Back to the Fifties: Grease: Comparing Reality and Fiction

Pre-University Paper from the year 2008 in the subject Musicology, grade: 14 Punkte = 1 (sehr gut), Wilhelm-Raabe-Schule Hannover (-), language: English, abstract: Grease, highly successful in the 70s as both a musical and a movie, is sometimes criticized as being too nostalgic and unauthentic by only showing an idealized version of the 50s. The audience of the 70s, which the movie appealed to, was too young to compare the 50s portrayed in the movie with reality, critics say.3 In this paper, I would like to discuss aspects of the movie and compare them with the reality of the 50s. It is important to see beyond the prevalent plot of the movie, the love story between Danny and Sandy, and to concentrate in more detail on supporting roles and the overall atmosphere. Of course, Grease would not be Grease without its music. The 50s do not only mark the birth of a new style of music, Rock and Roll, but also of a new culture, that of teenagers, a fact which is clearly reflected in Grease. Thus, I will first look at Rock and Roll, and its effects on the development of a youth culture, and then point out a few problems these changes brought with them.