Rhiannon Elizabeth Irons
As I sit down to write this, I got chills. They’re multiplying. And I'm losing control...
Sorry, couldn’t resist kicking off the new year with a lyrical pun. But, if you couldn’t tell from the title of this article, or from my obvious reference to You’re The One That I Want, we’re taking an in-depth look at the musical spectacular, Grease.
It’s no secret that Grease is my favourite musical of all time. I’ve been a part of the show more times than I’d care to admit, and, after all this time, it still holds a special place in my heart.
In recent years Grease has fallen victim to the PC crowd. A group of female students in a Perth high school petitioned against the drama department to avoid performing the classic musical, citing sexism as the reason for not wanting to do it.
Year after year, all I’ve heard is how the morals depicted in Grease are sexist towards women and how Sandy changes who she is for Danny. And while I agree that the film might not have aged well, I implore people to remember that not only was it filmed 45 years ago, but it was also set in 1959. Times were different back then. What doesn’t fly today was perfectly acceptable back then. This is a fundamental concept to comprehend when watching anything that is dated.
Now it’s time for me to play devil’s advocate.
As pivotal as Sandy’s end of movie transformation is, she’s not the sole focus of the film. While an argument can be made for Rizzo and Kenickie being the true leads of the story, I want to shine the spotlight on Danny Zuko. More specifically, his transformation.
Yes, Sandy isn’t the only character to undergo a transformation. And while hers was more dramatic, it certainly wasn’t as impactful as Danny’s.
Before you sharpen your pitchforks and come at me, let me explain my thought process.
Danny is a greaser. He comfortably embedded in the T-Birds as one of the leaders. He’s got a reputation to protect and is a bit of a womanizer. There’s a good chance he wasn’t too concerned with the future and most likely had no plans to extend his education beyond Rydell High.
Then the summer before senior year happened and he met a girl down at the beach. This changed his entire outlook. Sandy was never just a summer fling for him. Even when he was questioned about her in school, and he openly bragged to his friends about her, even exaggerating their exploits, there was a moment of tenderness as he wondered what she was up to at that very moment.
When he is reunited with her at the pep rally, we see him wrestle with his emotions. Knowing his friends were standing behind him, judging him, Danny put his reputation first, brushing Sandy off. When she confronted him, calling him “A fake, and a phoney” before telling him that she wished she had never laid eyes on him, we see the internal struggle.
Later that night, he rides along with the T-Birds to Frenchy’s house where he hopes to reconcile with Sandy. Between the moment at the pep rally and now, it’s obvious that he’s told the guys about his true feelings for her. This is the start of his transformation.
Rather than laughing at him, the T-Birds rallied around him. Kenickie drove him to Frenchy’s house. Sure, they busted his chops in a playful ribbing, which may have led to him chickening out in seeking Sandy out, but he had their support.
It isn’t until he sees Sandy on a date with Tom that he finally plucks up the courage to talk to her again. She’s still mad, giving him the cold shoulder for how he acted. When Sandy calls Danny out for being jealous, she inadvertently challenges him to better himself when he insists that he “Could run circles around those jerks.”
Taking her words to heart, Danny seeks out Coach Calhoun to help him find a place where he fitted in. After trying many sports, Danny settles on running track.
After witnessing him on the track, Sandy sees him the same way she initially did, and she agrees to go out with him again.
This was exactly what he wanted. He got the girl. That was the objective, right?
Maybe.
While he was happy that he was back with Sandy, Danny had found something within himself. He stuck it out, continuing with track. While his buddies were busy fixing up Greased Lightning, Danny was training.
There were moments where his old self bubbled to the surface. At the drive-in where he attempted to speed up his relationship with Sandy in the most ill-advised way possible, Danny realised that Sandy meant more to him than any other girl he ever showed any interest in.
Even with that realisation dawning on him, he still joined the T-Birds at Thunder Road, taking over the race for Kenickie. Despite his absence in helping with the car, his loyalty to his friends was just as strong as ever.
As the school year ended, Danny found himself in a position that he never dreamed was possible. He was officially a jock, leading at track. He was no longer a screw-up. He wasn’t just a greaser. He had made something of himself. And there is a distinct possibility that he may have earned himself a scholarship to college, something that I guarantee he never considered before senior year.
The reactions from his friends to seeing him in a letterman sweater show that they had been so preoccupied with the car that they hadn’t really paid much attention to what was going on with him. And when Sonny asks, “What are you doing, deserting us?” Danny replies with “You guys can’t follow a leader all your lives, can you? Come on, you know you mean a lot to me, it’s just that Sandy does too, and I’ll do anything to get her back, that’s all.”
This statement alone showed how much influence Sandy had over him. Sure, she might have surprised him with her greaser look, but his love for her wasn’t because she squeezed herself into a pair of leather pants. That love had already been long established throughout the runtime of the movie.
Sandy changing her look is nothing new. She put her best foot forward. How is that any different to me getting dressed up to go on a date? It’s not. She didn’t change who she was. She put on a change of clothes.
As for the smoking, lest we forget she was offered a cigarette by her own friends at Frenchy’s sleepover, which she accepted. Granted, it was her first time, but the concept of smoking wasn’t new to her. It is more likely that she was influenced by her friends rather than Danny.
I’m not saying that Sandy wasn’t swayed by Danny and his lifestyle. I’m simply saying that you cannot watch this movie without noticing all that Danny went through to better himself for her.
He loved her from the moment he met her. Her purity was a part of who she was, and it helped bring out a gentler side to him.
This is a topic that can be hotly contested for years to come. And while I know I might not be able to sway some people in the way they approach this film, I do hope I have provided some food for thought.
From the characters to the story and the music, you cannot deny how iconic this musical is. Grease is indeed the word.
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