Ever wonder as a kid what Grease was really about? Torrey Kurtzner attempts to find the answer as he decodes the teenage comedy/musical film.  

Cinema Decoded: Grease

By Torrey Kurtzner

Grease:

When a greaser named Danny Zuko (John Travolta) meets a girl named Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) while on summer vacation, the two teenagers fall head over heels for one another, because… well, it’s never specified in the film’s opening. The characters are just seen walking on a beach, throwing sand at one another (because nothing says romance like getting a mound of sand thrown in your face), and occasionally stopping to kiss. Where’s the exposition? Maybe one of the film’s opening songs “Summer Nights” can give us more insight on the origins of their steamy chemistry: (the blue lyrics belong to the character of Danny, the pink lyrics belong to Sandy)

She swam by me, she got a cramp

He ran by me, got my suit damp

Damp, huh? You know on second thought, who needs exposition? Some plot points are better left a secret.

So anyways, they say goodbye to one another, and Sandy’s all like:

“I live in Australia. Will I ever see you again?”

And Danny’s all like:

“Sure. This is just the beginning.”

Is Danny hinting at a long distance relationship in 1958 without the presence of social media, video chatting, texting, and email? Either this is a fantasy film, or Danny’s an idiot. I’m gonna go with the latter for now.

It seems as if the couple is doomed, but then, the plot kicks into high gear when Sandy finds out that she’ll be staying in the states with her family, and that she’ll be attending her senior year at Rydell High, which is the same high school that Danny happens to go to, because movie.

Once at Rydell High, we learn that Danny is the leader of a greaser gang known as the T-Birds, a group infatuated with wearing leather jackets and white t-shirts, smoking cigarettes, and putting copious amounts of grease in their hair – hence the title.

Upon reuniting with Sandy, Danny pretends to be uninterested in her, in order to protect his “cool” reputation with his greaser clique, because nothing says “cool” like rejecting the affection of a young and beautiful Olivia Newton-John… looks like my assumptions were correct; Danny’s a fucking idiot.

Now, Danny’s stupidity isn’t totally unjustified- just realllllly shallow. You see, during the 1950’s, social cliques ruled all forms of teenage interactions (not much has changed). Greasers hanged out with greasers, the rich dated the rich, so on and so forth. In order for Danny to be seen in public with Sandy without being ridiculed by his douchebag entourage of Marlon Brando looking hack jobs, Sandy would have to change her “good girl” image to coincide with Danny’s “bad boy” image. But hey now; what about staying true to yourself? Newsflash: Grease doesn’t have time for that integrity bullshit, for it’s far too busy being “the word”.  #Greaseistheword.

To be fair, while Sandy spends most of the movie getting help from a tough girl gang known as the Pink Ladies (which is essentially the female group equivalent to the T-Birds) in an attempt to change her image in trade for the love and affection of Danny, Danny himself is also trying to change his image from greaser to jock in order to gain the love and affection of Sandy. So in reality, they’re both idiots.

He does this by joining the high school track and field team – an odd choice, considering the fact that Danny smokes like a fucking chimney. Nonetheless, running gets him a varsity jacket, which apparently is the key ingredient for making their relationship work. Blast! If only I was born in the 1950’s and owned a varsity jacket, then I could have won the heart of Olivia Newton-John.

While all this is happening, the rest of Grease features some stellar subplots that bleed hardcore originality into the versatile genre that is the teenage comedy/musical. Never before has a motion picture featuring teenagers contain such radical plot points as:

1. Building a fast car (Greased Lightning) in order to:
   1. Race other fast cars
   2. Pick up girls
   3. Look cool
2. Going to school dances
3. Finding out about unwanted pregnancies
4. Finding out that said unwanted pregnancies were only false alarms
5. Break ups and reconnections
6. Sex jokes

And the list goes on!

So we’ve come to the film’s climax. It’s the end of the school year at Rydell High, and in honor of the graduating class, the school is throwing a carnival for the senior students. Danny can be seen alone, wearing his letterman jacket, AKA, the key to Sandy’s heart.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: surely this movie must address the importance of the message that is staying true to yourself while also being able to love and accept others who dress, look, or act in a way that may differ from your own style. Surely Danny will meet with Sandy, and the two will put aside their different social cliques in order to truly love one another for who they are, because at the end of the day, love isn’t about wearing a letterman jacket or a leather jacket; love is about heart. Surely, the writers of Grease will end this musical film on a high note…

Or not.

Upon arriving at the carnival, Sandy greets Danny while wearing a shit ton of leather, and smoking a cigarette. The two then begin to sing a tender song about screwing each other’s brains out. While performing the song, Danny ditches his letterman jacket, because fuck it – it’s no longer needed! All along, the key to a successful relationship between the two was for Sandy to change her image, and for Danny to do absolutely nothing. How inspiring.

The movie ends once Danny and Sandy climb inside their souped up car (Greased Lightning), which takes flight and soars off into the sunset – that’s not a joke either – that shit literally happens. I guess this was a fantasy film after all.

Released in 1978, Grease takes us back to the much simpler time of 1958; a time when all teenagers (or at the very least, the top billing ones) shared the power to randomly break into song to express their true emotions, all while being accompanied by musical instruments and cues that seemingly came out of nowhere. Why? Because Grease is the word, that’s why.