The friendships, romance and adventures that the kids of Rydell High go through remind us all of the high school experiences that we’ve all encountered. In the summer of 1958, Sandy Olsson meets bad boy Danny Zuko at the beach while on vacation and they fall in love. As the summer comes to an end, Sandy worries about returning home to Australia and never seeing her summer love again, but he reassures her that their love is not over. Little does he know it’s really not!
Then cinematic fate steps in on the first day of senior year at Rydell High. Danny meets up with his T-Bird gang, and talks about his summer encounter. Meanwhile, sweet Sandy meets the Pink Ladies and is later reunited with her summer romance Danny. Their love is everything that a high school romance is envisioned to be – of course, there is drama. Sandy isn’t ready for Danny’s bad boy lifestyle and Danny isn’t ready to fall into forever love. Despite the rollercoaster of emotions, the two come together in the end and the rest is a fairy tale filled with happily ever high school. It’s amazing what a pair of skin tight leather pants can do when you’re the gorgeous Olivia Newton John embracing your bad girl side. Grease brought forward a whole new perspective of a summer romance and with those high stakes further solidified the possibility of true love for anyone and everyone.
Sandy and Danny’s love story is one we all know too well. It’s sung in songs that we love to replay over and over again. It’s experienced in the loves that we’ve encountered, whether it be during a beach meeting or a coffee shop run in. Or perhaps it’s the beginning to the story of forever that one experiences when they meet the one. No matter how it’s felt, Sandy and Danny’s electrifying love is relatable. It’s the type of love that we hold our vision of love to because it’s passionate, honest, prosperous and drives each other completely mad.
True love grows together despite the differences and teaches us how to be better people with the one we can’t imagine living our life without. Grease speaks volumes because even though we know Sandy and Danny are fictional characters, the film provides a source of hope and truth to our own love life. It gives others hope that true love exists and rekindles the youthful heart that yearns to feel the passion.
No matter how many years pass by Grease will remain one of the best films in cinematic history. And even though we all know John Travolta and Olivia Newton John aren’t together, in our dreams Sandy and Danny are still dancing to “We Go Together” at that carnival.
