Grease : Why does Sandy change?

Why does Sandy change?

Years after watching the movie, I still don't get it. Why does Sandy change in a 'cool' girl. Why doesn't she stay the same way? It's like: 'Oh, he doesn't like me this way, so I will change for him.' Isn't that the wrong message?

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I know! So dumb -_-

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Re: Why does Sandy change?

Because she felt like it. She did the right thing

Re: Why does Sandy change?

You're right. She didn't for him, she changed for herself. She told Frenchy she wasn't happy as she was so she asked for her help in her transformation.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Not saying if she made the right choice but it seems like she did it, not for herself, but for Danny and his clique.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

He wanted her like she was.
And she wanted him like he was.
Their friends got in the way, really.
She changed because although she liked being the "good girl," she also wanted to fit in. For all we know, she went back to the way she was after the movie.

"Do you even remember what you came here to find?"

Re: Why does Sandy change?


Like another poster said, she wasn't really happy the way she used to be She felt like a 'poor man's Sandra Dee'.
Plus, if you look into it, Danny also goes through some changes: he becomes a sportsman.

" You ain't running this place, Bert, WILLIAMS is!" Sgt Harris

Re: Why does Sandy change?

She might of gone back to how she was.I think that she just stood up to Danny to let him now you want me or someone else.I don't think Danny and the T-birds or the pink ladies were really that bad to begin with.I think that their acting bad around others and each other was just a facad.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I disagree that she made the change just for herself because she wasn't happy with who she was. I think she made the change strictly because she thought it would impress Danny. Since they both did some changing, thinking that was what the other wanted, they're both guilty of caving to some level of peer pressure. I think they both could have become better people, for themselves and for each other without totally selling out.

Re: Why does Sandy change?


She might of gone back to how she was.


She might HAVE gone back to how she HAD BEEN.

"Might of" makes no sense and "was" is past tense. We can't go back to the past.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I've been a grammar nazi for a long time and still am at heart, but you just gotta let it go. You can spell it out for them but they will never learn because they don't want to learn. They're blissful in their ignorance.
"Might of" is one of the top errors that make my skin crawl though.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Mad Monkey

"If he would have" makes me shudder.

I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I think part of the problem is Sandy's change was far more visual.

She has completely different make up and clothes and is smoking a cigarette while in high heel shoes.

Danny's change wasn't as striking. He had on his letterman, but most people don't realize what that means. It means he had to do well in his classes, since he'd've been kicked out if he was failing, and it means he graduated, unlike his T-Bird mooks.

The problem becomes more striking when he removes his letterman jacket. Without it, he looks just like the same old Danny. I think it would've been a more drastic change if Danny was wearing much more different clothes. Maybe a polo and some regular blue jeans rather than the black ones. Then when he casts off his jacket, he still looks different from who he was, much like Sandy.

Can't stop the signal.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

But he takes off his jacket in YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT, and it's not like he can't dance with it. It's not a coincidence that, under the jacket, he's wearing his usual clothes: By throwing the jacket, he's getting rid of the jock image. Even if I'm wrong, the fact is that the movie ends with the 2 singing and dancing wearing the same outfits, so it's hard not to interpret it that way.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Why are you assuming the movie has to have a good message?

Yes, Sandy gave into peer pressure and changed who she was to be the girlfriend of a thug. And? Good movie. Classic even.

Stop thinking every movie has to end with a good message for "the children" etc.

That kind of thinking has ruined American story telling.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Why are you all assuming that Sandy's change was permanent?

I can go dress up on Halloween, but, it doesn't make it a permanent thing.

I ALWAYS assumed that the change was solely intended to go with the 'You're The One That I Want' song.

That song is bold and in your face and I think they'd take Sandy less seriously if she sang the song and did it dressed up in her typical girly attire.

My best guess is that she planned to give Danny a stern piece of her mind in You're The One That I Want, and, the outfit empowered her and made her feel like a strong woman -- strong enough to get the message across.

I don't think that she was unhappy being as she was, I think that she just wanted to fit in with Danny's world more. She maybe kept up the more trendy look afterwards, but, maybe she didn't. Who knows.

