The classic musical film Grease was my choice because of its plot. The plot centers on the meeting and relationship of two young people, Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson which helps me focus on the love portrayed in the film and how it is affected. This is because of the many social ties that keep them apart at school and therefore they find it difficult to accept their love for each other. The other characters in the movie are also engaged in minor relationships, which range in intensity but converge together at the end of the movie in a Tale fashion aiding me in my research. The social issues portrayed in the movie also contributed to my choosing this film because they are the same problems that currently plague our society. Grease contributes to social reform by addressing a range of social concerns adding to the reasons why I chose it. Overall in the Grease film, there are many unsettling concepts but many of them are linked to the participants’ strong characters which eventually results in love, and in the end, students get to learn the moral lesson that love is unselfish.
The Grease film portrays different love styles like Eros, which is all about romance, desire, and interest, is depicted in the movie. This is displayed when Danny, the delightful American lad, and Sandy, the simple Australian girl, first meet and fall in love instantly. The entirety of the two teens’ summer is spent flirting and declaring their eternal devotion to one another. They eventually end up swearing an oath of infinite dedication and part ways for good after meeting up over the summer and finding love (Juslin 150). Eros’ description of the exhilarating feelings that the beginning phase of a relationship demonstrates it was among the love styles in this movie. In the Grease film, Danny, who immediately went ahead and told his friends about the girl he had met during the summer, illustrates the love style philia, which is the love that grows over a deep, long-lasting friendship. Folks with platonic love make you feel very connected to them and you can share information with them, trust them, and respect them on a very individual level. Sandy has shown philautia, a love style that is all about self-love and self-compassion, in a very open way.
Even though it may seem basic, our relationship with ourselves is essential, and certainly, it has to be nourished. Sandy battles with herself throughout Grease as her relationship with the Pink Ladies exposes her to new concepts of femininity. Sandy’s transformation has attracted criticism for forcing her to alter who she is for Danny, but it is also the logical culmination of her character journey, which starts with self-discovery and confidence and concluded with her ultimate rebirth. Sandy is forced to comply with the realization that their decent appearance is masking the more authentic woman within after being subjected to Danny and the Pink Ladies. By making Sandy into a greaser girl, the subject’s road toward self-discovery is accomplished. This makeover represents Sandy’s reincarnation and her recently found self-assurance. Philautia was featured prominently in the movie and is a love style that is vital for our self-esteem and confidence (Pauk 50). It also affects how we engage with the outside community.
Proximity is a force that has an impact on this film, especially on Danny and Sandy. Even though Danny had real feelings for Sandy, he seemed to be affected by forced proximity which is a general concept for any scenario that forces the characters to spend more time together whether they want to or not. Once Danny unearthed that Sandy was his schoolmate, he demonstrated how much of an impact forced proximity has. Sandy was now near to him and was there to stay as opposed to the summertime when they knew they would be together just for a while and part ways but now they had been forced to face each other and school in the same school making ting a little bit awkward. Danny wanted to be delighted to see her, but she was unable. Because of the forced proximity, he couldn’t help but try to look good in front of his male friends or wow his male friends by trivializing his emotions for her. He also had to maintain his composure to not show how much he cared for her and damage his image.
Another powerful force in Grease is sex, and it also depicts a woman’s exciting sex life. The Pink Ladies’ leader, Rizzo, is continuously called a slut and this results in her having a sexual relationship with guys anytime she pleases, often to the point of putting all common sense aside in the process. When Sandy finally finished being the sexily ready woman she intended to be to finally get Danny, the embodiment of masculinity, the film’s climax portrays how sex is a force that had a great influence on this film and the cast´s relationships.
The love story of the unrelated teenagers Sandy and Danny is the primary focus of this movie, which is essentially about love. This portrays that the road to pure love is not easy, but in the end, both people can decide that it is essential to change to become a more interesting partner to the other. They both change, so they are nonetheless mismatched, but this makes them ideal for one another because they have comprehended the value of the teaching that love is selfless. This is another illustration of the irony of love which is kind of accurate since love is unpredictable.
Works Cited
Juslin, Patrik N. “Viewing Music through a Brunswikian Lens.” Musical Emotions Explained, 2019, pp. 147–155.
Pauk, Barbara. “Sarah Bernhardt and the London Stage: Fame and Ideology.” Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, vol. 37, no. 2, 2010, pp. 45–65.