Grease
The flying car inGreasethat pops up near the culmination of the celluloid has led to many theories and construct so it helps to have theGreaseending explained . AlthoughGreasetechnically takes place in the 1950s , the present-day fantasy mostly deals with 1950s adolescent grappling with 1970s themes about gender and sexuality . Greasefollows the love affair between Sandy Olsson ( Olivia Newton - John ) and Danny Zuko ( wreak by a young John Travolta ) and their group of friend as they navigate their aged year of in high spirits school day and their fright about graduating and becoming adult .
One of the most famous and controversial scenes inGreasehappens at the end when good - female child Sandy transform into a greaser little girl , and she and Danny perform " You ’re The One That I Want . " Sandy ’s evolution from a good girl into a provocative greaser has been both praised and criticized in the year since the picture show ’s release , as has the sudden shift into magical realism when the railcar flies into the sundown . The ending ofGreasehas been debated since its release , but what do Sandy ’s transformation and the fell railroad car really imply ? The ending ofGrease , explained , offers plenty of clue .
Why Sandy Changes At The End Of Grease (Is It Just For Danny?)
Danny Always The Counterpart To The Woman Sandy Wanted To Be
ThroughoutGrease , Sandy , played by Olivia Newton - John , repeatedly struggles with her identity as her friendship with the Pink Ladies give her up to Modern musical theme about femininity . While Sandy ’s shift has been criticized for ram her to change her personality for Danny , it ’s the coherent end for her character arc of self - discovery , trust , and her eventual rebirth . On the open degree , Sandy ’s variety might be for Danny . Instead , it continue her journeying of questioning her personal identity , which start out with the birdcall " front At Me , I ’m Sandra Dee " and concluded with the reprise , when she sings , " adios to Sandra Dee . "
Sandy ’s exposure to Danny and the Pink Ladies ( whose missy ring has their ownGreaseprequel series ) draw her to grapple with her realisation that the good - girl exterior is cloak the more bona fide adult female indoors . Ultimately , it ’s Sandy ’s determination in " You ’re The One That I need " to break from her report and take what she wants . complete Sandy ’s bow towards self - discovery by transforming her into a greaser little girl during theGreaseending represents her rebirth and her newfound sureness in her individuality .
Why The Car Flies In Grease’s Ending
The Break From Reality Is A Perfect Visual Metaphor
The most bewildering part of theGreaseending is when Sandy and Danny climb into a car that takes off and flies into the sunset . It ’s a weird shift into magical realness while the rest of the movie is a fairly standard adolescent funniness , but a close looking at reveals that the flying car go correct intoGrease . When theGreaseending is explained , everything comes together .
It ’s not the first fantasy moment , follow the ambition sequence " Beauty School Dropout " and the heightened realism of " Greased Lightnin ' " and it was almost replicate in theoriginally project terminate toGrease 2 . In addition , the workshop teacher aiding the T - Birds sets up the eddy , saying that , " if it were in any better experimental condition , it would fly . “Still , while the flee car is a departure forGrease , it serves as a symbolic representation that Danny and Sandy are quite literally fly into the sunset for their glad ending .
strengthen that reading is the popular rooter theory thatGreasedoesn’t represent precise events , but is someone ’s nostalgic memory of their time at Rydell , explaining the aspiration - comparable quality in the moving-picture show . In that case , flying a car into the sundown as a representation of Danny and Sandy ’s happy ending gain perfect sense for the movie .
Rizzo’s Pregnancy Scare & Ending: What It Means
Rizzo’s Grounded Story Provides Important Emotional Balance
The polaropposite of Sandy is Rizzo(played by Stockard Channing ) . Rizzo is a bluff and confident woman who undergo a gestation scare inGreasefrom her human relationship with Kenickie . If Sandy interpret passive female desire – which becomes active by theGreaseending – then Rizzo represents active female desire . Rizzo ’s maternity scare is a major part of her arc , compound with her inability to tell Kenickie about it because she ’s afraid he will leave her . Rizzo ’s battle with her vulnerability and need to be liked against her positive exterior is her primary crisis inGreaseand one that she is forced to work through almost entirely alone .
