Grease is a classic American film that takes place in the 1950s and explores ideas of gender and sexuality. The film was produced in 1978 by Robert Stigwood and Allen Carr and was directed by Rundel Kleiser. The film was not set in the 1970s because it would have to tell a different story; in the 1970s there was birth control and an abundance of sexual liberation, unlike the 1950s. The producers were able to connect the concepts of events from the 1950s into the film. Grease explores the ideas of gender and sexuality through specific gender roles. On one hand, there are characters in the film who are sexually good and are innocent, they are pure. On the other hand, there are characters who are sexually bad and have a tendency to sin, …show more content…
“Good” Sandy, Frenchy, and Patty do not get as much attention from the boys in the film. The producers were able to communicate that bad girls are better. The film’s treatment of gender and sexuality connects to the time in which the film was based in and also made in. Grease connects to the 1950’s because of its relevance with the release of Playboy in 1953 (Playboy History). Playboy conveys the idea that sexually mischievous women are better than women who are not with their explicit media. Grease also connects to the 1970’s because of the feminist movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Civil Rights Act was also passed in 1964, which was intended to prevent employment discrimination of race, religion, and sex (The 1960s-70s American Feminist Movement: Breaking Down Barriers for Women). In the film, women seem to have a bit more power than they are thought to have. For example, bad Sandy is able to assert sexual power over Danny at the end of the film. The producers of the film were able to connect elements from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. The film’s treatment of gender and sexuality connects to course readings that are studied in our class. Elizabeth Lunbeck’s essay, Hysteria: The Revolt of the “Good Girl”, there are two main themes that correspond with Grease. The first theme is that women are hypersexual creatures that seduce men. This theme is only considered normal to men
Women’s roles in movies have changed dramatically throughout the years. As a result of the changing societal norms, women have experienced more transition in their roles than any other class. During the period of classical Hollywood cinema, both society and the film industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in home in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. Women did not have predominated roles in movies such as being the heroin. The 1940’s film Gilda wasn’t an exception. In Gilda, the female character mainly had two different stereotypes. The female character was first stereotyped as a sex object and the second stereotyped as a scorned woman who has to be punished.
Grease was a musical production performed by the Metropolitan State University of Denver's department of theatre, in later September and early October of 2015. Grease is a musical mainly about two characters Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. These two fell in love over the summer, but then reality hits them when it's time for school to start again. Well, Sandy ends up transferring to Rydell High School where Danny attends. Danny acts like he doesn't know Sandy and wants nothing to do with her, but Sandy just wants their summer love back and is willing to completely change herself for Danny to love her again.
Feminist ideas are used throughout this story in both explicit and implicit ways to help describe the gender roles placed upon females in the 1950s. “That figure was a garish blond showgirl, a Hollywood ‘sexpot’ of no interest to intellectuals”. (Page 79) The author explicitly includes the
The magazine article describes the stark contrast in the portrayal of female sexuality between pre-Code and post-Code movies. Pre-Code movies are flagrantly sexual; although some contemporary film critics believe that women were simply embracing their sexual freedom through these pre-code films, the marketing for many of these brazenly sexual films often included derisive comments from males, suggesting that the intent of overt sexuality in films was more crude. Post-code films often used screenwriting strategies to stay within bounds of the Code. Denby argues that this censorship actually created a net benefit for women, who were given stronger personalities and more interesting plot lines instead of simply being sexual objects. The article suggests that censorship led to the inception of the screwball comedy genre, which was forced to “create sex without sex.”
