Can't deny the great music.

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2009)

I really enjoy watching this movie and always have. The music is amazing, the dancing is hilarious and energetic...entertainment, is what it is. :) Anyone looking for morals will be sadly disappointed, but anyone who looks for morals in Hollywood is kind of a fool anyways. Although I do have one thing to say - a lot of people get all huffy about Sandy's big transformation at the end. They say it was about fitting in and "putting out". But I disagree. I obviously don't know what the movie makers were going for, but based on what I see I come to a different conclusion than some other people. First off, Sandy doesn't show any signs of trying to fit in with the Pink Ladies or the cheerleaders or anyone else. She's just nice to everyone and doesn't like conflict. I mean she doesn't quit cheerleading or anything! And smoking was a little different in the 50's and even the 70's, I'm pretty sure - it was so much more common and not such a big deal. Next, when she sings to herself, she describes the Sandra Dee personality as "so scared and unsure". So when she says goodbye to Sandra Dee, she's saying goodbye to being "scared and unsure". When she walks out with that new look, the most noticeable thing is her confidence. She's showing Danny (and herself) that there is a confident woman inside that shy little girl; that there's more to her than meets the eye. She's getting his attention and showing him and everyone else that she can and will fight for him. Also, note that she sings "you'd better shape up". Which, incidentally, he has tried to do by lettering in track (and in other ways). She's not saying she'll be anything he wants and have sex if he'll take her. She still shows a more rounded, aware version of the "Sandra Dee" wholesomeness by demanding a *man*. They are both trying to understand each other so that their supposedly different worlds can come together - he is trying to show that he can be depended on. She is trying to show that she can understand and embrace the rebel side of him, and that she isn't a rug to be walked on. She's more demanding respect than compromising herself - as others say. It's more of a meeting in the middle of two people learning how to understand each other's differences than a good girl mindlessly pandering for a bad boy.
Still no sparkling moral message, but not, I don't think, the shallow chauvinist tragedy some see it to be. I always cheered for them - shy Sandy blooming for her man, and immature Danny laying down his pride for his girl. :)
That said...is there anyone who doesn't love the music in this movie? Whole reason I watch it, that's for sure! ;D