{"id":7172,"date":"2026-01-06T08:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=7172"},"modified":"2026-01-06T08:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:46:07","slug":"this-iconic-scene-wasnt-edited-now-take-a-closer-look-and-try-not-to-gasp-when-you-see-the-unexpected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=7172","title":{"rendered":"This iconic scene wasn\u2019t edited, now take a closer look and try not to gasp when you see the unexpected"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An 80s movie with a $20 million budget, a gorgeous John Travolta, and a skimpily dressed Jamie Lee Curtis dancing in an aerobics class\u2014what could go wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, it turns out, quite a bit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the tale of the movie that had all it needed to succeed but ultimately failed for several unexpected reasons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few could have foreseen Perfect\u2019s failure when John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis were revealed as its stars in 1985. At the height of their careers, both were adored by viewers and in great demand in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

It appeared to be a surefire hit with director James Bridges at the helm and Columbia Pictures investing a substantial $20 million. However, when the movie finally came out, it turned out to be one of the worst letdowns in Hollywood history. Only $12.9 million was made worldwide.<\/p>\n

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In addition, Perfect received nominations for three Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actress, and Worst Actor (Travolta). In addition, it received a nomination for Worst Picture at the Stinkers Bad Film Awards.<\/p>\n

For those who may have forgotten, Perfect is about journalist Adam Lawrence, who is tasked with speaking with a prosperous businessman who may be involved in drug trafficking. His second project, however, which is an expos\u00e9 on fitness clubs, introduces him to aerobics teacher Jessie Wilson (Jamie Lee Curtis), who has little affinity for journalists.<\/p>\n

What went wrong, then? Let\u2019s examine the errors and interesting details that contributed to this movie\u2019s flawless failure.<\/p>\n

Way-too-revealing gym shorts<\/h2>\n

Perfect was dubbed by some critics as one of the 1980s\u2019 most inadvertently campy movies, full of odd decisions that made it both absurd and oddly captivating. Critics couldn\u2019t help but notice the film\u2019s peculiar energy, which was evident in everything from John Travolta\u2019s very showing gym shorts to the continuous scenes of aerobics classes that resembled softcore fitness porn.<\/p>\n

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The film\u2019s R rating was probably obtained by one well-known aerobics sequence that featured more pelvic thrusts than anyone could have imagined. Jamie Lee Curtis did not like this, but we\u2019ll talk about that later in the piece.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s \u201cweird gay vibe,\u201d which included a soundtrack containing Whitney Houston, Jermaine Jackson, Berlin, and Wham, was further enhanced by all the gym scenes, which included excessive close-ups of crotches and glistening bodies.<\/p>\n

Variety\u2019s review was unreserved, and it gave Perfect one of the most critical ratings:<\/p>\n

\u201cPerfect\u201d is embarrassing and unlikely to please any audience on any level.<\/p>\n

How Jamie Lee Curtis lost 10 pounds of muscle<\/h2>\n

If anyone remembers Perfect in the modern era, it\u2019s Jamie Lee Curtis as the best aerobics instructor. She became an immediate sex icon by portraying the self-assured and vivacious fitness expert Jessie Wilson, enthralling audiences with her agility and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m an athletic person, a minor sort of closet jock,\u201d Jamie Lee Curtis said, expressing his excitement about appearing in the film. Every time I attended an exercise class, I would picture myself instructing one. However, even though I found the topic fascinating, I was more thrilled about working with these folks.<\/p>\n

Before filming started, she trained for months, and all of the aerobic sequences were filmed first, then the dramatic ones. Even though Curtis only ate one meal a day, he had actually lost ten pounds of muscle by the time the last workout scene was done during the credits.<\/p>\n

To further promote the film, she even collaborated with Jermaine Jackson on a music video. What commitment!<\/p>\n

John Travolta doesn\u2019t regret doing it<\/h2>\n

In the mid-1980s, John Travolta was quite popular, or at least he had been a few years before. His roles in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978) made him one of the world\u2019s biggest cinematic stars by the late 1970s. He was a box office powerhouse, a heartthrob, and a pop cultural figure.<\/p>\n

But by the time Perfect (1985) came along, his career had begun to wane. John Travolta has no qualms about appearing in Perfect, even though it was a box office flop that momentarily halted his career.<\/p>\n

