What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Step Up contains references to gang violence, racial unrest, and tragedies resulting from a life of poverty. Social classes are prevalent (the "privileged" and the "poor"), and lies and betrayal are part of the storyline. Tyler comes from a low-income foster home, and his life is all about parties, thugs, and criminal behavior, including a run-in with a chop-shop owner. There's some profanity and sexual innuendo.
- Families can talk about what Tyler could have done differently in his life, rather than resorting to crime. How could Tyler have found different friends? How do you avoid "going along with the crowd" when you know they're in the wrong?
- How do the adults in Tyler's life affect him? Could they have done anything differently to help him? Is the school administrator right in showing her disapproval when he wants to dance?
- And what about Nora's mother? Is she right to want Nora to focus on college applications, or should she nurture her daughter's love of dance?