Grease’s Didi Conn brushes off claims the film is sexist

Didi Conn has brushed off claims that Grease was sexist by insisting that the character of Sandy was ’emancipated’ by her transformation. 

The actress, 69, who played Frenchy in the 1978 classic film, explained that Sandy opted for a sexier appearances to escape her restricted upbringing, after critics claimed the character shouldn’t have to change her look with be with Danny Zuko.

Grease told the iconic tale of naive teen Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) who was reunited with her summer sweetheart Danny (John Travolta) after moving to his high school, and their attempts to rekindle their romance.

Argument: Didi Conn, 69, has brushed off claims that Grease was sexist by insisting that the character of Sandy was ’emancipated’ by her transformation

Speaking on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain, Didi defended Sandy’s decision to change her appearance to be with Danny.

She said: ‘Frenchy always wanted to be a beautician. She wanted to make people beautiful and bring every great quality in them. 

‘She failed, she had a few problems in the tinting class over there. She still cared, especially for her friends. 

Iconic: The actress played Frenchy in the classic 1978 film, opposite Olivia Newton-John, who played Sandy (pictured)

Speaking out: Speaking on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain, Didi defended Sandy’s decision to change her appearance to be with Danny

‘So when Sandy is all alone by herself after the car race and she decides she wants to be part of the gang, she wants to have fun and allow herself to be emancipated a little bit. She says to Frenchy, ”Can you help me Frenchy?” you know.

‘So, it’s like the first makeover show, she is becoming more of herself. She is allowing herself to come through. 

‘It’s not so much to get her man but it’s to be who she is 100%. He ran away from the dance because he was dancing with Cha-Cha and she couldn’t confront him because there was this part of herself that wanted to come out.’

Views: She said that despite Sandy’s innocent appearance she was secretly hoping to bring out her sexuality, which sets the stage for her makeover by the film’s end

Opinion: She added: ‘Even Olivia Newton-John was seen as a goody good shoes (sic), so she was really excited to liberate herself and bring out this woman, this emerging sexual person’

Didi added that despite Sandy’s innocent appearance she was secretly hoping to bring out her sexuality, which sets the stage for her makeover by the film’s end.

She added: ‘They were in love at the beach, in bathing suits, practically naked. They loved each other in their innocent way. 

‘It wasn’t about getting him. It was more about being herself. Even Olivia Newton-John was seen as a goody good shoes (sic), so she was really excited to liberate herself and bring out this woman, this emerging sexual person.

‘Frenchy was very protective of Sandy… Sandy was new in town. She wanted Sandy to belong and be part of the Pink Ladies.’

It comes after Grease’s star Olivia Newton-John also hit back at claims that the beloved musical could be seen as sexist.

Speaking about the backlash in an interview with The Guardian, the actress reminded fans that there was ‘nothing deep to her character’, and she was little more than ‘a girl who was in love with a guy.’ 

Ridiculous: It comes after Grease’s star Olivia also hit back at claims that the beloved musical could be seen as sexist (pictured in August 2019)

After arriving at Danny’s school as a prim and proper girl, Sandy undergoes an incredible makeover by the film’s end to cement her and Danny’s romance, donning a skintight black catsuit and leather jacket. 

Sandy opted to change despite Danny insisting he’d ditch his biker persona and become a jock to be with her, and many fans have insisted it’s sexist that she was the one who had to change.

But Olivia hit back at these claims, saying: ‘It’s a movie. It’s a story from the 50s where things were different. 

New look: In the 1978 film her character ditched her prim and plain style (left) for a sexy new look (right) to win Danny Zuko’s heart

Young love: Olivia, who starred in the film opposite John Travolta (pictured) insisted there’s ‘nothing deep’ to her character, and she’s just ‘a girl who loves a guy’

‘Everyone forgets that, at the end, he changes for her, too. There’s nothing deep in there about the #MeToo movement. 

‘It’s just a girl who loves a guy, and she thinks if she does that, he’ll like her. And he thinks if he does that, she’ll like him. I think that’s pretty real. People do that for each other. It was a fun love story.’

For years it’s been claimed that Grease promotes a sexist representation of women, but the argument gained speed in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which increased awareness of the representation of women in media. 

Throughout the film it seems that the male T-Birds’ sole focus is having sex with their girlfriends, whatever the consequences.

Among moments under scrutiny was the controversial lyric ‘Did she put up a fight?’ from the song Summer Nights, which some have claimed could be a reference to sexual abuse or rape. 

Many have also noted that Sandy shouldn’t feel the need to change her image from the so-called ‘girl-next-door’, despite the film heavily implying she and Danny would never be together if she’d kept her look and demeanour the same.

Challenging: In recent years Olivia has been battling breast cancer, and due to her ongoing health battle has been in self-isolation at her country estate in the US (pictured October 2019)

Meanwhile Danny briefly tries to change and become a jock, telling his pals: ‘I’m gonna do anything I can to get her,’ but his ‘bad boy’ appearance and ideals remain predominantly the same by the film’s end.

However some have defended the film as a feminist piece, with Dr Barbara Jane Brickman explaining this argument in her book Grease: Gender, Nostalgia and Youth Consumption in the Blockbuster Era.

She said: ‘Coming towards the end of the swinging 1970s but supposedly lacking any condemnation of the 1950s era, Grease was criticised for being a reactionary piece of (white) male fantasy, one longing for a time when boys could be boys, women knew their place, and there was no racial conflict (or diversity, for that matter). 

‘The film is, through much of its action, a girl’s film – exploring girls’ ”bedroom culture” and fandom, wrestling with and critiquing that sexual double standard impinging itself on Rizzo and Sandy, and focusing on female teen friendships, more so, one might argue, than many, many teen films then or since.’

In recent years Olivia has been battling breast cancer, and due to her ongoing health battle has been in self-isolation at her country estate in the US during the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on Channel Nine’s Today Show in Australia earlier this month, she said: ‘I feel great and I’m so grateful I’m able to be in the countryside.

‘I feel so much for people stuck in cities or apartments, or alone. I know you’ve been going through a hard time in Australia.’ 

‘I have my animals and my husband. This has actually been one of the rare times in my whole life where I have been in one place for more than three weeks.’

She confessed that she sometimes ‘feels guilty’ about how much she’s enjoying spending time at home.

Health update: Speaking on Channel Nine’s Today Show in Australia earlier this month, she said: ‘I feel great and I’m so grateful I’m able to be in the countryside’

Olivia also said that her cancer diagnosis means she has to be extra vigilant during the COVID-19 crisis.

‘I’m in that bracket with an underlying condition and have to be careful… everybody is going through dreadful times and having to worry about their immune systems but people with cancer have had this concern always,’ she said.

In January, the Australian icon gave her fans a health update and revealed that her tumours had shrunk in size.

She told The Sunday Telegraph that using medicinal cannabis and natural remedies in addition to conventional medicine had improved her health. 

Olivia, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and twice before in 1992 and 2013, has spent years lobbying the Australian government to approve the use of medicinal cannabis for cancer patients.

Fight: Olivia was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and twice before in 1992 and 2013, and has been lobbying the Australian government to approve medicinal cannabis for cancer patients