Ghina Taan | Staff Writer
Forty years later, the movie “Grease” remains an average viewer’s gateway to the world of musicals. A deeper look into this “revolutionary” movie, however, reveals a tangled web of inconsistent problematic messages, all carefully crafted into a two-hour “masterpiece”.
Enter Sandra – Sandy – Dee, a goody-two-shoes, and Danny Zuko, a bad boy, who experience a magical summer together, only for it to end as Sandra is traveling. That is until the latter’s plans change, and she unknowingly attends Danny’s school. There, she experiences an entirely new side of Danny. Long gone is the gentle and caring person she met in the summer. Instead, she’s greeted by a vain rip-off. In more ways than one, Danny manages to disrespect, humiliate, and harass Sandra, all in the torturous span of 110 minutes. The female side character, Betty Rizzo, is the only sidekick Danny needs, as she alone views Sandra in society’s most despicable misogynistic lens.
Aside from society’s standards, Betty Rizzo is Sandra’s second-biggest enemy. Sandra was content with being herself, something that immensely annoyed both Betty and Danny. She was a virgin, a goody-goody, and a romantic, all in one. She was particularly shamed for these traits in the song “Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee”, where Betty heavily criticizes her. She claims Sandra is “lousy with virginity”, shames her for waiting until she’s “legally wed”, and mocks her for not smoking, drinking, or swearing. What drove Betty to spur hate on Sandra is that she’s her polar opposite. While Sandra was called a “prude”, Betty was known for being a “whore”. Through these different female characters, Grease sheds a light on the constraining black-or-white boxes unto which women should mold into. From a third point of view, this contrast has a goal of denouncing societal standards, and this would’ve been the case, had this message been consistent throughout the movie.
From their very first encounter at school, Danny was obviously ashamed of Sandy. Her “good girl” persona threatened the masculine “bad boy” image he desperately carried around. Every time he pushed her away though, he would chase her again for another taste of the thrill. In this way, he kept pushing past her every boundary. Their relationship’s turning point happens on a date night in a movie driveway, where he gives her his ring to prove that he “respects” her. Only this romantic moment is short-lived, for only a few seconds later, he suddenly forces himself on her. Horrified, Sandy tries to push him away several times, but to no avail. When she finally manages to run away, he somehow turns himself into the victim and cries because she left him. The only reasonable turning point would’ve been for Sandra to drop Danny in this very instance. The producers, on the other hand, had very different plans.
Following this assault attempt, Sandy has an epiphany. If you’re slightly familiar with Halloween costumes, you know which direction this is heading towards. One Google search on “the most popular Halloween costumes” displays several images of the “iconic transformation of Sandra Dee”. This is because her sudden awakening involves turning herself into another version of Betty to satisfy Danny’s desires. The camera zooms into her newly defined curves, her cigarette and red lipstick, all elements aimed towards portraying her as a sexually appealing figure. This is where Danny loses his mind and screams that she is indeed the one he wants, no questions asked. There couldn’t possibly be a happier ending to the couple as the movie cuts to the credits.
What’s problematic about the inconsistent course of actions throughout this movie is the extremely tangled messages it conveys. On one hand, it condemns society’s unattainable expectations of women. Virgin or not, disdain follows you like a shadow. As a woman, you’re destined to be damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Thus, in one way, it liberates women from even trying to fit into these boxes. On the other hand, it encourages the complete opposite: Sandra relinquishes her boundaries for Danny and adjusts herself to pleasure the “male gaze”. The message her “iconic transformation” sends is the following: completely let go of your authentic self, for what lies beyond is more than you could ask for: the promising and satisfying approval of the opposite sex.
These two messages couldn’t be any more different if they tried, and whether this was done intentionally or not, the responsibility lies on the viewers’ shoulders. One must be mindful of what praise they spread around because upon closer inspection, they might end up spreading these problematic messages themselves.