There were also claims of homophobia over a scene in which radio announcer Vince Fontaine says same-sex couples cannot compete in a dance contest.Others bemoaned the lack of racial diversity. “Watched Grease on the BBC, surprised they let it go, full of white people,” one viewer tweeted. The film was also accused of “slut-shaming” a key character, Betty Rizzo, played by Stockard Channing. Rizzo was disdained by others for having unprotected sex while promiscuous men were celebrated as macho.But Newton-John, still hopelessly devoted to the hit movie musical, responded to the outcry on the A Life of Greatness podcast.
“In this particular instance I think it’s kind of silly,” she told podcast host Sarah Grynberg. “The movie was made in the 1970s about the 1950s. It was a stage play, it’s a musical, it’s fun, a fun movie musical, not to be taken so seriously … we need to relax a little bit and just enjoy things for what they are.”Made on a measly $6m budget, Grease has made $396m at the box office.In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”Newton-John said her only concern about the film was playing a teenager.“I was nervous that I was too old,” she told Parade last year. “Now I look at it and think about how silly that was. It’s all relative. “I was 29 and concerned, but as John Travolta told me at the time, ‘Listen, none of us are teenagers, don’t worry about it’.”
Additional reporting: THE TIMES
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