Title of Literature Piece:

Grease
by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey

Type of Literature:
Drama

REXEEN C. PITAO
XI- LEEUWENHOEK
 About the movie:
 

• In this popular play and movie, viewers are taken through the story of high school
love between two teens who are completely opposite outside the love they share
for each other. Boy and girl meet one summer and fall in love. She moves back
home (or so he thinks!) and he goes back to his too cool for school life. He finds
out that she actually stayed and they try to rekindle their love amidst a social
environment that doesn't want them together. She's a nerd and he's in a high
school gang. She changes at the end of the movie into someone he can love
better--just in time for graduation
Introduction of Characters:
Danny Zuko
• As the leading man of the film, Danny Zuko is played by phenomenon John Travolta.
In fact, Grease solidified Travolta's stardom. In the movie, Danny falls in love with
Sandy one summer. The two parts, thinking she'll be returning to her native land.
Instead, she stays in town. As the leader of a high school gang, Danny and the T-Birds
are too cool for school. He works on cars with the boys in their spare time and like to
play pranks. However, Danny tries to change into a jock when he sees that Sandy is
attracted to someone of that nature. In the end, Danny reunites with Sandy at the
graduation carnival--not before becoming varsity in track.
 Sandy Olsson

• - Sandy is a blonde beauty with an accent, played by Olivia

Newton-John. Though she falls in love with Danny one summer
at the beach, she is largely innocent. Rizzo mocks Sandy at a
sleepover for being too much of a goodie-goodie. Sandy enjoys
school and shows interest in one of the school's jocks when
Danny is being rude to her. Though Danny is a bad boy, Sandy
tries to date him. In the end, she changes her looks to wow
Danny. The two ride off into the sky together at the end of the
film.
Betty Rizzo
• Known as just Rizzo to her friends, Rizzo is played by
Stockyard Channing. Formerly a lover of Danny,
Rizzo doesn't approve of wholesome Sandy dating
her ex-flame--even if she isn't interested in him
anymore. She and current interest Kenickie have a
pregnancy scare in the movie and Rizzo comes down
to Earth. She ends the film hand-in-hand with him.
 Kenickie
• Bad boy Kenickie spends much of his time trying to occupy
rival gangs in the area. Played by Jeff Conaway, Kenickie
knows that Rizzo is the girl for him but can't let his image
show it. After Rizzo goes to the big dance-off with Crater
Face, a rival gang member, the two start a hot rod race for
the other's car. When Kenickie is injured moments before
the race, Danny steps in and wins for him.
Frenchy
• Frenchy is a Pink Lady who drops out of high
school to pursue beauty school. After she dyes
her hair pink, she realizes she should go back to
high school with her friends.
Summary of the movie:

• In 1958, during their summer vacation, Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson
(Olivia Newton-John) meet at a beach. Scenes from their holiday are shown, but then the
summer ends, and Sandy and Danny say their last good-byes. Danny seems to not want to
let Sandy go, but Sandy is due to return to Australia. She is upset, thinking that this is the
end of their romance and that they will never see each other again. Danny tries to comfort
her by telling her that "it's not the end, it's just the beginning".

However, Sandy's family has a change of plans and does not return to Australia, but Danny
is unaware of this. Sandy enrolls at Rydell High School as a foreign-exchange student,
where Danny is a student, as is Sandy's new friend Frenchy (Didi Conn), a member of the
schoolgirl clique "The Pink Ladies."
• Danny is the leader of the boys' gang, "The T-Birds." Kenickie, second-in-
command of the T-Birds, encourages Danny to tell them what he did over the
summer, while the Pink Ladies likewise persuade Sandy. Through "Summer
Nights" Sandy and Danny describe their vacation, and it is made clear that Danny
is exaggerating; at the time, however, neither is aware of the other's presence at
the school.

Encouraged by the preppy school spirit girl, Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner), Sandy
joins the Rydell cheerleaders. The Pink Ladies decide to reunite Danny and
Sandy, but Danny wants to protect his cool image, and his behavior towards
Sandy causes her to storm off in tears. Danny stares after her for a moment, but
then quickly turns back into a cool guy and goes off with his friends.

