The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 246 Days to go: 250
Movie #131: Grease
“Grease is the word, is the word that you heard. It’s got groove, it’s got meaning. Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion. Grease is the way we are feeling.”
As a very, very young girl watching Grease on TV, there was no doubt in my mind it was the coolest thing to ever exist. (Not kidding, Sha Na Na was my all-time favorite band AND show when I was in pre-school. I once tried to duplicate the freeze-frame at the end of every Sha Na Na episode by holding myself in the air against the arm of the couch. It didn’t work.) I watched the movie every single time it was on, which, in the ’80s, was a LOT. There was nothing I wanted to be more than a Pink Lady dating a T-Bird, and I didn’t even recognize at the time that there was a T-Bird hierarchy. Any T-Bird would’ve done. I even used to think Patty Simcox’s (Susan Buckner) signature dance move of little kicks while raising the roof was pretty slick, and I used to show it off to my mom. Most of all, though, I wanted to live in those songs.
When I was in high school I worked at a grocery store as a cashier, and they played a mix of the same few dozen songs every day, so on a long shift you’d hear everything at least once. One day during a lull, “Hopelessly Devoted To You” came over the sound system. I was standing there daydreaming and “woke up” near the end of the song to realize I’d been singing the whole thing, that I apparently knew every word by heart and didn’t even have to pay attention to knock it out. That was how deeply a part of me Grease had become, and that was more than twenty years ago. It’s only gotten worse.
As a kid, it was really rare for “Greased Lightning” to make it past the censors and onto the TV broadcast, but it did every now and then. I remember being mad at it for being there and screwing up the movie as I remembered it. As I got older I got more used to it, but I was still in college when I realized how racy the lyrics were. I was beyond college when I realized how sexualized the rest of the movie is. I mean, I always just thought it was fun and sweet and full of great music. I didn’t actually pay attention to any of the dialogue, even if I had it memorized. It was kind of shocking to me how risqué it had been all along. The “sloppy seconds” remark, the broken condom, the pregnancy scare, the lewd dancing at school, and whether or not anyone’s “jugs are bigger than Annette’s.” Not to mention that “Greased Lightning” isn’t the only questionable song on the soundtrack, in case you’ve never listened to the lyrics of “Sandra Dee” or “Summer Nights.” But even after being sort of scandalized after the fact at how openly sexual Grease is, it’s still the coolest little musical in my heart. I love it so much.
I rooted for Danny and Sandy (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John), obviously, but I also rooted for Rizzo and Kenickie (Stockard Channing and Jeff Conaway) and Putzie and Jan (Kelly Ward and Jamie Donnelly). Doody and Frenchy (Barry Pearl and Didi Conn) were fine, but I definitely thought Marty (Dinah Manoff) would move onto better things than Sonny (Michael Tucci). I have no idea why there were “Scorpions” with “turf,” but I remember finding the “gang rivalry” very tense when I was young and utterly laughable now (except I still think it’s scary and dangerous to put blades on your hubcaps). And I didn’t get why Danny had a flying car at the end, but that’s because the censors always cut out “Greased Lightning.” I also think it’s hilarious that these T-Bird bozos made so much fun of how dumb jocks were. This will be especially funny in Grease 2.
Some of my favorite parts now are the little throwaway jokes, like when Sid Caesar as Coach Calhoun gives his pep rally speech and says how when they win they’re going to come back and ring the victory bell, “Like we always wanted to.” Or how Blanche (Dody Goodman) pulled a tiny little pencil nub out of her hair. Or how Principal McGee (Eve Arden) closes her motivational end-of-year address with “or even a Vice President Nixon” and Doody sits up a little straighter.
I also relate to it. I remember feeling too goody-two-shoes and pressured a lot of the time. And I also felt tough like Rizzo (who has really great legs, by the way). “There Are Worst Things I Could Do” is my absolute favorite song. And I like the silly parts too. To this day I sing the Ipana toothpaste song. I even modified it to use when brushing my toddler’s teeth.
Grease will always be a part of me, a part of my soul, a big piece of my heart. I can’t imagine ever not loving it completely. It just makes me so totally happy. Who can find fault with that?
So remember, “If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.”
Viable Option 