Growing up, I had a series of movies I would watch every summer, which is why I decided to do a summer series for Movie Mondays, and the list of films is what helped me narrow down which ones I would include in my newsletter. Of course, there were some I watched more than others, and one in particular that I watched every summer from a very young age til the present day–because my mom loved it so much she didn't think any age was too young to be introduced to it– is Grease.
Grease is one of the few movies I've written about that needs no introduction or brief plot summary. Its story is as universally known as its main characters, Danny and Sandy, and their entourages, the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. The movie has meant so much to me, my sister, and my mom for so many years that for the very short period of time last summer that we had a black and white Siberian Husky puppy, we named him Zuko.
My mom saw Grease in theaters several times when it was released in 1978, and last year we went to see it together during its brief theatrical re-release in honor of Olivia Newton-John. While Grease was originally a Broadway musical with a few Broadway revivals, nothing compares to what Newton-John and John Travolta brought to the screen. Their chemistry, as well as the innocence and naivety Olivia delivers as Sandy, can't be recreated, which is why when NBC aired Grease Live! in 2016, I couldn't get through the show without my mom whining about all the parts that were different from the movie and how the actors just weren't doing it justice.
It's true that Grease is untouchable, and it's one of the few musicals where the movie really outlived the Broadway show. Its clever sense of humor comes across better in the movie, especially with the more toned-down ensemble characters. When Grease premiered, it became Paramount's second highest-grossing film of all time, falling right below The Godfather, and later beat The Sound Of Music as the highest-grossing musical of all time. It was clear since the day it hit the big screen, Grease was a certified Camp classic.
Grease Is A Camp Classic
In 2019, due to the annual Met Gala, the word on everyone's tongue was "Camp." Not meaning summer camp like the setting of Friday The 13th or The Parent Trap, but an interpretation of Susan Sontag's essay, "Notes on Camp." It's hard to break the word down into an accurate definition, but Sontag wrote, "The hallmark of Camp is the spirit of extravagance." To me, it can be defined as an exaggeration, satire, and, as Sontag agreed, "anti-serious." Country singer Kacey Musgraves showed up to the pink carpet dressed as Barbie, while Lady Gaga wore a large pink ballgown and changed her outfit several times in front of everyone's eyes. If I were invited, I might have shown up to the glamorous event dressed as Sandy because, to me, the meaning of camp is so clearly conveyed in Grease.
Movies don't necessarily have opening credits the way TV shows do, but Grease, of course, broke this rule with an animated opening credits scene that portrayed Olivia Newton-John's Sandy as Cinderella and Stockard Channing as a caricature worthy of a genuine apology from Paramount according to Twitter users. The opening credits set the tone of the film before most of the characters had even been introduced.
As a kid, before I had any concept of time, I don't think I understood this movie wasn't actually shot in the 50s but about 20 years later. Grease takes place between the Summer of 1958 and the 1958-1959 school year, but filming for the movie musical began in the Summer of 1977. The film is a satirical and exaggerated take on the late 50s era, looking back in retrospect on its ridiculousness. This especially comes across in its musical numbers, some of which are just characters' fantasies like "Grease Lightning" and "Beauty School Dropout." These are the kind of scenes that let the viewer know this film is in no way based on reality.
It's hard to ignore the obvious similarities between Grease and West Side Story, but there is a major difference. West Side Story is set in 1957 and offers a serious perspective into the dangerous feud between the Jets and the Sharks, ending in tragedy. Tony and Maria do not fly off into the sky at the end of West Side Story as Danny and Sandy do at the end of Grease. The 1978 film is much more light-hearted, with minimal violence, and is not to be taken seriously.
Though, like Tony and Maria, Danny and Sandy barely know each other, but are still willing to fight for their love, which somehow makes the movie funnier. Though its most comical and campiest feature is what it gets the most criticism for. The 17 to 18-year-old characters were being played by 23 to 33-year-old actors. Travolta was the youngest at 23, with Olivia Newton-John at 29 years old, and Channing, the oldest principal actor, at 33. Their age is the most evident during the sleepover where Rizzo performs "Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee" before climbing out the window to meet the T-Birds. Sleepovers between teen girls are a normal occurrence in films, but when the teenagers are at the age where, in the 50s, they'd already be married with several kids, it's hard not to laugh at them clad in silk pajamas gawking at Elvis and Troy Donahue.
While Stockard Channing was basically middle-aged by 50s standards, it's hard to imagine anyone else taking on the role of Rizzo. While Vanessa Hudgens did her justice in Grease Live! and so many others have emulated her tough exterior and soft insides, Channing did it best.
