Is there any movie more emblematic of the 1980s than Flashdance? It’s hard to overstate the impact that the movie — released 30 years ago, on April 15, 1983 — had on styles of music, dancing, fashion, and filmmaking. Plus, it launched careers and trends that persist to this day. It also launched a thousand parodies (remember 1984’s It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown?).
Here, then, are 10 ways that steelworker/hoofer Alex Owens forged a permanent place in pop culture.