think of how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken from us. I know this firsthand... in my own way. And three years ago, nearly a dozen laws were introduced to this council in order to protect the children of Bomont. And most of these laws, I can see, as a parent, how they make sense to you. But my right to dance... when I want, where I want, and how I want is a right that you cannot take away! It is mine. See, we don't have that much time left. All us teenagers, pretty soon we're gonna be just like you. We're gonna have jobs, and bills, and families. And we're gonna have to worry about our own children, because that is the job of a parent. To worry. I get that. But ours, as teenagers, is to live! To play our music way too loud and to act like idiots! And to make mistakes. Aren't we told in Psalm 149: "Praise the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. And let them praise His name in the dance." Now if anybody else brought their Bible, like I did, will you please turn it into the Book of Samuel, 6:14. "David... David danced before the Lord with all his might, leaping and dancing before the Lord." Celebrating his love of God and celebrating his love of life. With what? With dancing! That's all we're doing here. Ecclesiastes assures us, "There is a time for each purpose under heaven. There's a time to weep. There's a time to mourn. And there is a time to dance." And this is our time! There was once a time for that law, but not anymore. Thank you.
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Rusty: Now, when you said you were gonna wear a cowboy hat, I didn't know how I'd feel about it.
Willard: And now that you've seen me in it, what's the verdict?
Rusty: I think you're sexier than socks on a rooster.
Willard: That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
Rusty: I mean it, stud.
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Ariel Moore: What was all that?
Ren MacCormack: What was all what?
Ariel Moore: [waving her arms, laughs] All that!
Ren MacCormack: I was just letting off some steam. I'm sure you have your own wicked ways.
Ariel Moore: You think I'm a slut or something?
Ren MacCormack: I think you've been kissed a lot.
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Ren MacCormack: Hey! I thought this was a party! Let's dance!
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Ariel Moore: I can see how that works out for you, just blame everything on Ren. Just like you blamed everything on Bobby.
Rev. Shaw Moore: What?
Ariel Moore: Bobby spent his whole life trying to make you proud. He made good grades, he went to church every Sunday and God help him because he made one mistake. Now nobody remembers the good things about Bobby, all they remember is that damn accident! Why don't we have a school dance? It's because of Bobby! Why do we have this stupid curfew? Because of Bobby! Bobby is to blame for all this bullshit!
Rev. Shaw Moore: You lower your voice! Talk in a civil tongue!
Ariel Moore: What? Isn't this my church? Isn't it? Isn't this where we're supposed to talk about our problems? It's been three damn years, so why don't we start talking?
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Ren MacCormack: It's country line dancing; it's a white man's wet dream!
Footloose Quotes
Extended Reading