Frenchy attempts to cheer Sandy up by inviting her to a sleepover at her house

with the rest of the gang; Sandy comes along, but Rizzo soon gets fed up with
Sandy's goody-two-shoes behavior: Sandy chokes on a cigarette, cannot stand
the taste of wine, and is horrified at the idea of having her ears pierced. Frenchy
insists and takes her into the bathroom, but Sandy vomits at the first sight of
blood. Frenchy announces to Jan (Jamie Donnelly) and Marty (Dinah Manoff) that
she is dropping out of Rydell and going to beauty school, which she calls a very
strategic career move. Rizzo (Stockard Channing) has had enough and lampoons
Sandy, and even Frenchy joins in, singing the sarcastic "Look at Me, I'm Sandra
Dee."
• The T-Birds arrive outside Frenchy's house. Rizzo leaves the sleepover and she and
Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) flirt, then Kenickie invites her into the car, and dumps the
other T-Birds. Danny leaves of his own accord while Rizzo and Kenickie drive off
together and the other T-Birds go for pizza. Marty, the flirtatious member of The Pink
Ladies, decides to write to one of her (numerous) pen pals, while Sandy goes outside,
and decides that in spite of everything, she still loves Danny, singing "Hopelessly
Devoted to You", a poignant love song that was added for the movie and was a big hit
as a single.

The scene shifts to Rizzo and Kenickie making out passionately in the back seat of his
new car. They plan to take things a step further, but Kenickie's condom breaks. Rizzo,
however, is unable to resist Kenickie, and they decide to have sex anyway. They are
soon interrupted by Leo (Dennis Cleveland Stewart), leader of rival gang The
Scorpions, who damages Kenickie's car.

While at work repairing the car, the T-Birds fantasize about what it will look like when
it has had a paint job, singing "Greased Lightning". Soon Danny gets the other T-Birds
convinced that the rickety old car could actually be a "major piece of machinery".
Later, Danny meets Sandy at the Frosty Palace, and tries to apologize for his actions.
He sees that Sandy is sharing a soda with Tom Chisum (Lorenzo Lamas), a jock, and
• We next see Danny's disastrous performances in basketball, wrestling, and baseball, where he keeps

losing his temper. He finally finds his ideal sport in running, until the sight of Sandy distracts him, and

he falls. Sandy leaves Tom Chisum to see if Danny is alright, and they are seemingly reconciled.

Danny attempts to go to the Frosty Palace with Sandy so that they can be alone and not worry about

ruining his image in front of his friends. They end up discovering the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are

already there and Danny finds it hard to charm Sandy without looking weak in front of his friends.

After everyone leaves the malt shop, Frenchy, who has been hiding her pink hair under a scarf,

imagines a guardian angel to tell her what to do with her life, who turns out to be Frankie Avalon

singing "Beauty School Dropout".

Later, Danny takes Sandy to the school dance,

where the TV show National Bandstand plans to

broadcast live. Rizzo, now angry with Kenickie, takes

the rival gang's leader, Leo, to the dance, thus enticing

Kenickie to take the rival gang leader's girlfriend, Cha Cha

DiGregorio (Annette Charles) who is also Danny's ex-girlfriend.

The disc jockey Vince Fontaine (Edd Byrnes) is attracted to Marty

and the two flirt. The dance features several well-known songs from the '50s

covered by Sha Na Na. During the dance-off, Rizzo leaves in a huff, seeing

Kenickie dancing with Cha Cha, and Danny and Sandy are one of the few

couples still in the dance-off. But soon, Sonny pulls Sandy away from Danny,

and Cha Cha starts dancing with Danny. Sandy realizes that Cha Cha was one of Danny's

past girlfriends and a much better dancer. Sandy leaves the gym upset, and Danny and

Cha Cha end up winning the contest. When they share their spotlight dance, three of the

T-Birds run in front of the camera and moon the crowd.

