Review of Grease (1978) by Tavin W — 09 Feb 2016

When I watched Grease for the first time a few years ago, I wasn't impressed. For the cultural landmark and cinematic hit it had been made out to be, it was underwhelming. On my second viewing, though, I really enjoyed it and can appreciate its popularity and significance, even though it does have some issues. It's very overdone and theatrical and I think that's why I didn't like it at first. Now I understand that it's just part of the fun of Grease. It's supposed to be a little bit silly and ridiculous. The characters have exaggerated mannerisms, movement and deliver mostly dumb, cliche dialogue. But it was adapted from a Broadway musical and it's meant to entertain, so it makes sense.

Grease's appeal is mostly in its style, its entertainment value and it's youthful energy. It's really fun to get absorbed in this ultra vintage world, dripping with the 1950's American pop culture. It's crawling with greasers, cheerleaders, jocks in their pristine varsity jackets, jukeboxes and malt shops. Almost all of the songs are fun and infectious and the dancing is really good. The Grease Lightning scene is among the coolest sequences I've ever seen, with its electric dance and classic number. The central romance is pretty trivial, but it's somehow a lot of fun to watch them because Travolta and Newton-John work really well together. Grease also has a lot of zip and exciting energy. It has never seemed so fun or intense to be a teenager.

There are some other things in the film that intrigued me. I think John Travolta's performance was really good because his inner struggle provides the only conflict in the story. Grease really doesn't have any concrete plot and the only thing we know besides the fact that Danny likes Sandy is that he can't figure out if he's a sensitive boyfriend or a super cool greaser because the two don't mix. I also didn't expect the film to be so adult, with its blatant inclusion of alcohol and sex in the high school setting. The greasers drive around drinking beers and sipping liquor at the dance, Rizzo has sex and gets pregnant. One really fascinating scene was where Danny agrees to ride with his best friend in the drag race, and they hug in such a way that it really seems like they're going to kiss. They don't, but the film hints at what lies underneath the boys' tough personas, maybe some repressed emotion or even homosexuality.

As for the things I didn't like about the movie, the most glaring problem is the absence of a plot. If anyone asked me about Grease's narrative structure, it'd be hard to describe anything more than a random collection of events, most likely out of order. What's the theme? I don't know, maybe young love and youthful ignorance. It's also still just a little too whimsical and theatrical for me. Some of the hair colors, characters and dialogue are pretty ridiculous. There were some very creepy moments, too. The news reporter blatantly seduces a young teenage girl, Rizzo makes a joke about that same guy slipping drugs in her drink and the most disturbing was when Danny molests Sandy at the drive-ins. And then he proceeds to sing a song, wondering why Sandy didn't let him molest her. What? That song and one or two others were annoying. I also really didn't like that after Danny went and molested Sandy, the final scene has Sandy completely change her look to perfectly suit what Danny wants. It sends a really bad message about women and gender roles (even if it is weirdly hot). Grease is a lot of fun and features some amazing scenes, but there are some details that subtract from the overall experience.