Although Rizzo ends up not being pregnant , the fear forces her character to grow and become more vulnerable after the experience , culminating in Stockard Channing ’s heartbreaking performance ofGreasesoundtrack highlight"There Are Worse Things I Could Do . " By the remnant ofGrease , Rizzo ’s sculptural relief that she is n’t pregnant help oneself her pull in the chance in her future , a mo that the film nods at by linger on Rizzo when Principal McGee remarks that the next Eleanor Roosevelt could be in the room . Rizzo ’s gestation scare put up an excellent contrast to Sandy , and both represent a fair sex fight with the weight of her reputation oppose her authentic ego .
The flick Grease has pleasurable song and potent characters , some of which are changed from the original stage musical . Here are all their differences .
What Happens Next For The Characters
The Sequel Provides A New Chapter - But Not For Everyone
Grease’sending leaves its characters guardedly affirmative about their lives following graduation and invites the hearing to speculate about their future . InGrease 2 , a few of the characters reappear;Frenchy is back inGrease 2to show Sandy ’s cousin around Rydell , having render to get her sheepskin and initiate a cosmetics company .
Most of Rydell ’s teacher also deliver inGrease 2 , with Principal McGee and her help still start the morning announcements and Coach Calhoun still seek to shepherd his rebellious students . The leader of the rival mob , Leo Balmudo , appears again inGrease 2as the primary antagonist , and it ’s heavily entail that he is nail at the final stage of the movie .
While the future of the Pink Ladies are never reassert , Marty belike terminate up pursuing Vince Fontaine or another leatherneck , and Rizzo may have been involve in the char ’s dismission motion adopt her maternity scare . Sandy and Danny’spost - Greasefutureis unsealed , but devotee have speculated that they likely stayed together after ride off into the sunset – unless the rooter theory speculating Sandy has been dead the whole time is straight .
Is Sandy Dead In Grease?
A Popular Fan-Theory Completely Changes The Meaning Of The Ending
A popular fan hypothesis aboutGreaseoffers up another account for the conclusion : Sandy overwhelm in " Summer Lovin' . “According to the theory , the entirety ofGreaseis an detailed phantasy sequence taking office during her comatoseness , ending with her death at the end of the flick . The theory begin with Danny ’s line , " I hold open her life , she nearly drowned , " and posit that Danny failed to salvage Sandy ’s life , with the rest ofGreaseessentially being wish fulfillment for Sandy .
The possibility also indicate that the infamous flying car constitute Sandy ’s ascent into heaven as opposed to a symbolic glad conclusion for her . This would alsoexplain why Sandy and Dannydidn’t return forGrease 2.The possibility gained enough popularity that John Travolta addressed it in 2016 , andGreasecreator Jim Jacobs finally lambast the possibility toTMZ . The announcedGreaseprequel movie , Summer Loving , could put this theory to rest once and for all . Still , if Sandy were dead the whole time , it would explain the strange termination of the film and the magical realism perpetuatingGrease .
One compelling Grease possibility suggest that Olivia Newton - John ’s Sandy in reality drowns in the possible action act and the rest of the musical is just a fantasy
What Grease’s Ending Really Means
The Flying Car Scene Is A Simple Yet Suitable Way To End A Deliberate Dive Into Nostalgia
Greasewas a contemporary fantasy that explore seventies theme about sex , sex , and the fear of growing up through the lens of teenager in the 1950s . The movie explores Rizzo and Sandy as parallel examples of female desire , ending withOlivia Newton - John ’s Sandyfully realizing her ego - confidence and her rebirth , contrasted with Rizzo ’s realisation that her blurriness and vulnerability can be one of her strengths .
