Thursday, April 25, 2013

I'm Thinking It's the Vicodin ...



I've had a thing against Grease for years.   I used to love it.  Yes ... I knew all the words to all the songs.   But at some point something went wrong ... if I had to guess I'd say over-exposure.   I had the soundtrack and played it until I knew it frontwards and backwards and could sing it in my sleep.  Eventually I grew to hate it ... with ... a ... passion.

I'm home today ... after what was, admittedly, a rather bull-headed move on my part.  Mom offered to help me take two old televisions to the recycling center.  One voice in my head said ... Um, this is gonna be hard.  Another voice said ... Hell yeah!  We can do it!  Sigh ... I never listen to the logical voice.   Why don't I listen to the logical voice?   So, the good news is that we did it!   The bad news is that I ruptured a cyst and I'm peeing blood.   Yes ... I'll ask for help next time.  I just hate feeling like I can't do something ... and asking for help feels ... weak.

In any case, the point is that I was home, laying in bed on a heating blanket, when I saw that Grease was on.  I don't know if it was the drugs ... or if it was just curiosity ... but I left it on.  And I was pleasantly surprised to find ... it was actually fun.

I'm catching things I never caught before.   Take the drive-in scene ... Danny gives Sandy his ring and she says, "This means so much to me!  It means you really respect me."  I've never noticed this before ... but the moment she says that, Danny raises his eyebrows, rolls his eyes, and then face palms.   His reaction is hilarious.

Watching it again, I'm reminded how much I love Rizzo.  I always have.  And don't think that didn't strike the fear of God into my parents.  They watched their little girl ... who didn't want anything to do with that prissy bitch Sandy ... walking around singing, "There Are Worse Things I Could Do."  It's a wonder they didn't send me to a convent as a pre-emptive measure.

There are a few things that don't stand up well over time.  I look at it now and think ... damn, all these "kids" look at least 30 ... and Cha Cha and looks around 40.   And while I was watching it, I read a bit about the original play online and there are a lot of crazy theories about what the movie was "really hinting at" ... that Jan had an eating disorder (she supposedly loses a conspicuous amount of weight over the course of the movie) ... or that Rizzo had an abortion (there's supposed to be a deleted scene of her singing a line about "the baby's gone").   But all of those things were lost on me back in the day.  If Jan was purging, I had no idea ... and I honestly thought Rizzo had a close call.

Still ... I'll admit when I'm wrong ... and I was wrong about Grease.  It is fun ... there's only one question that remains.   Is it fun because I'm finally no longer burned out?  Or is it the Vicodin?   Either way, what the hell ... let's put the Blu-Ray on and watch it again!

I could hurt someone like me,
Out of spite or jealousy.
I don't steal and I don't lie,
But I can feel and I can cry.
A fact I'll bet you never knew.
But to cry in front of you,
That's the worse thing I could do. 

Grease - There Are Worse Things I Could Do
  

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