Editing Flashdance (section)

===Connection to MTV===
''Flashdance'' is not a [[Musical film|musical]] in the traditional sense as none of the characters sing or dance, although the Alex character is portrayed as an amateur dancer, but rather the songs are presented in the style of self-contained [[music video]]s. Its success has been attributed in part to the 1981 launch of the [[Cable television|cable]] channel [[MTV]] (Music Television) since it was the first feature film to exploit the new popularity of music videos effectively.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Calavita |first1=Marco |title="MTV Aesthetics" at the Movies: Interrogating a Film Criticism Fallacy |journal=Journal of Film and Video |date=2007 |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=15–31 |doi=10.2307/20688566 |issn=0742-4671|jstor=20688566 |s2cid=59499664 }}</ref> By excerpting segments of the film and running them as music videos on MTV, the studio benefited from extensive free promotion, establishing the new medium as an important marketing tool for films.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |title='Invisible Marketing' Helps 'Flashdance' Sell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/04/movies/invisible-marketing-helps-flashdance-sell.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 June 1983}}</ref> In the mid-1980s, it became almost obligatory to release a music video to promote a major motion picture—even if the film was not especially suited for one.<ref name="Litwak245">{{cite book|last=Litwak |first=Mark |title= Reel Power: The Struggle for Influence and Success in the New Hollywood |publisher=Morrow |year=1986 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dZQAsJWgDnYC |isbn= 978-1879505193 |page=245 |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref>