My Only DEEP Thought About GREASE!

GREASE is not known for it's depth! It doesn't tackle difficult subjects like the French Revolution, poverty, religion or being green! It's silly, fun, and leaves you in a great mood! But believe it or not - that wasn't always the case!

Children Ages 6-10 perform 'Grease' at a school in the US

      Over the years, GREASE has been subjected to 'clean ups' and revisions in order to make it more palatable for the mainstream and more suitable for young people.
 (it is currently the TOP show requested & licensed to high-schools in the USA).
 Along the way, it lost the respect of 'serious' theatre aficionados - those who believe the art form of theatre should be used to provoke thought and push boundaries. 

Photo from original production (1971)

     
          However, forty years ago, GREASE was cutting edge theatre. When it first opened in an old trolley barn down-town Chicago it was hailed as  '...a raunchy, raw, aggressive, vulgar show.'^[1]  It was NOT a show ever intended for children, or even teenagers.


         As I was researching the original writers (Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey), and the history behind GREASE, I came across this book: Recycled Culture in Contemporary Art and Film (see photo). I thought it was interesting and worth sharing. Here is a brief summary of the chapter that deals with GREASE: 

"... Dika specifically examines Grease and how nostalgia is particularly utilized in the film. Dika makes a novel observation by claiming that Grease in fact combines the liberated sexuality of the 1960’s with the nostalgic innocence of the 1950’s. Dika realizes that this argument seems contradictory in that the sexual morals of the 1950’s were completely opposite from those of the 1960’s... Dika states that the film tries to restabilize itself by returning to the classical musical genre and taking on the form of other 50’s musicals. Grease was released during a time in which the past seemed like a much safer time. Dika suggests that may be a reason as to why older actors and actresses were used to represent high school kids. The older audiences could identify more easily with the older actors, while the younger audience could still relate to the adolescent situations. Dika believes the Grease exploits certain nostalgic elements of a simpler time, but employs a later decade’s morals to more deeply involve its target audience."

By far, my favourite quote from the chapter is:

"What are the implications of being told that the word "grease" has "groove," that it has "meaning"? At first this may seem like a completely nonsensical claim, unless we begin to look at the word associatively and metonymically." 

HELP me look at the word GREASE metonymically, would ya'?!!!!
What are YOUR deep thoughts about GREASE?