Once in an while a true classic movie is born, cementing its place in movie history. 1978's movie musical extravaganza Grease is definitely one of those classics. Starring Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and John Travolta, Grease is one of those movies that delights entire generations, and has remained a relevant piece of pop culture to this day. A fan theory about the movie has recently taken the internet by storm, and it's a pretty bizarre one. The popular theory claims that Sandy actually drowned during the events described in "Summer Nights" and the film actually follows Danny's fantasy of her survival and subsequent move to his neighborhood. And the car flying into the sky during the finale is the young couple going to heaven. Heavy, right?
Now Sandy herself, actress/singer Olivia Newton-John has finally reacted to the idea that her character was totally dead the whole time. She recently spoke with the good folks over at Huffington Post, where she said the following:
I thought it was hilarious. I thought it was wonderful that people were still talking about it all these years later. Then I thought, if that's the case, we were the first zombie musical, and we look pretty good considering!
At least Sandy baby has a sense of humor about the whole thing.
Obviously this fan theory is just that: a silly theory. The practice of fans creating new explanations to their favorite movie or TV show is a fairly new practice, and has the ability to showcase some of the brilliant and creative minds that make up audiences. There have been popular fan theories for franchises like Star Wars and The Walking Dead that were so logical and moving the writers could have taken notes. But I'm not sure the wild Grease theory is one of these winners.
I do find it funny that the basis of this theory is a quick lyrics or two in "Summer Nights". While Sandy and Danny are telling their versions of how they met at the beach, Danny tells the T-Birds that he "saved her life, she nearly drowned" after her leg cramped in the ocean. However, the theory choses to ignore Sandy's version of the story, where she claims he just showed off for a bit in the water during their unseen meet-cute. Then again, maybe ghost Sandy didn't want to talk about her untimely death during a rousing musical number about young love. Know your audience.
In the same interview, Olivia Newton-John fully shut down the idea of Sandy being undead during Grease, saying:
It's so far from reality because that's not what it was, but I think it's a hilarious theory
You can watch the iconic number below as a refresher below.
The idea of Sandy being dead the whole time is definitely a bummer, and not one I'm going to entertain. Although maybe we should ask Grease Live!'s Julianne Hough if she brought this idea to her recent interpretation of the character.
Do you like the Grease theory, or are you happy with the original version? Let us know in the comments.
