Читать книгу HOLLYWOOD SHAPED MY HAIR - James King - Страница 10

A love of this type of grooming usually equalled, at least in cinema terms, a macho sensitivity that I might not have picked up on as a kid, but by my later teenage years I found extremely appealing. If you worried this much about your hair, it seemed, you were probably in tune with your feminine side, even if you didn’t entirely realise it (the James Dean-obsessed Christian in Clueless takes this theory to its logical conclusion, painfully disappointing Alicia Silverstone’s love-struck Cher by eventually admitting that he’s not just really into male grooming, he’s actually gay). When you think about it, Grease is basically the story of Danny’s journey towards this sensitive side.

You see, if Danny had just been open and honest, instead of being all uptight and blokey, the movie would have no plot. Everything that happens in the movie happens because he can’t just be truthful to his friends about his feelings for Sandy. On the one hand, he’s the King of the school, on the other, he’s totally repressed. He’s like Elvis meets Ralph Fiennes.

It’s only when Danny stops trying to be pouty and proud that Grease can have a happy ending. Although the big deal is made out of Sandy’s transformation into legging-clad sex kitten – ‘Tell me about it, stuuuhd’ remaining one of the least convincing yet hilariously iconic lines in cinema history – she hasn’t really done anything wrong to warrant a change. It’s the guys that need to grow up. Zucko does just that, by ultimately taking as much care over his relationship as he does over his hair.