The joys for him were getting to collaborate with director James Bridges once more and making friends with the actors.<\/p>\n

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Critics, on the other hand, weren\u2019t so complimentary; some even said, \u201cTo be honest, the entire film feels like just a series of scenes of Jamie Lee Curtis and John Travolta working out.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Travolta took an unplanned hiatus from the big screen after Perfect, and he didn\u2019t return until 1989 with Look Who\u2019s Talking and The Experts. He would not appear in another movie for four years, which was one of the longest stretches of time in his acting career.<\/p>\n

The longest shoot ever?<\/h2>\n

The production was scheduled to run for 81 days when director James Bridges started work on Perfect, which was an adaptation of Aaron Latham\u2019s script about a Rolling Stone reporter. That timeline was promptly abandoned, and the movie took an incredible 140 days to finish.<\/p>\n

The longer schedule didn\u2019t exactly excite Jamie Lee Curtis, who was accustomed to the fast-paced world of low-budget filmmaking. She made the following joke in an interview with The Boston Globe in 1984:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis production hasn\u2019t been the fastest I\u2019ve ever worked on.\u201d We could have likely shot all of my previous films in the time it took to complete this one.<\/p>\n

The fact that a virtually identical, two-story replica of the Rolling Stone offices was constructed on two soundstages at Laird International Studios in Los Angeles since it was impracticable to shoot the Rolling Stone sequences at the magazine\u2019s headquarters in New York is another indication of how much money and time went into the movie.<\/p>\n

However, director James Bridges justified the drawn-out procedure by stating:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe true test will be when everything is finished, assembled, and we\u2019re prepared to screen the film; if it turns out well, we didn\u2019t spend too much time on it. However, there is no amount of time that can make it right. People at the box office will inform us.<\/p>\n

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The real star of the movie<\/h2>\n

One of the most surprising performances in\u00a0Perfect<\/em>\u00a0didn\u2019t come from a Hollywood actor \u2014 it came from Jann Wenner, the actual co-founder and editor of\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0magazine. Playing Mark Roth, Travolta\u2019s editor in the film, Wenner brought a level of authenticity that even seasoned actors couldn\u2019t match.<\/p>\n

Wenner didn\u2019t just walk onto set and get the role\u2014he actually went through a full screen test alongside John Travolta! And when asked how realistic the film was, he didn\u2019t hold back:<\/p>\n

\u201dDead-on accurate. There are naturally some liberties taken, but Jim\u2019s movies are all somewhat journalistic in that they look at a scene and report it accurately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wenner also hoped the movie would clear up some misconceptions about\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>, saying:<\/p>\n

\u201dI think the film shows\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0as it really is. I think that the movie will explain\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0to a lot of people who may have misconceptions about what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether\u00a0Perfect<\/em>\u00a0actually did that is up for debate \u2014 but Wenner\u2019s performance? Surprisingly solid.<\/p>\n

What did the Perfect title mean<\/h2>\n

What did the title\u00a0Perfect<\/em>\u00a0mean to Jamie Lee Curtis? For her, it wasn\u2019t about flawlessness but about personal freedom.<\/p>\n

She explained: \u201dThere is no such thing as being perfect, but I think that perfection is the right that people have to be whatever they want to be. That\u2019s what\u2019s perfect in my eyes. And the fact that people are entitled to that right is what [my character] Jessie stands up for in the movie. Defending one\u2019s right to be whatever you want to be is what Jessie Wilson is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dPerfect\u201d was a very commercial yuppie drama about journalism and health clubs, but the word-of-mouth about the picture is was often centered around Jamie Lee Curtis and to be: \u201dYou`ve got to see her body!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sad truth about the aerobic scene<\/h2>\n

The aerobics scenes in\u00a0Perfect<\/em>\u00a0(1985) became notorious for their suggestive nature, with Jamie Lee Curtis wearing leotards that ranged from revealing to almost transparent.<\/p>\n

Her hip-bending, pelvis-thrusting exercises in these scenes were seen by many as pushing the boundaries, from being merely suggestive to downright lewd.<\/p>\n

Curtis herself was candid about her disappointment with the way these scenes were handled.<\/p>\n

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