"Flashdance" (1983) Let's be honest here. "Flashdance" hasn't held up any better than spiral-wrapped perms, one-shoulder shirts or leg warmers. But it still holds a special spot on the spectrum of Pygmalion retellings. Jannifer Beals plays a welder/exotic dancer with a heartof gold. She's working these two jobs so that she can support herself while she pursues her dream of being a ballet dancer.
There's just one problem. Although she can gyrate around a chair under a showerhead with the best of them, she's never had a dance lesson. And the application requires this. It's a good thing she starts dating her boss at the construction site. Not only does he drive a Porsche, he also has some contacts on the "arts commission" and gets her that tryout. Will she accept his help, though? Or will she be a welder for life? Yes. It's that predictable. But the music, hairstyles and dancing are so darned trashy that you can't help but love it. What's more, it inspired the delightful "The Full Monty" .