and Words
Guess mine is not the first heart broken
My eyes are not the first to cry
I’m not the first to know
There’s just no getting over you
I know I’m just a fool who’s willing
To sit around and wait for you
But baby, can’t you see there’s nothing else for me to do?
I’m hopelessly devoted to you
Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.
Guess mine is not the first fond memory of this movie. Like many people my age, the movie ‘Grease’ became an iconic film which held many fond memories. It spoke to many in different ways. For many, the nostalgia and Americana drew them in, the cartoonish stereotypes of high school with fashion and cars. For others, it was the music that transitioned from one situation to another, though that’s not necessarily new for musicals. Though I suspect that for most, the storyline held the most appeal.
The interaction between Sandy, the foreign girl of high virtue, and Danny, the prototypical bad boy was delicious. The entire movie was a dance, both figurative and literal, between the two of them. As in any good story, we identify with all characters in the film as we follow them for a school year. Naturally, we follow the story of both Sandy and Danny, but we also watched characters like Kenickie, Rizzo, and even Frenchie grow and develop.
Naturally, we gloss over the fact that the resolution of the conflict was, to put it bluntly, the (forgive the term) sluttification of Sandy. I understand that this is the 2020’s, and I pass no judgement on women’s promiscuity. However, I will point out that her first words on that final scene were, “Tell me about it… Stud.”
No folks, there no ambiguity.
Shortly after arriving in Florida in 1978, ironically on a warm summer night, we shuffled into a movie theater down the road from our home. I vaguely remember the lights on the billboard as we entered the theater to see a movie. I didn’t know what we were about to watch, though I won’t forget having seen it. We, my sisters and I, went with friends of the family, in an outing that excluded our parents. Truthfully, we were barely old enough to watch it, with my sister being the oldest at thirteen.
The sights and sounds from this film bombarded my senses in that age the same way that it did with many of you. Consequently, the music burned into my memory, note by note with the appropriate inflections. However, the most memorable remains Olivia Newton-John’s performance of ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’. She filled that garden with her voice, soulfully bellowing pure agony and helplessness.
I’m sure that my memory of this film is similar to many of yours, with one instrumental exception. At this point in 1978, I had just moved from Puerto Rico, where I attended Catholic school. My teachers taught all my classes in Spanish, save one. That one exception was English, which I failed. On that warm summer night decades ago when we first watched Grease, I didn’t know how to speak English. In other words, I didn’t understand any of the dialogue nor any of the lyrics.
I watched the same scenes that many of you did as a young child, without knowing the exchanges between characters. Just imagine hearing the words to ‘Summer Nights’ without understanding the meaning behind the words from the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. Did I understand the conflict, the romance, and the betrayal? Absolutely! However, all the subtle subtexts between characters? None of it made any sense, not in 1978.
Naturally, I learned to speak English in the years that followed. Fluency came through public school education, talking with new friends, and watching television. My English vocabulary was disproportionately similar to the dialogue in Three’s Company. That and Korean War references from M*A*S*H.
On one afternoon, my sister and I drove by a sign that said “INGLES”. We pondered about the reference since we didn’t recognize the word. What are ingles? It took us a minute to realize that was the Spanish word ‘Inglés’, which means English. Specifically, the default frame of reference led to interpreting this word differently.
Years later I watched ‘Grease’ again, though this time it played substantially differently. The words from ‘Summer Nights’ were now crassly suggestive. Subsequently, I now learned that Danny and Cha Cha had a romantic history. Lastly, I watched as Rizzo confesses her pregnancy scare. No, I didn’t pick up any of those nuances as a young child who didn’t speak the language. This didn’t surprise me.
As I watched this film for the Nth time, a nagging feeling persisted. Having watched this film in a ‘foreign’ language, it retains the feel of a foreign film to me. It’s surreal since it’s a key piece of Americana, but it feels a bit off. However, I’m convinced that had I watched it, for the first time, once I learned English fluently, it’d feel more natural. Perhaps part of that feel is due to Sandy speaking English with an Australian accent (although she was born in England). It’s much like reading the word INGLES; my default frame of reference was hearing the barely familiar English words as a Spanish speaker.
A few months ago, I saw on the news that Olivia Newton-John passed away from cancer. This tragic loss saddened me in ways that I did not expect. I’ll fully admit that I’ve had a crush on her for all these years. It might’ve been the accent, but it could also be the perpetually happy disposition as I watched her videos and concert clips.
In that moment, I reflected upon two iconic roles. Naturally, there’s the above-mentioned role of Sandy Olsson, the prototypical symbol of virtue… until she wasn’t. 😉 Though sentimentally for me, there’s the role of Kira, the muse from Xanadu.
While I can’t say that I necessarily believe in magical beings, like muses. I can’t help but to selfishly think of her death as losing a source of inspiration. Many of my endeavors are creative, and many times I’ve gotten spontaneously, inexplicably inspired. If I were to entertain this notion, have I lost my muse?