Greaseending with Sandy and Danny literally flying away in a car , while it ’s potential not a representation of Sandy going to heaven , does defend a happy close for both characters . Greaseis less of a realistic look at Rydell High ’s bookman and more a nostalgic one dribble through rose wine - colour lenses , and ending the movie with the role flying into a sunset strengthens that theme . Although the fly car seems out of place in the otherwise quasi - realistic movie , flying into the sundown together and embracing the opportunities of the future is the perfect ending forGrease .
Is The Ending Of Grease Problematic?
The Message Of Grease Doesn’t Fare So Well When Viewed Through A Modern Lens
In the New day , television receiver and movie fans have spent a lot of time pointing out the problematic elements in classic while of film . Those can range from things like two female characters never having a real conversation about anything other than their love lives and racial stereotypes being equate with villainy to women only seeing themselves as having note value in their relationship to the male grapheme around them . It ’s the latter factor that some fans contend could make the terminate ofGreaseproblematic . If Sandy changes everything about herself solely so other people will accept her , does she see the value in herself outside of her relationship with Danny , the T - Birds , and the Pink Ladies ?
The transformation present in adolescent movies and romantic funniness is most usual in " the makeover moving picture subgenre . “Mean Girls , Clueless , andShe ’s All Thatprovide some of the unspoiled examples . The makeovers in each of these dissimilar movies are presented betimes in the narrative and the audience is able to see that the makeover is about more than just new dress and makeup . Female eccentric in these movies go on their journeys of ego - find after the makeover , but Sandy proceed on hers before .
For Sandy ’s end ofGrease , the makeover is a final step in that journey of self - uncovering that she begins when first introduced to the other Pink Ladies , so it goes against the average and makes Sandy ’s shift seem baffling . histrion Didi Conn , who play Frenchie in bothGreaseand its continuation , put forward that Sandy ’s transformation is n’t about Danny . Like many of the surviving cast members , she was interviewed for the40th anniversary ofGreasein 2018and explained theGreaseending .
Conn assert that Sandy ’s remainder ofGreasetransformation is n’t about Danny , but instead , the“hot mamma indoors of her … she was just lend another quality out . ”Sandy ’s transformation makes it clear that Sandy can be a superimposed fair sex , just like Rizzo . She does n’t have to continue to be the stereotypical “ secure girl ” to be accept as a immature woman or fit into a single loge .
In the same audience , Conn also give away that the transformation was n’t just for Sandy , but something that Olivia Newton - John was also eager to play , “ champ at the routine ” to bring in out the other side of Sandy . As Conn orient out , Newton - John ’s career had been much like the percept of Sandy up to that full stop . She had a squeaky white image in her daddy euphony vocation , and getting to play the greaser version of Sandy , however in short , before the car flies into the sky inGrease , admit the Isaac Bashevis Singer and actor to show a different side of herself .
How The Grease Ending Was Received
The Legacy Of The Musical Defies The Response From Critics
analyze howGreasewas received by critics is interesting , as the 1978 film stands as a perfect example of the opinions of many professional critique and those of fans being almost polar opposites . There ’s no debate thatGreasehad a significant impact on daddy culture , and continues to do so almost 50 years after it first hit theatre . The melodious from director Randal Kleiser remains beloved , with fresh fans find it daily . There have been live adaption on stage , telly spinoffs , and both a subsequence in 1982 and an up - and - come prequel announced in 2019 .
All in all , it ’s impossible to argue thatGreasewasn’t a huge winner . However , despite the cultural bequest of the upbeat musical , it ’s far from universally acclaimed . On the contrary , whenGreasefirst arrived in theaters the reviews were unbelievably mixed , and even modern retrospective psychoanalysis is often critical rather than full of extolment . While the terminate ofGreasewasn’t particularly highlight by critics in 1978 as a positive or negative , contemporary reviews often single out the final scenes of the movie as justifications for their scene on the moving picture , disregardless of the specific perspective .
Rotten Tomatoesprovides an excellent snapshot on the strange legacy ofGreaseand the relationship it has with critics , as the iconic moving-picture show presently only pose on 66 % on the Tomatometer ( compare to its 87 % consultation score).Negative critique , whether in 1978 or in recent years , seem to all hinge around the same watching -Greaseis jolly corny . Many find it too up - metre , to bouncing , and too lost in its own romanticized adaptation of the 1950s to be rent seriously .
