The iconic 1978 movie “Grease” will forever be in the hearts
of many, but should it be? I got thinking about the song “Summer Nights” and
remembered the lyric one of the T-Birds sings: “Did she put up a fight?” In
this light-hearted song about a summer romance that slipped away, one of the
boys nonchalantly asks if Danny had the mystery girl’s consent to have sex, as
if it didn’t matter either way. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Remember when that skeevy host of the dance was hitting on
seventeen-year-old Marty? While that is not necessarily illegal on its own,
since the age of consent varies in each state, and at 17 it could be legal for
them to be together, Marty later tells Rizzo he tried to put an “aspirin” in
her drink. Hardly anyone can remember Marty saying this, because Rizzo ignores
the statement and continues to talk about her pregnancy scare, but next time
you watch the movie, pay attention.
The fact that the movie ignores Marty’s recount of almost
being drugged and raped is what really bothers me. Of course a family movie may
not be the right place to address issues like date rape, as it can make for an
awkward evening, but inserting that line into the movie and not doing anything
about it is repulsive. It absolutely should have been discussed, or at least
implied that Marty and Rizzo had a serious conversation about it, rather than
Rizzo simply brushing it off.
Without addressing this situation, the movie suggests that
almost getting raped is nothing noteworthy. And without addressing that the
pill was more than an aspirin, the film can lead girls and women on to thinking
that something serious is not happening. I am considering writing a part 2 on
rape culture in the movie “Grease,” because there is much more in the disgustingly
old-fashioned movie to comment on.
This was a very interesting post, I've seen Grease a few times, and I've always noticed the line from "Summer Nights", but I never noticed the line about aspirin. Another song that I've always had issue with is "Baby it's Cold Outside". My issues with it can be summed up by this tweet by Jesse Tyler Furgerson. http://25.media.tumblr.com/f2951f0815f33c9ad63f6946e1d66965/tumblr_mf5rssrqsy1qae7gdo1_500.png While I have seen multiple news articles (like this one https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/19/baby-its-cold-outside-was-once-an-anthem-for-progressive-women-what-happened/?utm_term=.d8966f4bc12f) that talk about how the song was actually progressive in its time period, whenever I hear the song it gives me the chills.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very eye-opening post. I’ve seen this movie hundreds of times and never picked up on the comment Marty made to Rizzo. It’s absolutely disgusting how they would downplay a man trying to drug a young girl. Although, I feel that was a very strategic move. Marty’s character is supposed to be seen as this very mature and promiscuous young lady. Apparently been with tons of men, remember the scene at the sleepover when she’s writing her many military “boyfriends”? Personally, I feel the underlining meaning behind the comment is that she’s so nonchalant about the event occurring because maybe it’s happened before. She’s this sexually fluid woman who shouldn't be surprised that something like this almost happens. After all, she does hang about bad boys and older men? No, it doesn't matter if a woman has been with 20 men or only 2. No woman should be desensitized to an event like this occurring, or feel in fact that she has no right to be shocked at something like that happening because “she had it coming” or because she acts or looks a certain way. The media needs to start showing more women standing up against sexual assault and holding their abusers accountable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this movie probably should not be as loved as it is. People tend to write it off as an innocent and cute "love story" when in reality it is far from that. I strongly dislike how most of the premise of this movie is about how Sandy is innocent and to be with Danny she gradually starts to change herself while everyone else helps her by giving her a makeover and criticizing her looks. Not to mention the fact that as you said, they normalize rape culture as if it is nothing. I did the show production for this movie when I was fifteen and its just as bad. They leave out the line saying that the show host tried to put aspirin in Marty's drink and make her character hang all over Mr. Fontaine. They even insert a song called "Mooning" that is meant to be a love song for Roger and Jan. However the entire song is just about mooning. like Roger expressing his love by showing his buttocks and mooning someone/Jan. It's disgusting especially for a show meant for children.
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