MovieChat Forums > Saturday Night Fever (1977) Discussion > Stephanie - bad character or just bad ca...

Stephanie - bad character or just bad casting?

posted 12 years ago by ThiefOfStars
62 replies | jump to latest

I'm almost sure that Stephanie wasn't meant to be such a dislikable character , but I see a lot of negativity in regards to her and the actress that plays her - even some going as far as to say that Tony was wrong to reject Annette and should've ended up with her instead - even though it's made pretty clear that Tony wants more out of life where Annette is content to make do. And according to her "it's only dancing" when to Tony it's clearly more than that.

So, enter Stephanie, who is supposed to be a kindred spirit sort of figure for Tony. She too wants to make something of herself and uses disco dancing as an escape from her everyday drudgery - okay, so she has a haughty demeanour and a backhanded way of "bettering herself", but I'm fairly certain it was the intention of the film makers to make her a pitiful character, rather than an actively disliked one - especially when it becomes obvious that she isn't as sophisticated as she pretends.

Aside from her snotty attitude, I see a lot of the problems people have with Stephanie include Karen Lynn Gorney's voice and the fact that she isn't that great of a dancer. So my question is: was Stephanie supposed to be an unsympathetic character or would she have been more likeable if she was played by another actress?

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[–] mama21 11 years ago

I know many people feel Gorney's performance was lacking but I disagree. The character of Stephanie is a woman trying to better herself, to climb out of her predicted life. She is out for herself and this is why she isnt likable. Yet, Tony likes her for this reason, he sees in her a kindred spirit and also, her standoff-ish behavior is what keeps him sexually interested. She is a strong contrast to the character of Annette who is always available and over eager. Annette also represents Tony's current life situation, unsatisfying.

While I think Amy Irving would have brought a softer femininity to the role that might have been more likable, I dont disagree with the choice of karen Lynn Gorney. I liked her voice (many didn't) her accent wason the money and the scene when she & Tony are moving her things into her new apartment in the city and her ex humiliates her in front of Tony is touching. You cant help but feel sorry and uncomfortable for her. Her selfish, tough persona disappears and you see how vunerable she is, something that wouldnt have been such a contrast had Amy Irving played Stephanie.

[–] chatouroux 11 years ago

I don't get it. Stephanie is not anyone special, she is a very ordinary girl, who does not want a life as messed up as Tony's, Annette's or their pals'. She is not especially selfish, just a bit horrified by the level of the other ones... and who would not be? Is there one person around who, if a woman, would like to date Tony, or, as a parent, would like to see their daughter with a guy like Tony? I suppose the people who criticize her character are men, and more than macho men! and that frightens me when I read the comments written ayear aho on that topic. Is America really this far back?

[–] chatouroux 11 years ago

by the way, about "picking a lead actress for John Travolta"... he was hardly known then. In the US and Canada, maybe, because of Kotter, in the rest of the world, a total nobody. SNF is he movie which started him, and for a while, it was said he could only dance, not act. And, to be honest, if you watch the movies he made in the 70s... well, he certainly could dance.

[–] diamondc 11 years ago

She's nothing but a prostitute.. how do you think she ends up moving to that apartment in Manhattan? Why do you think she cries when Tony confronts her after moving in? She realizes that she is one. She used her vagina power on the guy that lived there. Nothing to do with her intellect (ok, she could type.. which was maybe a big deal in the 70s)

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[–] slippyal3 11 years ago

I think a lot of you find her unlikable because she puts down Tony, who you probably find likable. She does the same thing to Tony, that Tony does to Annette.

[–] Synthia7 11 years ago

Great observation.

[–] wmlopez 10 years ago

But to a guy like Tony that makes him want her more.

[–] nativenewyorker88 9 years ago

Hardly v power. Hardly any power at all. The old guy asserted power over her and she gave it up gladly or at least willingly. She has no power in that relationship. The scene is set up to show that her vulnerability is for real and her toughness is an act. The fact that Tony confronts her rather than leaves in scorn shows he cares about her and her situation. Which leaves the viewer to think Tony is much more than meets the eye.

[–] mytravelbug1 10 years ago

Travolta actually wanted Marilu Henner for the part and tried hard to get it for her but Badham wanted Gorney. Stigwood had already fired one director and filming was about to start so he couldn't afford to get offside with Badham so he sided with him. Travolta and Badham argued several times, Stigwood backed Travolta over the dance scene and Badham had to give in over the bridge scene because Travolta just refused to film it the way Badham wanted.

[–] colaffee 11 years ago

I think the idea of Stephanie and Tony's relationship is that no matter how badly they got along off of the dance floor when they dance together sparks fly. It makes an interesting contrast in the film.

And really like someone else said Stephanie treats Tony the same as how Tony treats Annette and virtually every other woman in the film which is probably why he likes her so much.

Lastly I like that Stephanie isn't played by some drop dead gorgeous actress (though I do think she's cute), it adds something, I don't know what, but it adds something.

