Everyone has seen the famous and one and only, Grease starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. If you haven’t watched it yet, then what are you doing? Go watch it! It’s on Netflix, so hurry before they take it away!
This movie is good, but the songs are even better. It’s been one of my favorite movies since I was younger. I grew up watching it and listening to a lot of the songs from my mom and dad’s era, so it was only natural that I liked this movie as well.
Grease is a love story between Sandy and Danny. Sandy is from Australia and she meets Danny during the summer before their senior year. They fall in love, and when school starts, they meet each other again unexpectedly at Rydell High.
The main conflict is that Danny is known as the school’s playboy, and he wants to keep his reputation as the tough, cool greaser that he is. But Sandy knows a side of him that’s sweet, and she feels disappointed that he acts a certain way when they’re in public and another way when they’re alone.
The movie is great because of the actors; they really embody the characters they play. It feels almost natural. Even if it’s acting, there’s chemistry between all of them. In fact, there is so much chemistry that two years ago, Didi Conn, the actress who plays Frenchy, admitted that John Travolta had developed a small crush on Olivia Newton-John while they filmed.
Obviously, the songs are another great asset of the movie, but there is so much time between them in the movie. The movie kind of feels like a musical, but I’m not complaining, because the songs are absolute bops and you, my dear reader, cannot disagree. (If for some reason you do disagree, simply “No <3” and go listen to “Hopelessly Devoted to You”.)
The resolution of the movie is also satisfying. I’m not going to spoil anything, just in case you haven’t seen it, but the characters end up going through a lot of ups and downs that don’t necessarily make them suffer. It’s just your casual teen rom-com. They develop great connections and end up happy at the end of the school year. It is the ending that everyone wants.
Even though the character development is great, the reason why I don’t rate this movie higher is because there are a lot of things that could have happened that would have been better. Realistically, who would wait on someone that changes their personality when they’re around their friends? The answer is a lot of people, yet the relationships don’t always end up happy, with the couple singing a song about how they’re in love.
Another thing that annoys me is that there is no insight on the other characters and their stories are just there to fill up spaces. Their side stories are included, but I would have liked to see more of them. Their arcs are useless in the end, and they just fulfill the purpose of not being single in the end. But nonetheless, we shall ignore this, just because the movie is still so good.
It is also important to mention that many of the male characters in the movie harass the females quite a lot. The scenes are supposed to be funny, but that was back in 1978. Now in 2020, some of the actions from the movie are unacceptable, and from today’s point of view, scenes like that are very problematic. (For example, there is a scene in which a teenaged Marty Maraschino admits that she caught the adult TV host “Vince Fontaine trying to put aspirin in my Coke at the dance.”)
Despite all of this, my favorite couple in the movie is Kenickie and Rizzo, and I want to know more about what happened to them after the movie is over. Since they are always fighting and breaking up and getting back together again, they are, without a doubt, the most complex couple during the whole movie.
Honestly, the movie will always have a special place in my heart no matter what. (Probably ‘cuz I’m biased, but that doesn’t matter). Sure, it’s cheesy and I do admit it has problematic scenes that are used as comedy, but it’s a religious experience and you should definitely watch it, even if you already have. Then watch the sequel Grease 2; very original, I know. This one is about motorcycles and the songs still smack.
