Things Most People Don't Think About

Grease (1978) is a film beloved by many generations. I've probably seen it at least a few times in my life, and have enjoyed the film especially as a young girl. As a child though, you miss a lot of subtext and sociocultural meanings associated with a film. As a Popular Culture student who has taken a few film courses, that's pretty much all you see when you watch a movie. I totally missed this one though, but surprisingly, none other than Kathy Lee Gifford pointed this out on the Today Show: Grease is a horrible, sexist film. OK, so Gifford took it a little too far, but her point was valid. Sandy knows where she stands. She's a good girl with morals and values. Sadly, her peers make fun of her for her beliefs and the man of her dreams, Danny, thinks she's a prude. So in order to get her man back, she changes her persona completely just to reel him in. Cut to everyone dancing and singing as a joyous celebration of her transformation. What a terrible message! I wouldn't go as far as KLG to say that Sandy had to become a "slut" to get her man back, I hate that word and everything our culture associates with it. Granted, Danny himself goes from Greaser to Jock, but his transformation was more goal oriented than appearance oriented. Moreover, the emphasis throughout the film was on Sandy's persona than his. Sorry, I have a tendency to ruin television and film for people by revealing everything that's wrong with everything that's going on. Anyway, Rizzo was always my favourite and in my youth I dreamed of playing Rizzo in a theatrical production of Grease. Too bad she too had to deal with negotiating her identity for the approval of her peers (as in the song, "There are Worse Things I Could Do").
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