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Bethany Houde
UWRT 1101
Professor Campbell
17 September 2014
I dare you not to Sing Along: An Analysis of Musical Genres
Ask anyone that grew up in the 80s if they have ever heard of the movie Grease, and I
guarantee if not all most will say yes. Grease was and still is a well-known movie that took on a
new outlook of the musical genre. Grease opened the eyes of many viewers in a new way of
entertainment, and it is not possible to watch Grease more than once without knowing all the
songs and feeling the urgency to sing along. Movies that fall into the musical genre evoke
outgoing characteristics even from the shyest of people. This genre analysis focuses specifically
on analyzing Grease as a musical genre and the multitude of comparisons to West Side Story.
Identifying the Genre, Audience & Purpose
Grease was created to entertain an audience and make them
feel like a part of the movie. Grease belongs to the musical genre,
because stories and situations are told throughout the movie utilizing
song and dance. Watching Grease now versus when it came out makes
the audience feel like they are currently in the time period when it was
produced. Grease tends to make middle-aged people reminisce about
high school. According to imdb.com Grease was released in 1978 and
was the highest grossing film for that year. Grease related to the time
period, by reflecting the way high school students dressed, acted, and
socialized. This selection does achieve the intended purpose of the

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writer and directors vision. Allan Carr and Randal Kleiser, the writer and director, had a vision to
entertain the audience through situations that high school students face in everyday life. They do
a good job of getting their intended purpose across to the viewer. You can tell the time period of
Grease through the way characters talk, dress, dance, and what they do for fun. Throughout the
movie the characters tend to hang out the majority time at school, the diner or after sporting
events by a bonfire. Throughout the entire movie characters are commonly seen with a cigarette
in their hand. This shows the time period, because when this movie was produced a larger
percent of citizens smoked compared to today. According to archive.tobacco.org in 1978 75% of
U.S. males smoked. In 2008 the percentage of male smokers in the U.S. dramatically dropped to
40%. The way the characters are dressed greatly affects how the viewer perceives the time
period. The main male characters wear a lot of leather and gel in their hair. The main female
characters also known as The Pink Ladies wear dresses and have volumized
hair. When the main characters are seen at school they are usually at lunch
gossiping with a cigarette in their hand. This definitely shows the time
period, because in todays time most public schools are tobacco free.
Conventions are common aspects found throughout many pieces of
the same genre. Common conventions found in musicals include
song, dance, costumes, makeup, dramatic confrontations, and a
solution to a problem that occurred throughout the whole movie. Many of these conventions are
found throughout Grease. There are 25 songs performed throughout Grease; some of the most
popular are Summer Nights, Hopelessly devoted to you, Beauty school drop out, Born to hand
jive, and Look at me Im Sandra Dee. Another movie that can be compared to Grease is West
Side Story. West Side Story is a musical that was produced prior to Grease and contains a lot of

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similar conventions and constraints. Both Grease and West Side Story were written to entertain
and show situations of an average high school student through song and dance. Both films
include two rivaling social groups fighting to be on top. One common convention found in both
musicals is the underlying genre of romance. In both musicals there are two main different social
groups that constantly battle one another. In each musical a boy and girl meet from different
rivaling groups and fall in love. The two main characters are faced with the issue of letting their
true love go or mending the two rivaling social groups in order to remain together. Situations are
explained and exaggerated with songs containing the main characters in the movie. Another
common convention is the use of makeup and costumes to help relate the movie to the time
period it is supposed to be written about. Musicals also engage the viewer more than other genres
by making the viewer want to sing and dance along. Many movies that belong to the musical
genre are created to entertain the audience. Very rarely is an audience member seen becoming
drowsy while watching a musical.
Constraints and how they help develop the genre
Constraints are essentially the opposite of conventions; concepts thrown in to a piece that
do not fit the normal conventions of a genre. A constraint found in Grease is the use of a
character that does not belong to either social group. Sandy, one of the main characters in Grease
is taken under the wing of the Pink Ladies, but does not particularly belong to their group. This is
the opposite of West Side Story, because Maria is a part of the Sharks and she falls in love with
Tony who is a part of the Jets. Another constraint contained in musicals is the tendency to
perform to the camera instead of just being filmed. In most movies the actors are filmed as if
there isnt a camera there. In musicals, when songs and dances are performed it tends to be a

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performance in which the actors know there is a camera. Musicals that contain this constraint are
trying to make the viewer feel like part of the movie through the use of eye contact.
Creating a new genre using mystery as an underlying genre
Another genre I enjoy alongside musicals is mystery. I would adapt both of these
musicals in order to have mystery as another underlying genre. For example, one of the students
could get taken and the other students would have to find their friend. So the movie would have
songs and dances written in order to go along with the longing to find a missing friend. I would
add the mystery to a musical in order to bring in another type of audience. If mystery, romance,
and musical genres were all compiled together it could create the ultimate genre. It is important
for writers to include multiple types of genres in order to capture a broader audience.
Allan Carr and Randal Kleiser were successful in satisfying the viewers needs
throughout the musical. Grease reaches a large variety of viewers by including song and dance to
entertain and containing an underlying romantic genre. The intended purpose of the writer and
director are clearly seen while watching Grease. Grease is a movie that successfully portrays
constraints that any musical genre should include.

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Works Cited
"Soundtracks." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
"Tobacco.org." Tobacco Timeline: The Twentieth Century 1950. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept.
2014.