What's even wrong with having a phase? Maybe that's what she was having. She got tired of her old style and decided to spice things up.

When I was in middle / high school, I went through all kinds of phases which resonated with me at the time and weren't just peer pressure. Goth, punk, preppy, retro, vintage, etc. It's the same reason that people dye their hair or get a piercing or tattoo. They want to add some flavor into their lives.

'Change' and going through a 'phase' or going through a full 360 reformation doesn't always have to be such a negative deal. We, as people, tend to be fluid anyways in our styles and tastes.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

"That's a 180, George."



"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Danny changed a little too. He took track, and wore his letter sweater for a few secs. Arguably he spent more time and effort in joining the track team for a season, whereas she got the $5 makeover from Frenchie which probably took just a few hours at most.

---
Bring back the old emoticons!

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I think if made today, Danny would prefer Sandy to change her inner self, but keep her good girl clothes, so he could *beep* her with her poodle skirt hiked up, and her saddle shoes on. Or maybe it's just me.

Re: Why does Sandy change?


Why does Sandy change?

I don't know, but she looks Mighty Fine at the end of the movie in those nice, black tights!

Re: Why does Sandy change?

It's called compromise. It's useful in relationships.

The fact is Sandy likes bad boys, but was never going to keep one while being so uptight and running off crying every other scene. So she goes through a makeover in both look AND attitude. However, this is often misunderstood as her sublimating her true self to conform to Danny's ideal. On the contrary, with this new look she has freed herself from expectations. In "You're the One That I Want" she lays down the law and demands that he must now *deserve* her. Throughout that entire song, she is finally the dominant one and he is the submissive. Look at the choreography.

This movie and the musical were made in the 1970s when then timid sexual roles imposed on women in the 1950s were seen as being not only regressive but practically like a straight-jacket. That's what's reflected in her "victorious" transformation at the end.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

She changed because the men who made this movie tried to get girls to want to be more trampy because that's how they liked girls. It makes no sense that she would change into a cigarette smoking black leather wearing vamp after a makeover. Lyrics of the songs are also disgusting with a pussy wagon that gets girls (I mean "chicks" to cream etc). The guys who slept around were celebrated while the girls had reputations and then Sandy was changed into that but still considered clean and not teased about being a bike like Rizzo. I can't believe schools had kids performing this sleaze disguised as feel good singing. And the dirty middle aged man at the dance competition hitting on a student while putting down an elderly female teacher. Obviously a film written and directed by middle aged men showing what they thought of females. It's implied that it's a permanent change in her wanting to be a greaser like him and have a creamy centre like the producers wanted young girls to have for them. They try to tell us she wanted to change but she only changed because she was told to and being the obedient girl she was she did. How low can you go.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Yow. That's assuming an awful lot about producers, scripters, and producers you don't know.

The movie and theatre piece didn't exist in a vacuum: they deliberately parodied entrenched cliches.

The midcentury standard was still (for the most part) good girls win, bad girls come to a bad end. And bad boys were dangerous.

Grease made all the "bad" kids funny and lovable, and turned the good/bad dichotomy on its head at the end.

"Sandy" didn't change because she came to some deep introspective decision. These aren't three-dimensional beings fleshed out by Chekhov. They're sketches of stock characters, created for fun and moved around a comic chessboard for humor's sake. Sandy changed because that was a funny, non-traditional ending.

That's all.

_______________

Nothing to see here, move along.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Very well said Eggbert.

~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

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Re: Why does Sandy change?

Oh I'm sorry did you miss the bit about chicks creaming because guys had a car and a sleazy older man being able to hit on a student without anyone confronting him? I don't need to assume anything, they showed exactly what they thought of girls and females in general.

Re: Why does Sandy change?


The midcentury standard was still (for the most part) good girls win, bad girls come to a bad end. And bad boys were dangerous.



You may mock "entrenched clichés" but they are STILL true. Always have been and always will be.

A possible "exception" (according to you) to the "midcentury standard" is Kim Kardashian.