• Later, Danny takes Sandy to a drive-in movie. Danny tries to remove the class
ring he is wearing to give it to her, but in doing so he accidentally elbows Sandy in
the chest. Danny gives Sandy the ring and she kisses him on the cheek, saying she
realizes now he respects her. The scene cuts to Marty and Rizzo in the drive-in's
restroom. Rizzo's unprotected sex with Kenickie has come back to haunt her--she
tells Marty she missed a period. One of the T-Birds, Sonny (Michael Tucci),
overhears Marty accidentally proclaiming to couples making out outside the
restroom to make way for the "lady with a baby", and asks Marty what she
meant so she tells him the story and the rumor spreads quickly. When Kenickie
asks Rizzo why she didn't tell him about it, she lies and tells him it isn't his out of
anger. He thanks her sarcastically, and leaves her standing by herself. Marty has
also suffered as a result of her crush on Vince Fontaine--she reveals to Rizzo that
she caught him trying to put an aspirin in her Coke.
 Back in the car Danny has his arm around Sandy. His hand lingers above her chest and she sees it

and he starts trying to make out with her. She screams, gets out of the car, slams the door on Danny,

throws back his ring (which she calls a "piece of tin"), and leaves the drive-in. Danny laments losing

Sandy again, and reveals the true extent of his feelings for her in the song "Sandy" he is helpless without

her.

The next scene is the race between Leo and Kenickie in the Los Angeles River. Kenickie asks Danny to be

his second, and Marty gives Kenickie a lucky penny. She drops it, and as Kenickie bends down to pick it

up, he gets knocked out when one of the T-Birds opens the car door. As a result, Danny has to race in

Kenickie's place. Sandy sits on the hill watching the neck-and-neck race, which Danny manages to win.

While she is happy to see Danny win, she has misgivings about her own image, reflected in the song

"Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)". As the T-Birds and Pink Ladies celebrate with Danny,

Frenchy spots Sandy and goes over to her. Sandy thinks that Frenchy can help her win Danny's heart,
On the last day of school carnival, Danny arrives,

wearing a letterman's sweater (earned through track)

over his usual black attire. Sandy arrives wearing a

black leather jacket, red peep-toe high heeled sandals,

skintight black pants, off-the-shoulder top, curled hair, and smoking a cigarette abandoning her usual modest
clothing. Danny finds her extremely attractive, falling at her feet, and then the two reunite, singing the upbeat
"You're the One That I Want" (another song added for the movie, and a hit single before the movie even came
out). Kenickie and Rizzo get together after Rizzo screamed from the Ferris wheel that she is not pregnant after
all, and everyone sings the big finale, "We Go Together", and Danny and Sandy fly off in Danny's car and
disappear into the sky.
Overall opinion of the literature:
•The musical is being revived not because it is invaluable, but because it contains an invaluable cultural icon: the singing, dancing performance of 

John Travolta. It is now clear that, slumps or not, comebacks or not, Travolta is an important and enduring movie star whose presence can redeem

even a compromised "Grease.'' It's fun, yes, but it doesn't lift off the screen; the only element that bears comparison with the musicals of the

golden age is Travolta's performance. One problem I always have, watching the movie, is that all the students look too old. They're supposed to be

16 or 17, I guess, but they look in their late 20s, and don't seem comfortable as teenagers. One of my favorite performances is by Stockard

Channing, as Rizzo, the tough girl who forges ahead heedlessly after the condom breaks. She's fun, but were there 16-year-old girls like that in the

1950s? Call me a dreamer, but I don't think so. The movie's worth seeing for nostalgia, or for a look at vintage Travolta, but its underlying

problem is that it sees the material as silly camp: It neuters it. Romance and breaking up are matters of life and death for teenagers, and a crisis of

self-esteem can be a crushing burden. "Grease'' doesn't seem to remember that. At times it feels more like a collection of music videos than a

movie. With paper thin characters, no real plot, forward movement, drama or conflict. Sure, things come up that seem like they put our heroes in a

difficult spot. Because we've all been at that point in our lives where our future is ahead of us, we think we know it all, we think the friends and

loves we have at that time will be there for the rest of our lives. However, we now know almost all of those things are false and our parents that we

rebelled against so much for telling us what to do were right about almost everything they warned us about.
 Other information:

It is an example of a musical drama

It was aired of the year 1971