"Women were pretty mean to me"

That's the experience of Annette Charles after taking the role of "Cha Cha" in Grease, which you may remember (here's a little help). Even as a teenager, I despised the movie when I first saw it in the theatres, and I have only come to dislike it more as the years pass. (It doesn't help that every year Catholic schools across the country love to perform it with younger and younger casts.)

The movie was a riot of adults behaving badly, of teenagers lacking guidance, and of vice conquering virtue. Remember, just as bad boy Danny (John Travolta) realises that he should straighten up if he wants to win the pure Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) she likewise has a change of heart (and a change of costume) and embraces her inner sleeze.

This was just one in a long string of films that proved that the straight-laced 1950's was a hot-bed of hormones just waiting to spill over (Animal House was another in this genre) and that those who weren't complete hypocrites were just morons. The frustration may have been related to the often vapid, vaguely-Christian promotion of conformity and "good behaviour" as thin gruel--more important for social order than actual imitation of Christ. There was also a near-puritanical horror of sexual urges, and if we've learned nothing else in the last ten years, it's that Jansenism is no way to form children in authentic chastity.

I may be simplifying it too much, but something caused the culture to topple, and the Protestant ethos of the public square had no ability to push back. In fact, it buckled and caved. That said, we pray for the soul of Annette Charles. This starring role put her on the map, but her destination was somewhat confused after that--as was the nation that latched onto such entertainment at an enormous cost.

 

 

Comments

[Teresa]

All these years I thought I was utterly alone in my secret opinion that "Grease" was a horrible movie. The movie came out when I was a young teen and struggling with my understanding of chastity. While girlfriends chirped along to all the songs, I knew I was out of step with my peers in my puzzlement over why the good girl was stupid and hopeless until she donned the tramp clothes, dirty danced and threw herself at Danny. I felt confused by its message, and frustrated and angry to realize that I was the loser, Sandy. The message was clear: if you are a virgin, you are an unpopular loser -- even if you were as beautiful as Olivia Newton John, sweet and sang like a nightingale. I feel vindicated now that I see I was not all alone after all!