Rizzo: The Most Interesting Character In Grease
When I was in second grade, I was in my elementary school chorus, and the chorus teacher had planned a 50s-themed concert where the girls were encouraged to wear poodle skirts that their mothers were planning to make for them. This didn't go over well in my house, as my mom was not only appalled that the teacher thought she had time to go to work, take care of two daughters, and, among other responsibilities, sew me a poodle skirt for my chorus concert but she was also revolted that the teacher ever thought she would dress me in poodle skirt to begin with. I ended up going to the concert in an off-the-shoulder shirt tucked into my denim capris. The chorus teacher wasn't pleased with any of the girls who showed up without poodle skirts, but my mom's rationale sounded logical to me: "Rizzo would never wear a poodle skirt," she'd said.
This was true. Rizzo seemed to have more in common with the T-Birds than the pink ladies, with her hard exterior and more masculine tendencies that would never actually be accepted in the 50s. Rizzo has always been my favorite character because of how she rebels against societal standards, though as I get older, I can see her persona is actually a well-crafted facade.
“Some people are so touchy,” -Rizzo, Grease
Rizzo isn't a nice girl. She's to the Pink Ladies what Mean Girls' Regina George was to the Plastics, but way more rough around the edges. She smiles in Sandy's face, then reunites her with Danny in front of his friends, knowing exactly how he'll react, and laughs as Sandy runs away crying, leaving Frenchy to comfort her. She's cruel and selfish, and malicious, but by the time "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" comes around, we learn Rizzo really does have feelings, and she does care what other people think.
She has authentic feelings for Kenickie and is genuinely hurt by their fight as well as the gossip about her pregnancy among Patty Simcox and her friends. However, she pulls herself together, upholding her too-tough-to-cry act and admitting in her solo ballad that crying in front of Kenickie would be the worst thing she could do.
By the end of the movie, Rizzo finds out she's not actually pregnant, and she goes right back to Kenickie because, as it's revealed earlier in the film, when she's undeniably giddy around him, she really does like him. While the other Grease characters are pretty predictable and two-dimensional, Rizzo's journey is the most interesting to watch, even more so than the film's main romance.
Everything Right And Wrong About Danny & Sandy
No matter how ridiculous, cliché, and utterly unrealistic, the Romeo & Juliet style romance, in which two incompatible characters fall in love, will never die out. There is so much that is appealing about Danny and Sandy, and simultaneously so much that is unappealing. At the start of Grease, Danny and Sandy have an innocent summer fling on the beach which is then recounted at lunch during "Summer Nights." Both characters narrate drastically different events, with Sandy describing a wholesome beach affair and Danny amping up the story with phrases like "she was good, you know what I mean."
It's hard to say whose retelling was more accurate, though it's most likely Danny's recollection was off, and he was just trying to impress his friends. There were sweet moments between the pair, like when Danny got into track and attempted several other sports in order to win her back. It was even sweeter when he wore a letterman jacket to the end of the school year carnival, finally releasing his obsession with what his friends thought of him.
Though, there are some heavy flaws in the relationship as well. For starters, upon seeing Sandy at the Rydell Pep Rally, Danny brushes aside his initial excitement and pretends he doesn't know her. He goes on to embarrass her several other times throughout the film, like when he starts dancing with Cha Cha during the dance competition and even hides behind two menus at the diner so his friends won't see him and Sandy on a date. The worst and most controversial aspect of their relationship is that instead of accepting each other for who they are or going their separate ways, Danny and Sandy both change themselves to appeal to the other. Though, Danny ends up going back to his T-Birds persona while Sandy says goodbye to Sandra D and never looks back.
The unfortunate storyline is saved only by Olivia Newton-John's line delivery when she says, "Tell me about it, stud," before she and John Travolta go right into "You're The One That I Want," followed by "We Go Together," and the campiest moment of all, the two riding off into the sky, a moment that would spew hundreds of online conspiracy theories that Sandy was dead throughout the whole film and only a figment of Danny's imagination. While the relationship was quite problematic, it was equally as admirable because of Travolta's on-screen chemistry with the best actress ever to take on the role of Sandy.
Olivia Newton-John's Legacy
From her role in Grease to Xanadu, Olivia Newton-John was universally beloved. She was the kind of actress that no one could think of a negative thing to say about, and upon her death, everyone was equally saddened. I was working at home when my sister texted me that Olivia Newton-John had died, followed shortly after by several group chats blowing up from my Grease-loving friends.
"Gals, I'm so sad," my friend Serena had texted in a group chat. "Our sandra dee." She didn't have to clarify. We already knew what she meant. John Travolta's Instagram post only made the day more emotional. He'd signed his heartfelt message, "Your Danny, Your John." He'd later hold back tears at the 2023 Academy Awards presenting the in Memorium montage.
There have been a lot of film revivals throughout the years. 1961's West Side Story was brought back to life in 2021, directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg and A Star Is Born will likely see another remake in future decades with whoever the star of the moment is. However, other than a failed Paramount Plus prequel series and poorly received 1982 sequel, Hollywood doesn't dare touch Grease. That kind of magic cannot be recreated, and it would be disrespectful to the cast–those who have passed and those who are still alive–to even try.