A young boy walks out of a theatre alone as a blue mustang approaches him. Or was it, a young boy is writing about a random topic then walks around with his two friends causing trouble? Books and movies do not always line up completely. However, The Outsiders is one example of a book and movie that have same and different aspects.The Outsiders was originally a book written in the 1960’s by a fifteen year old girl, S.E. Hinton and later turned into a movie around the year 1980. The story is placed in the 1960’s about a group of greasers who take things too far with a few socs and learn more about growing up.The movie and book have been reviewed while taking notes about them. A greaser is a social label, referring to as underprivileged, poor, and troublesome, commonly greasers are proud of their hair and know how to look tough. A soc is another social label that is opposite to greaser. Socs are referred to as rich, spoiled, and they look down on greasers. The Outsiders book and movie have similarities and differences
Grease is an American musical comedy which takes place in the summer of 1958. The Protagonist, Danny Zuko, meets Sandy Olsson at the beach while she vacationed away from her native country, Australia. They shared a romantic summer together and fell in love, but her projected return to Australia left them out of touch. Once summer is over and school starts, Sandy worries because she is going to a new school in America and is scared she will not make friends. Once she is there she quickly befriends “The pink ladies” ( a popular clique of girl greasers at Rydell High.) Danny Zuko, also a greaser, is the leader of the clique
This genre is typically modern, perky and upbeat, but the common narrative in all of them is that it features a woman who is strong and she overcomes adversity to reach her goals. There is also a message of empowerment that also struggles with a romantic predicament and using comedy to poke fun at the male characters. Industries are still producing soppy romantic comedies for the female audience but the divide between the standard chick flick and romantic comedy is slowly disappearing. Similarly to the beginning of this essay it is evident that institutions are moving in the direction of women’s place in culture in relation to this film genre; women are usually shown as the super power since they are made to appeal to the female audience. However
The films framework is centered around the exploration of sexuality, and although it is subtle the film implies that the two
Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the
The music and dance scenes are what attracted me to Grease. My favorite characters are John Travolta and Jeff Conaway who play Danny and Kenickie. I like these two because they are your typical high school popular boys who are always looking out for each other, looking good and they are always trying to get the beautiful girls but at the same time acting cool like it doesn't bother them. I had high expectations of Grease and I
Several film theorists have used a variety of tactics and view points to analyze feature films since their inception. One of the most prominent theorists of those that analyze films from a feminist perspective is Laura Mulvey. Mulvey is famous for her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” which presents an array of theories involving the treatment of women in films. Arguably the most notable idea presented in Mulvey’s work is the existence of the “male gaze” in films. This essay will examine Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze in relation to Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo. Vertigo does not fit the criteria of a film that
The male gaze puts his fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled, in a unique sort of way. In this traditional exhibitionist, role women are continuously being looked at and their appearance is delivered to the male gaze in such a way as a strong visual and erotic impact and provides male desire. The presence of a woman in a normal narrative film is the key of the movie. However, the key of the narrative film works against the development of the story-line and stops the action due to the erotic gaze. Butt Boetticher said: “What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance”.
Like most popular gender-bending films, Some Like It Hot calls us to critique constructions of sexuality and gender both within the context of historicized moment of the films production and from the perspective of later
He did play more than just female roles, but mainly his roles were lead female roles. John likes to use the weirdest and foulest types of people in his films and likes to use similar subject matter. What was considered grotesque and shocking back in the mid-60s and early 70s to a group of young catholic teenagers were primarily a huge part in the plots of his films at the time which would be anything adhering to the realm of homosexuality or sin in general. Pink Flamingos (1972) was about Divine and her family verses another group of horrid individuals for the title of the filthiest people alive. If John were to still be making films today, he would probably be using the same subject matter, but with a modern twist. His film Hairspray in 1988 was surprisingly his first PG rated film. A short essay titled “The Nicest Kids in Town” that John wrote for his 1981 book called Shock Value, is where he spoke about his love and obsession with all the dance crazes of the time and watching Baltimore’s own real life equivalent to the Corny Collins Show called the Buddy Deane
The goal of this paper is to prove why the homosexual couple is more normal than the heterosexual couple and why the definition of beauty is not accurate throughout the plot of American Beauty by using the technique of gender criticism. My first step to achieving this goal will be providing evidence about the main masculine and feminine roles and how they are reversed. Afterwards, I will compare and contrast the relationship of the homosexual couple with that of the heterosexual couple. In addition, I will describe how the movie depicts society’s definition of beauty by allowing the readers to sympathize with teenagers, Jane Burnham and Angela Hayes.