Conformity In Grease

Grease is a musical romantic comedy set in the 1950’s that illustrates a teenage romance as it clashes between contrasting values of each. Sandy is characterized by her pure and innocent personality, meanwhile Danny represents the opposite. These conflicting attitudes puts their relationship in jeopardy various times. Some scenes are accompanied by songs that describe how the characters feel about a certain event. Musical numbers include “Hopelessly Devoted to You”, “There are Worse Things I Could Do”, “We Go Together”, and several others. The movie starts out with Sandy and Danny at beach, wondering what will happen to their relationship, as they find out she has to move back to Australia. Sandy ends up staying in California and attends …show more content…
The contrast between conformity and resistance is depicted by the prime idea of the transformation of America’s attitudes and values. In the 1950’s, the unwritten behavioral rules included: obey authority, control your emotions, fit in the group, and don’t even think about sex. These ideas represent the ideals of American society and conformity. Set in the 1950’s, the movie clearly follows the idea of fitting in the group as Danny tries to maintain his “cool” image in front of his friends. However, Sandy doesn’t fit in the Pink Ladies, and this is made clear when leader Rizzo states she’s too “pure” to be “pink”. Obeying authority is also out of the question, for the teenagers in the film act rather impulsively. This ties in with the idea of sex, which they engage without worrying about the consequences. Since the movie heavily addresses the sex revolution that will blossom a decade later, it rejects the idea of not thinking about it, a clear resistance to …show more content…
Some of these were simple to identify, while others were more subtle. When Sandy and Danny are at the beach during the summer, Sandy questions whether it is the end of their relationship, but he reassures her that it is only the beginning. This implies a whole new path ahead full of drama and tests in their relationship. Another example of foreshadowing would be when Danny sees Sandy at the Frosty Palace and tries apologizing. She changes the music on the jukebox and the song “It’s Raining on Prom Night” plays, foreshadowing her destiny at the dance. The song describes her disastrous prom that ended up with discontent and hoping that a guy also has strong feelings for her. Sandy left the dance early, unhappy with Danny’s behavior and probably had a rough night after seeing him dance with Cha-Cha. Although the use of foreshadowing was an underlying idea in the broader scheme, it was effective in the way it prepared the audience for what would lie

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