![]() ![]() Yet she feels this assessment does the film a disservice. “Coming towards the end of the swinging 1970s but supposedly lacking any condemnation of the 1950s era, Grease was criticised for being a reactionary piece of (white) male fantasy, one longing for a time when boys could be boys, women knew their place, and there was no racial conflict (or diversity, for that matter),” she explains. Last year, she published a book about the film called Grease: Gender, Nostalgia and Youth Consumption in the Blockbuster Era. Some argue that Rizzo pays the price for her promiscuity (even Danny calls her “sloppy seconds”, although ultimately she gets away scot-free and is allowed to be happy) and that Sandy is forced to change from “too pure to be Pink” into a smokin’ (and smoking) bad girl to live up to Danny’s expectations, while he does little to demonstrate that he has earned her affections back, aside from putting on a cardigan, which he quickly whips off again.ĭr Barbara Jane Brickman is an assistant professor of media and gender studies at the University of Alabama. Some take the Summer Nights’ line “Did she put up a fight?” as an endorsement of date rape, while Danny’s clumsy insistence on feeling up Sandy during the drive-in is a questionable scene (there’s also a small and disturbing aside from Marty, who mentions that she caught the much older TV host Vince Fontaine “putting aspirin into my Coke” after the dance). View image in fullscreen Sandy and Danny: Sandy is forced to change from “too pure to be Pink” into a smokin’ bad girl. In today’s climate, rewatching the classics with an eye on gender politics can be an unsettling experience, unseating old favourites, and Grease is at the heart of a raging debate as to whether the film is sexist, or feminist, with a surprising amount of fervour in each corner. It almost didn’t make the final cut – Channing was forced to plead with producers to keep it in – but it’s a remarkable, emotionally complex and surprisingly contemporary song that rejects “slut-shaming” long before it had a name. There Are Worst Things I Could Do comes towards the end of the film, as Rizzo experiences a pregnancy scare following a backseat fumble with Kenickie. As Lytton says, she’s a firm fan favourite. Growing up watching the film, she’s most people’s favourite character and, in my mind she has the best song.”Ĭhanning’s turn as the unapologetic bad girl Rizzo, who rules the Pink Ladies with pithy one-liners and withering looks, and shimmies down drainpipes late at night to get her kicks, is a true scene-stealer and. “I thought, I’d really like to go for Rizzo. “They asked me originally if I wanted to go in and sing for Sandy and I thought, I kind of always play that girl-next-door role,” she recalls. Louisa Lytton starred in the revival of the stage version of Grease, which toured the UK for much of 2017. There’s one character in particular, though, who provides the beating heart of the movie, and it isn’t Danny or Sandy. It also offers a readily relatable ensemble of characters who aren’t just minor twists on the usual archetypes. White points out that Grease is a mix of the musical, romcom and teen-movie genres that traditionally appeal to female audiences. ![]()
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