Grease was a phenomenon! The 1978 film, based on the hit Broadway musical! Grease is a wonderful film, to discover in childhood and enjoy the rest of your life.
But, wait a minute!
Childhood? That's a good question. What do you think of when you think of Grease? It was a great film, great music, great dance numbers and a very likeable cast. Perfect for the whole family........
Grease is a film that, as long as I can remember, was always marketed as a "family" film. Well, from my description above it sounds like a pretty damn good family movie. But, let's delve a little deeper into Grease. The film received a PG rating, which thinking about today's standards, yeah pretty average rating for a family movie. But, when you sit down and go to watch Frozen, which is also rated PG, I don't think you'll hear anything about female genitalia. Let's talk about the lyrics in Grease.
"You know that it ain't shit, we'll be getting lots of tit"
"You know that I ain't braggin', she's a real pussy wagon"
"You are supreme, the chicks'll cream for greased lightnin'"
These are the lyrics in the song "Greased Lightnin'". A real show stopper, but let's think about this. First of all, the word "shit" is in the movie more than once, that alone, would have gotten the movie a PG rating. The word "pussy" (not referring to a cat here), I'm not sure if the rating would have gone up with that or not, but the fact that the word is even used. And of course the innuendo of the "chicks'll cream".
When Grease Live aired in 2016, all 3 of these lyrics were changed. There is a reason they were changed, because this kind of language shouldn't be used in a "family" film. Now, it should be pointed out that I am in no way up tight about any of these, I am just giving this film a glance from all sides. So, this song, right away, should not make this a family film.
Now, the next bit we are going to talk about is the sexual innuendos. They are everywhere in this movie, and although that alone doesn't make it a "non-family" film, take a good look back at your childhood cartoons. The sexual innuendos have always been there, for 2 reasons: 1, they are humor for the adults watching things like this and 2, they are also there to be discovered when the children who watched originally grow up. But, some of them are stronger than others. Danny saying "bite the weenie, Riz" and Rizzo responding "with relish", that's a pretty crazy one.
And now, here's one of the biggest things that makes this not a family movie. Abortion. Yes, Rizzo thinks she's pregnant (so, there is teenage pregnancy mentioned in this movie too) and then proceeds to sing a song about it! I mean, name me another family movie that has abortion talks in it. This whole sub-story really shouldn't be in a family movie. I mean, the topic is still very controversial and it's something children wouldn't understand nor should they.
But, we are not done yet! There is, of course, the obvious topic of Sandy changing at the end. Basically, with Sandy changing her ways to be more like Danny so she "fits in" with the gang. All this does is send the message to young girls that if you want a guy, you better be willing to change so he likes you. You can argue that Danny changed as well, but he took that lettermen's jacket off pretty damn quickly. What I never understood was, Danny clearly liked her, there was no indication that Sandy needed to change his mind. Danny was really the one who needed to change. Danny showed his real side to Sandy over the summer, but when he was back around his friends he felt the peer pressure to act like an asshole to Sandy. Sandy was Sandy throughout the entire film, until the end. Of course, if it didn't end like this we wouldn't have gotten the beautiful lyrics of "You're the One That I Want".
Finally, and something that has bugged me since I was a kid. In the film, the character of Jan is constantly portrayed in baggy tops. In one of the scenes she's offered ice cream, looks at it like she really wants it, but then shakes her head. And even one of the characters says "I've always thought there was more to you then just fat"... wait, what? Jan is supposed to be fat? Go back and rewatch the movie, because the obviously thin Jan is wearing these big baggies shirts or sweatshirts and then at then end of the film she is wearing a neatly fit green dress. So, that's how Hollywood decided to portray this? Have you ever watched this film and thought to yourself, wow Jan is really fat! No, you don't, because it is clear, it's a thin actress wearing a big shirt. In fact, it took several viewings before I even realized she was supposed to be fat. There is almost no mention of it until that scene at the ice cream parlor. So, why does this bother me? One, it's a terrible way to show that a person is fat. They could have shoved a pillow into the shirt or something, but a big shirt does not mean fat! The second reason is that I feel like there's a problem here, and that problem is sending the wrong message to people. If I didn't even notice it until multiple viewings in, then I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought that. Is that sending a message to young girls that if you dress like that then you're fat? Or unattractive? Perhaps, I'm diving too deep into this one, but I feel like there's a problem there.
So, what's the verdict. Is Grease a family movie? The answer is yes and no. For all the reasons listed above, this movie is absolutely not a family movie. The language, the vulgarity, the ABORTION song, this isn't a family movie. Now, I understand that the PG-13 rating did not exist in 1978 and that the PG rating got away with showing a man rip his own face off in Poltergeist. That being said, the subject material in Grease should make this a non-family film.
But, it can be a family movie. If this is a movie that you want to share with your children, then by all means, do it. I was introduced to this film in 1998, when I was 14-years-old. This was during the 20th Anniversary and the film was re-released into theaters. And there was a lot that went over my head at the time and I'm sure most of this stuff would go over any child's head, but let's face it, Grease is problematic, in more ways than one.
