Grease fan theory: Was Sandy dead all along?
Sarah Michelle Geller draws attention to outlandish alternative story that explains the flying car
The whole plot of Grease was just a hallucination in the head of a dying Sandy, according to an online theory that attempts to explain the film's surreal ending, which has baffled viewers for generations.
While a film in which characters randomly erupt into song and dance isn't going to be held to a high standard of realism, the action at least confines itself to the laws of physics – until the very end, when Danny and Sandy soar off into the sky in a flying car.
Just a whimsical flight of fancy? Not so, according to a Reddit user going by the name of atomicbolt. In a post to the website, he lays out a mind-blowing alternative explanation – Sandy drowned at the beach with Danny and hallucinated the whole plot in her last moments.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"At the start of the film, we see Danny and Sandy meeting on the beach. Later, Danny explains through song that they first met when Danny 'saved her life – she nearly drowned'. Sandy actually did drown on the beach that day," atomicbolt wrote.
"As she drowned, her brain deprived of oxygen, she had a vivid coma fantasy involving her summer fling Danny, where they shared a magical year of high school together. The visions get increasingly outlandish as time passes, until finally, as Danny desperately tries to resuscitate her on the beach, she sees herself flying into Heaven in her dying moments. The entire movie was a drowning woman's coma fantasy."
Whoa.
The Redditor actually put forward the out-there theory in 2013, but it came to wider attention this week when Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Geller posted about it on Facebook.
"This has blown my mind," the actress wrote, describing the dark alternative interpretation that turns the peppy world of Rydell High into a coma-induced hallucination.
Her status was shared more the 2,000 times and attracted almost as many comments, as movie fans shared their reactions to the crazy take on the classic musical.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Pentagon faces an uncertain future with Trump
Talking Point The president-elect has nominated conservative commentator Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
This is what you should know about State Department travel advisories and warnings
In Depth Stay safe on your international adventures
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
'All Tyson-Paul promised was spectacle and, in the end, that's all we got'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Sport on TV guide: Christmas 2022 and New Year listings
Speed Read Enjoy a feast of sporting action with football, darts, rugby union, racing, NFL and NBA
By Mike Starling Published
-
House of the Dragon: what to expect from the Game of Thrones prequel
Speed Read Ten-part series, set 200 years before GoT, will show the incestuous decline of Targaryen
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
One in 20 young Americans identify as trans or non-binary
Speed Read New research suggests that 44% of US adults know someone who is transgender
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Turner Prize 2022: a ‘vintage’ shortlist?
Speed Read All four artists look towards ‘growth, revival and reinvention’ in their work
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
What’s on TV this Christmas? The best holiday television
Speed Read From films and documentaries to musicals for all the family
By The Week Staff Published
-
Coco vision: up close to Chanel opticals
Speed Read Parisian luxury house adds opticals to digital offering
By The Week Staff Published
-
Abba returns: how the Swedish supergroup and their ‘Abba-tars’ are taking a chance on a reunion
Speed Read From next May, digital avatars of the foursome will be performing concerts in east London
By The Week Staff Published
-
‘Turning down her smut setting’: how Nigella Lawson is cleaning up her recipes
Speed Read Last week, the TV cook announced she was axing the word ‘slut’ from her recipe for Slut Red Raspberries in Chardonnay Jelly
By The Week Staff Published