[–] NancyDPA 11 years ago

I watch this movie every time its on TV, and I've always had the same reaction to Stephanie. I believe that the character was written to intentionally be unlikeable, and I also believe that she treats Tony exactly the same way he was treating Annette. But I never got the chemistry between Stephanie and Tony, and couldn't understand why he was attracted to her. Maybe because she was the only female that wasn't throwing herself at him? I think the casting could have been done better, but I guess that's kind of a moot point now.

[–] fritali04 11 years ago

I totally agree. I don't understand all the hate for Karen Lynn Gorney. Yes, she was a little too old to playing a 20-year-old (but really, that's done all the time in movies/tv) and her dancing ability wasn't spectacular. I thought she gave a great performance otherwise. She was pretty, but not an impossibly beautiful flawless model-type. She was feminine, but a little coarse and rough around the edges. She looked and sounded like a girl from a working-class, Brooklyn neighborhood. Was her character unlikeable? Yes, at times she was, but that was the point. She was a girl with a strong drive to make something of herself other than becoming just another Brooklyn housewife/baby machine. Nothing wrong with that, except she felt part of escaping her blue-collar upbringing meant she needed to look down her nose at Tony and the culture and mentality of the lifestyle he represented. Tony, a young man who also has aspirations beyond Bay Ridge, is just as guilty of treating Annette as badly as Stephanie treats him. Stephanie early on calls Tony a cliche, and Tony looks at Annette in the same way...a girl with no desire other than to be a housewife/baby machine just like her sisters. Where Stephanie's likability comes through is when Tony is able to get beyond the façade she's built around herself and shows her vulnerability and insecurities. Ultimately, the 'love story' isn't the central theme of the movie anyway. It's not Romeo and Juliet in Brooklyn.

This is Dorsia?

[–] Redart27 11 years ago

I liked her performance. At first glance, I thought she wasn't a typical Hollywood casting. She was an average looking lady. She won me over. I found her sassy attitude and naive attempts at trying to better herself charming (ie, drinking tea because the power ladies in her office drank tea). I saw her as a slighltly older version of Tony. I imagined that she too was a Brooklyn party girl who just had enough one day, took a typing class, and then hopped the train over to Manhattan to find a new life.

I didn't care that her dancing wasn't perfect either. Tony was the king of the disco, he didn't need a queen. (What was his alternative? Annette? ) I think she caught his eye, not for her dancing talent, but because she had the guts do her own thing at this disco social arena where everyone was posturing and trying to impress one another. Why was she even at the disco? I think she came back to mock that place, to convince herself that she had moved on in life. Perhaps her sleazy affair at work left her with self-doubt.

It works that she looks older than Tony too. At the end, she becomes more of a mentor to him. She challenges him "can you be friends with a girl?" Their relationship had romantic flirtations, but they were never destined to be a couple. I liked that conversation at the end. It seemed like after all they'd been through, they could have almost ended this movie with the line from another famous film: "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship".

If I got all that out of a disco film, then I think Ms. Gorney deserves some credit.

[–] RKerekes13-1 10 years ago

Neither. By the end, she really helped shape Tony up after all he had endured throughout.

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[–] qormi 10 years ago

Karen Gorney lent authenticity to her role . Like Travolta, she was very New York. She led Tony around by his nose because she was a **** teaser. Yes, those girls do exist and guys see them as a challenge and they keep trying to no avail. The only thing that bothered me a lot was the fact that she could not dance.

[–] dial218 10 years ago

I think the movie is fine as is. It's not a fairy tale where we are supposed to like the good guys and dislike the bad guys. I like the character flaws and their imperfections. It would be a different movie with a different actress. Not sure I would like that one, but I know this one with the current cast is great.

[–] nativenewyorker88 9 years ago

I agree. Amy Irving would have brought too much class to Stephanie. Stephanie is supposed to be average and very, very annoying and obnoxious. If she was really pretty, Tony would be too intimidated to pay her any mind. He is insecure beneath it all. This way, she is somewhat attainable. The only problem I have is that the actress who played her made her a bit too one dimensional. A better actress would've made the character a bit more well rounded than just flat out unlikeable & annoying. Plus, she brought no charisma to the character. In the end, you still end up disliking her.

[–] wmlopez 10 years ago

Needed to be played by another actress.
I wonder if she got the role because of the casting couch.

[–] mytravelbug1 9 years ago

Yes she did, she was dating the director and did so for a couple of years after filming ended.

[–] Karma-For-You 9 years ago

Whenever people said she was a good dancer, I cringed. She was a horrible dancer and frumpy on top of it. She ruined an otherwise great movie. The director obviously wasn't thinking with the right head.

[–] mytravelbug1 9 years ago

Ruined it for me too, Tony is attracted to her because he thinks she is a good dancer but clearly she isn't, dancing meant everything to Tony and he wouldn't think someone was a good dancer if they weren't.