The word? Grease. Always and forever.

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2007)

There are a precious few American females born after 1966 and before 1996 that have not experienced a pure passion for Grease at some point during their early adolescent lives. My sister and I used to rent and renew this film just about every weekend for two years when we were kids. It would have been much more practical to invest in our own personal copy. But then again, there is nothing practical, sensible, or particularly constructive about a young girl's feelings for Grease. Hundreds of dollars spent at our local video store just to wear out their copy should serve as testament enough to that fact. But Grease is more than mere fodder for hysterical, girl-culture consumption. It is the king, actually, of such articles. Here is a fun-hearted, very benignly naughty musical about "good girl," Sandy Olsen who falls in love with "bad boy," Danny Zuko, the leader of a drag-racing, greasy-hair-combing, leather jacket wearing, foul-mouthed (well, they're not really foul-mouthed, but they try) gang of aspiring delinquents. The trouble? She's a square who completely lacks a healthy sense of unruliness while he works hard to maintain his bad reputation. In order to stay together, one of them has to change.
The ensuing plot is precisely why Grease is the kingshit of girl-culture staples. I have heard (chuckle) parents complain about its message. Some don't like that the social powers that be (the Pink Ladies and their T-birds) put so much pressure on one another to fit in with the clique. These are the very folks who are responsible for the watering-down of the stage version of Grease, which I was horrified to find, has been censored so much it is only barely recognizable. Apparently, the film version of Sandy's physical transformation from the poster child for teenage abstinence and all-around wholesomeness to something more resembling a streetwalker with ratted hair, painted on spandex, and an affinity for cigarettes "sends kids a darn sleazy message." Anyone who feels this way has forgotten how immune children are to politically correct bullshittery. No 12-year-old girl wants to watch something that condescends, that moralizes, that jumps through hoops and loops to send the "right" message. Grease doesn't do that. Instead, it reflects authentic sensibilities. I should also point out though, that there is a moral to be found beneath all the jokes about Annette Funicello's "jugs," Sandy's virginity, stolen car parts, and 5-year-old broken condoms. After all, Rizzo demonstrates one of the many possible consequences of unprotected sex in a subplot that is unique to a pre-AIDS movie going era. And in the end, Danny proves willing to clean up his social identity for Sandy. She just beats him to the punch. And really, she's the same old squeaky-clean dufus who isn't sure what to do with a cigarette. She's just wearing hot pants. So if you really want to get technical, the "darn sleazy message" is not that one must put out to be accepted. One must only LOOK like one puts out. There, now. That's not so bad, is it?
Besides, and this is its main point of differentiation from the hideous sequel, it is a damn good movie. In fact, watching Grease 2 before watching Grease makes this completely clear. It is as a musical should be. Unlike the meaningless tripe passed off for songs in Grease 2, the songs in Grease advance the narrative and provide ample, necessary information about its characters. As a period piece, the 1950s setting is also made useful as a symbol of innocence, simultaneously false and genuine, about to be lost. It represents the mindset of the teenage characters and their place in American history. Whereas, Grease 2 evokes the 1950s about as much as Rock-N-Roll McDonald's. No. Rock-N-Roll McDonald's is more competent in its depiction. The characters in Grease are complex. They are stock archetypes with inner conflicts that don't always jive with their personas. The characters in Grease 2 are flat, vacant nothings that are only vaguely reminiscent of the archetypes that ought to make up the gang.
Still, one needn't compare the original to its sequel to see that Grease is charming, fun, a bit corny, harmlessly bawdy and, in general, the perfect slumber party, girl movie.