Grease: Trying To Label The Movie Sexist Is Unfair To Sandy And Danny
It’s fair to say that Grease is one of those movies, despite race or gender that when it comes on, you just have to watch. It could be for the entire run of the movie or just minutes. The storyline is not the greatest, it’s predictable, but it still continues to draw us in. A movie like that was not made to be perfect, it was made to show you that opposites attract and that everything is not what it seems.
Social Media is a place where opinions are born and spoken with no filters. The other day, I was skimming through Quora and stumbled across a post that stated the sexism that Grease portrayed. My first thought was, “this should be entertaining”. As a fan of Grease, I was curious as to where this was heading. Some on the thread would describe the end scene where Sandy Olsson changed her appearance to win over the heart of Danny Zuko.
And, of course, the ending – Sandy isn’t “good enough” for Danny as she is, so she changes herself into one of the “greaser girls”, and then everything is okay. Clearly whatever agency Sandy has on her own must be suborned to Danny’s needs, even there’s no indication that doing so will make their relationship anything more than the high school fling that it appears to have been. Even if it was a lifetime commitment, one would have hoped that Danny would want Sandy as she really was, rather than as something she changed herself into just to please him.
“Hmmm”, that was another reaction. Then it hit me, maybe they didn’t pay attention to the rest of the movie or the entire movie at all.
Let’s break that scene down for a minute. After the big race at Thunder Road, Sandy asks Frenchy for help. The guess is that they go to Frenchy’s house and begin the transformation. While it may be a shock to many, like the person who made the post, it wasn’t a real shocker at all. Sandy loved Danny and even them being on the oust at the time of the race, was not going to change that. The next scene totally blows up this theory of sexism of Grease in the last scene.
News: Travel: I’ve Never Been On a Cruise Ship Because I’m Terrified
The following scene is of Danny in a white letterman vest. The Thunderbirds see him and Danny explains that he did the change for Sandy and tells his crew that they can’t play follow the leader all their lives. The following shot is of Sandy dressed in black leather. So, what’s being said of Sandy changing for Danny is true but what’s left out is that Danny changed for Sandy first.
If they still need further proof, then we can take it back to the beginning of the movie.
Remember the opening scene on the beach? That right there is further proof that Danny had already changed his ways for Sandy. Sandy was always Sandy. But Danny was someone else from the start with her. So, the sexism claim doesn’t hold true. Sandy changed for Danny but of her own accord. But Danny was already doing that for Sandy throughout the movie. So, making a statement that Sandy changed for Danny first is not true. Danny changed for Sandy first.
And to be truthful, isn’t that what’s love is all about.? If you find someone that makes you want to be a better person, why not go through those changes? The issue with Danny was, he was having trouble becoming that person while still trying to live his normal life. And let’s not forget, these are still teenagers we’re talking about. There were flaws in Grease. But labeling a movie sexist due to a scene that was only looked at halfway, is unfair.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
