As a quick recap: Grease is essentially a vehicle for the singing and dancing of John Travolta and Olivia-Newton John. Even though the actors are all in their 20s and 30s, they portray high schoolers. Particularly on the Blu-ray, it is rather odd to see those clearly non-teenage women portray teenagers. On VHS this was probably not so obvious, but with the high resolution of Blu-ray video I caught myself thinking that the thighs of teenage girls surely look different than what this movie portrays.
Anyway, central to the movie are the T-birds, a gang of guys, and the Pink Ladies, consisting of slutty women, and in the end they all hook up with each other. The conclusion seems inevitable, but there is some hemming and hawing. In one scene, the Pink Ladies all hang out at the house of one of their members. The T-Birds show up in a car, honk the horn, and a little later one of the Pink Ladies joins a guy she fancies. As she exist through the window, she speaks the following words:
I'll get my kicks while I'm still young enough to get them.The unintended irony was that the actress saying this line, Stockard Channing, was 34 at that time, and portraying a 17 or 18 year-old. But let's just stick to the age of the characters instead of the actors. Having a young woman on screen say that she wants to get dick while she can still get it would be utterly unthinkable nowadays. Instead, the claim that even older women can be sexually attractive and very desirable gets constantly made, although it grossly contradicts reality. In that regard, Grease was a refreshing movie indeed.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
(Also, if you’ve got a comment that is off-topic or only tangentially related to this article, then please post in the most recent Open Thread. Thank you.)
Typos:
ReplyDelete"look differently" = look different,
"hunk the horn" = honk the horn,
"humming and hawing" = hemming and hawing.
Thank you.
DeleteI still see films where teens are portrayed by women in their 20s. Think Maggie Grace in those "Taken" films. Although woman in her 30s these days ain't gonna pass for 18!
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the "getting kicks" while still young. These days, there's all sorts of women-can-get-it-all mantras:
- Julia Roberts doing the "getting her dicks" as a "mature women"...
- Amy the Blimp Shumer showing that "fat chicks" have their choice of high-value guys (http://livinginthedeadcity.weebly.com/home/trainwreck-review )
- women as modern day Joan of arcs (Katniss movie thing, Divergent, etc)
Instead of that, try out Black Mirror (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085059/)
With a four speed on the floor they'll be waiting at the door
ReplyDeleteYou know that ain't no shit we'll be getting lots of tit
In Grease Lightning
I was quite surprised how raunchy the lyrics of a lot of the songs in the movie were. There is plenty of rather crass sexual innuendo too. I particularly liked "Summer Nights", where Danny Zuko's lyrics are rather innocent, while his gestures tell an entirely different story.
DeleteI only like to see 60s, 70s and 80s movies. Who knows why... ?
ReplyDeleteThe vibe is so different from recent movies starring some gay pussies like Justin Timberlake or some bitchy masculine bitches like... you know, every actress nowadays. When was last time I saw a "true" "alpha" male and a cute submissive girl (like Adrian in Rocky) in a movie... ?
If you watch the last Star Wars, you immediately feel the difference in the vibe between the new actors and the old ones.
Today's woman is not only not submissive, she's even better at anything than any man without the need for any training at all. I haven't watched the latest Star Wars movie, as having heard that the chick basically just picks up a light sword and instantly becomes a master was enough to turn me off. I get plenty of women are better at everything propaganda day in and day out, so there is no need to pay for that.
DeleteOh, how culture has changed indeed. This is basically a summary of modern culture regarding gender, Aaron. I observe this phenomenon in all kinds of girls, even my own sister as she is growing up, and it disgusts me. It really is a terrible thing to see. It has some overlap with conspiracy theory, you know, the media and all that. Sometimes i really wonder if there is some hidden agenda behind it all. Why empower females when they are naturally the 'weaker' sex? Sitcoms for example always portray men as fat bumbling idiots who rely on womens validation and act like theyre a bunch of immature kids. I can't stand watching it, i'm disgusted by it. I turn it off whenever it comes up and my family asks me what's wrong with me (only guy in the house, not surprising). I sense that Western culture is entering a dark age that won't pass for a very long time. Not surprised of the existence of so many game/manosphere blogs and advice, at its core it's men trying to regain their power, which is i feel is what they're naturally supposed to do. One final note Aaron: Why do you ditch game so much? NOT the old-school peacocking/DHV/sarging game, but the game advice that's about dominance, frame, conveying manly qualities? I don't see anything wrong with it. Why is this place so convinced that uglier looking guys can't compensate with masculine behaviour? I am a lurker of your forum as well and a general line is ''Not good looking = Fucked''. I beg to differ. Looks matter, of course they do, face/physique/height etc all increase your odds. But saying that there's barely any behavioral stuff involved just doesn't make sense to me.