If you think that "Kim Kardashian" is a winner (because she has a warehouse full of cash) while still being a ridiculous laughing-stock, certainly has a price. She is a successful exhibitionist and self-promoter, but she is still a vulgar subhuman, a terrible mother, a horrible role-model, a sick daughter and sibling, and a joke as a wife.

The "midcentury standard" is pretty much the history of the world. Good girls win, bad girls come to a bad end, and bad boys are not only dangerous, but are generally destined to become permanent "losers."

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Yes. All cliches are always true. Absolutely.

And apparently I'm a Kim Kardashian fan now.

I suspect there's not enough time in the universe for you and I to even agree on the fundamentals of a conversational exchange, let alone have one.

_______________

Nothing to see here, move along.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Sorry, I didn't find Sandy's change funny at all.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I agree with you. One of the wrong lessons imparted by this otherwise cute film. He haD already changed for her so there was no need. To become a "bad girl" and compromise your morals to get her man seems wrong to me.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

He didn't really change though. All he did was put on a jacket and try out some sports. He didn't sign a pledge of virginity and stop hanging out with the greasers.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Correction: He actually LETTERED in sports, that means he did way more than just try out. He went outside his comfort zone and completed his mission for her, and succeeded after she challenged him.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I might be reading too much into it, but I understood her change along the film's attempt to argue what is "good" or "socially acceptable". The opening song itself states that these kids are different and their approach to life is somewhat new, and they just want others to accept that and let them be. That is what rock and roll music did, after all, it aimed to loosen up the tight social roles of the time.

Anyway, I think that Sandy was caged by her understanding of what a good girl should be (she couldn't even enjoy being kissed by the man she likes), and we can see how Rizzo was treated because of her open minded ideas. So Sandy's transformation in the end is her way to reclaim her own freedom, by choosing to be "grease", rebellious, happy.

I see it not as an attempt to make women promiscuous, but to show that it is normal that women have sexual needs and should have equal freedom as men to do whatever they feel right.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

She wasn't happy with how she used to be.

Re: Why does Sandy change?

I think she does it for a few reasons and the most minor one is pleasing Danny.

When Frenchie comes up to her after the race, she says she's unhappy with the way things are. I don't think she means that she doesn't feel accepted by the gang. Frenchie is welcoming her down to the celebration and Rizzo has come to appreciate her after she stepped up for her during the whole pregnancy scare. Also, Danny is shown to have become a jock on the track team to win her approval. So, Sandy could remain the way she is, still get the guy, and still be part of the gang.

But she doesn't want to stay the same. We see as far back as the slumber party that she's not thrilled to be stereotyped as a Sandra Dee knock-off. And when the other "good" girls turn on Rizzo, we see that Sandy doesn't like that, either. So, she gets the other Pink Ladies to help her transform.

I think that's something a lot of people miss. She doesn't just become a random hot chick to impress Danny. She becomes a Pink Lady. That's a pretty big break from her former clique, especially after Rizzo's pregnancy scare, and that's really about her and what she wants, not just about pleasing Danny (though it certainly helps).

The Historical Meow http://thesnowleopard.net

Re: Why does Sandy change?

Most people these days expect people the way were tbut in those days times were different if you were just a clean cut good girl greasers were just reject you they only date bad girls Sandy had to go from clean cut sweet girl to a bad ass greaser girl so Danny go out with her she has to change she had no choice since her a girl like her didn't fit in the greaser world sometimes, I do prefer the old Sandy the clean cut and good girl Sandy but at times i liked the bad girl greaser Sandy she did kind of hot when she transformed the type of girl Danny liked Michael did the same he had go from clean cut good boy who was a gentleman to a bad boy greaser so Stephanie would go out with him Stephanie was a bad girl the leader of the pink ladies the pink ladies only date bad boy greasers Michael had no choice he had to change since a boy like him didn't fit in the pink ladies world there was female greasers in the 1960s as well as male greasers good boys didn't have the chance too go out with girls only boys had the chance too go out with girls times were different in the 1960s good boys didn't get the girls only bad boys got the girls.
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