“What happened to the Danny Zuko I met at the beach?”
This quote basically sets up the entire plot of the movie. Sandy and Danny enjoyed a summer romance where she got to know Danny away from the influence of peer pressure. Sandy was supposed to go back to Australia at the end of summer, but her parents instead decide to stay and so she just so happens to enroll in the same high school Danny attends. Back among his circle of friends, Danny has already reverted to form under the pressure of conforming to expectations. Therein lies the dramatic tension, essentially.
“This Goody Two-Shoes makes me wanna barf.”
Rizzo is the leader of group of “greaser” girls called the Pink Ladies. While she puts on a tough front, she is secretly more vulnerable. Although the Pink Ladies adopt Sandy into their clique, Rizzo mocks her behind her back. Until she puts on blond wig to look like Sandy who overhears this criticism. Ultimately, however, Rizzo and Sandy grow close and it is Rizzo’s advice for Sandy to put on the façade of a “bad girl” that helps bring about the reconciliation with Danny. This is another application of the theme of peer pressure with pervades the film.
“Attention seniors. Before the merriment of commencement commences, I hope that your years with us here at Rydell have prepared you for the challenges you face. Who knows? Among you there may be a future Eleanor Roosevelt or a Rosemary Clooney, and among you young men, there may be a Joe DiMaggio, a President Eisenhower, or even a Vice-President Nixon.”
This quote is valuable for two purposes. One, the references to Clooney, DiMaggio and Eisenhower serve to situate the setting of the 1950’s as the period in which the film takes place. Other quotes that also serve this purpose are the use of slang terms such as “Peachy keen, jellybean” and “You’re cruisin’ for a bruising.” What those examples lack, however, are irony which is fulfilled with that final reference to Richard Nixon. Released less than five years after the Nixon’s resignation from the Presidency in disgrace, the irony of an ambition to be like Nixon is readily obvious.
“Tell me about it, stud.”
Sandy and Danny’s post-summer relationship has been rocky to say the least. On-again, off-again with both dating others. Meanwhile, in an effort to win her back, Danny has challenged the conformity of peer pressure to make a transformation (of sorts) from a greaser to a jock. On the advice of Rizzo, however, Sandy has also undergone a dramatic presentation: from Goody-Two Shoes in a cute dress to bad girl smoking (literally and metaphorically) in skintight black leather. Danny is stunned at the sight and everything has been reversed from the beginning, including the very concept that it was being true to themselves that was the key to their summer love.