DeleteI get that you seduced women within very short time frames, but they were instantly attracted so things could happen fast. I think if you go about the ''game'' way of attracting women, it takes longer or gets you girls that are prospects/on the fence. Can you fuck that up? Absolutely. I know some game advice is completely retarded, and on a site like RoK there's some good stuff mixed with some very bad garbage stuff. But saying there's no such thing as Game is going too far. I'm convinced there is. It's not a magic bullet, but it vastly can increase ones chances. Especially in this day and age where more and more men are becoming casualties /''incels''
That's a good comment. The problem is that you are not able to 'compensate' bad looks, since looks are what allows you to get a foot in the door. Of course masculine behavior is helpful. In fact, it is their absence that may fuck things up for you. Note that I certainly do stress the importance of moving the interaction forward (= assertiveness, dominance, confidence). You are much better off maximizing your appearance, which has the effect that your "inner game" will take care of itself. If you dress well and are in shape, chances are that you feel a lot better than someone who looks like crap but has studied "game".
DeleteAaron touches on something important. Inner game nonsense posits how you project confidence and masculinity, but the reality is, confidence best comes from actual accomplishment. Masculinity is largely a function of doing masculine things. Dressing well and being in shape does do wonders. It is really hard to think yourself into new way of doing, but easier to do yourself into a new way of thinking.
DeleteOh yes, the new Star Wars movie. I already regret going to the theater and contributing to it's box office. It is the new Star Wars movie after all, I thought.
DeleteWell, Aaron, you can pretty much call it Star Wars: Mary Sue Awakens. The main heroine becomes so ridiculously overpowered in the end, one may even wonder what's the point of making any sequels. It is obvious she is going to decimate everything in her path anyway. And yes, she does beat the crap out of Sith Apprentice(!) the first time she picks up a lightsaber. Enough said.
The funniest scene for me however is when she mentions she has never flown some particular spaceship before only to pilot it like a freaking world-class ace literally 10 seconds later.
Here's a good take by Stefan Molyneux, starting at around 10:30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwThhlhBZqk
Thanks for your input, Minos! Frankly, this Star Wars movie sounds like a feminist's wet dream. As ridiculous as some 80s action movies may have been, it seem a lot less implausible that a super-buff guy with a gun and elite training takes out an entire army than seeing a woman of delicate build and no training become a master Jedi, master pilot and, presumably, great leader all at once, and in an instant. Did Disney recruit for their focus groups via Jezebel or what is going on here?
DeleteYou are welcome, Aaron. One more thing I wanted to add is that not only Rey, the infallible Mary Sue, is a delicate teenager, but in the beggining she is shown to be a scavenger literally struggling to make ends meet. She is subsisting on some garbage "portions", lives in some shack and basically teeters on the brink of starvation. And yet she still masters everything from piloting to lightsaber duels.
DeleteHonestly, come to think of it, the whole thing is so absurd, that one might think that the movie is actually a satire of the original 1977 movie with a Mary Sue in the reading role. It makes more sense that way.
As for the reasons why, I guess there are two. First, to cater to new (incredibly narcissistic) female demographic as the old one (male nerds and geeks) are sceptical about the new movies to a large extent after the disastrous prequels. Second is, of course, the political correctness- why should two white men be the only heroes in Star Wars movie? How about a woman, a black guy, a homosexual, a pansexual gender queer pedophile and god knows who else. That's why the new Star Wars movie-"Star Wars Rogue One" not only features a female protagonist again, but now the entire male cast aside from the villain is non-white. I kid you not-the entire freaking cast. That's why the modern Ghostbusters remake features uber-smart white women and dumb as a rock male secretary played by Thor.
At this point, only the blind can't see the obvious propaganda.
This trailer shows how ridiculous the film was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs3sVrm_W4o
DeleteIt's ironic - Star Wars (original trilogy) is one of the prime examples of Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey" concept. That is, the story is powerful because you watch a character go from zero to hero (mistakes, failures and triumphs).
With the Farce Awakens, it strips all of that and makes the female lead this super duper hero.
I haven't really seen Max Maxine (with Charlize Theron). I was shocked to see it be nominated for Best Picture.
If you want see something really messed up, check up on a tv show called Extreme Cougars, where they show geriatric women in relationships with young men. The reality is if you maintain yourself, you can still look good, but age does place pretty large constraints on your sexual market value, and it is a lot worse for women then men.
ReplyDeleteToday's movies more or less require that female characters are strong and highly capable, and often desirable even if they are not that hot. This might lead to some unrealistic expectations, but smart people should recognize that movies are make-believe.