The ending often gets bring in up to back this tip , with the expectant - handed metaphor of Danny and Sandy literally riding off into the sunset together being so on - the - nose that many reviewers find out it , in some cases , off - putt and almost infantile . However , this is whereGreaseand its end also bring up an important question - do the views of critic count when discussing iconic motion-picture show with an undeniable encroachment on soda water culture ?
The same reasons that many critics disliked the final moments ofGreaseare why so many fan love it . They enjoy the pollyannaish fantasy thatGreasepresents precisely because it does n’t get bogged down in the reality that electronegative decisive reviews feel the melodic lack . Danny and Sandy fly forth in a car is the perfect dreamlike ending to an equally dreamlike story . Writing forFar Out Magazinein the UK , author and critic Scott Campbell perfectly summarize up the universal view towards theGreaseending , and why what critics see as flaws are in reality its primal strengths :
It ’s a cheesy way to close things out , but that’sGreasein a nutshell , and having its star - crossed lovers quite literally ride off into the sunset together as the most on - the - nose representation of a happy ending possible makes perfect sense .
Sandy’s Journey in Grease Transformed Olivia Newton-John Into An Icon
The Role Was Career-Defining For The Star Of Grease
Sandy was n’t the only one transformed byGrease , asthe character cementedOlivia Newton - John ’s iconic statusin the cinematic pantheon . Olivia Newton - John unhappily passed away in August 2022 , cured 73 . She was unbelievably active and work until the time of her expiry , and she was mourned the world over when the news break . Newton - John ’s career was much broader thanGrease , but it was playing the uninitiate girl turned self - assured cleaning woman Sandy that kick - started her life history outside Australia .
In her homeland Down Under , she ’d already had success as a singer and did gain moderate traction in the Pop and Country charts in the US . It wasGrease , however , than made her an international house name . Olivia Newton - John may have been most well known forplaying Sandy inGrease , but her career is far more impressive than her on - silver screen exploits or her melodic success .
She was a keen militant , specially for brute rights and the surroundings . Her love as a cancer inquiry advocate is also widely document . The listing of accolades and accolade she earned throughout her life is beyond impressive , and her star on Hollywood Boulevard was install in 1981 . There are also dozens of melodious awarding in her trophy cabinet , but her brotherly love study also earn her considerable recognition .
In 1999 the Red Cross granted her a Humanitarian Award for her Breast Crab awareness and environmentalism , and the National Trust of Australia ( NSW ) granted her the position of National Living Treasure of Australia in 2012 . She was a Dame in the United Kingdom and was given an OBE byQueen Elizabeth of Englandin 1979 . Olivia Newton - John was granted a state funeral by the Australian Government upon her destruction in recognition of her unbelievable career – one that arguably rocket when she and John Travolta jumped in their pilot car at the end ofGrease .
TheGreasefranchise is a beloved musical and romanticistic comedy series that start out with the 1978 filmGrease , free-base on the 1971 stage musical of the same name . The fib follows greaser Danny Zuko and new girl Sandy Olsson as they sail their romance amidst the camp and societal pressures of Rydell High . The picture became a monumental achiever and a ethnic criterion , recognise for its rack up Sung and performances by John Travolta and Olivia Newton - John . Over time , the enfranchisement has expanded with sequels , a prequel series , and telecasting specials .
Summary
The Grease franchise is a beloved melodious and amatory comedy serial that start with the 1978 film Grease , based on the 1971 phase musical of the same name . The story follows greaser Danny Zuko and raw little girl Sandy Olsson as they pilot their romance amidst the ingroup and social pressure of Rydell High . The film became a massive success and a ethnical touchstone , eff for its hit vocal and performances by John Travolta and Olivia Newton - John . Over clip , the franchise has expanded with sequels , a prequel series , and video special .
