Grease is the word! At least, it used to be.
Thanks to endless reruns of the movie, the high-school flick always appears to be the subject of debate on social media - and it would seem that modern audiences have a few choice words for the iconic musical.
In fact, despite bringing joy to many of us since its release in 1978, viewers either watching Grease for the first time or for the first time in a long time are taking to social media to point out their issues with the movie.
Now, the premise of the movie is simple; Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy acts like a moron in front of his friends. Girl leaves boy. Boy wins car race. Girl changes everything about her to impress boy. Boy and girl reunite and fly away in a magic car.
It truly is a tale as old as time.
However, despite incredible music numbers and career-defining performances from John Travolta (greaser Danny Zuko) and the late Olivia Newton-John (good girl Sandy Olsson), it would appear that some people want Grease off our TVs for good.
"Rewatching Grease for the first time in years and realizing how problematic it is," one X (formerly known as Twitter) user recently shared. Another also wrote: "Sorry I loved Grease when I was a kid, however, it's just too problematic these days" (before also sharing their problems with another classic in Dirty Dancing).
Getting into more specifics, one person highlighted the lyrics of 'Summer Nights', tweeting: "Grease singing ‘did she put up a fight?’ pretty much ruins the whole movie for me now aside from all the other problematic stuff".
"Ahhh man. Just watching #Grease one of my favourite films and it’s so of its time. Misogynistic, sexist and a bit rapey," another X user wrote. Another rewatcher agreed, writing: "I loved #Grease as a teenager, now I see it as a pile of misogynistic cr*p."
But it's not just the lyrics that have people raising a few eyebrows.
Calling out the fact that all the relationships in the movie were straight, one X user even went as far as to brand Grease the "peak of homophobia".
And let's end with this critic, who tweeted: "I use to watch this movie so much growing up and it's been a while since I've seen it and it's all I remember it to be and more [...] and by that I mean misogynistic, homophobic, and just a gross culture of toxic masculinity, rape culture, and pedophilia".
However, the debate over whether or not the movie is misogynistic was addressed by Newton-John herself back in a 2020 interview with The Guardian. After being asked if Sandy becoming more "stereotypically sexy" was a "celebration of sexism", the actress scoffed, saying: "It's a movie. It's a story from the 50s where things were different. Everyone forgets that, at the end, he changes for her, too. There’s nothing deep in there about the #MeToo movement.
"It's just a girl who loves a guy, and she thinks if she does that, he’ll like her. And he thinks if he does that, she’ll like him. I think that’s pretty real. People do that for each other. It was a fun love story."
And for as many critics as the movie has, it certainly has its supporters.
Agreeing with Newton-John, one X user wrote: "Not entirely sure how the 'Grease is sexist' debate began but I've always found the transformation to be one of the least sexist things about it. He changes too! She discovers the power in sexuality! Sandy basically has a dom awakening! I never felt like she was undermined here. [sic]"
If you really want something to be angry about, go watch Grease 2... that is just dreadful.
