'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies' comes in for more backlash over 'white supremacy' and characters' gender

The series walks the audience through some of the most contemporary topics, including sexuality, racism and gender identity
PUBLISHED APR 10, 2023
Fans of the hit 1978 musical Grease have been left shocked after the new TV reboot goes offtrack from the original script ( Paramount Pictures/Paramount+)
Fans of the hit 1978 musical Grease have been left shocked after the new TV reboot goes offtrack from the original script ( Paramount Pictures/Paramount+)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The prequel to 'Grease' released earlier this week and took the internet by storm, but for all the wrong reasons. While 'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies' is a prequel to the original movie and is set in 1954. The series came out on April 4 and had many songs that were sung in the original movie, along with some new songs. The series walks the audience through some of the most contemporary topics, including sexuality, racism and gender identity.

The fans of the original movie were quite shocked to know that the TV reboot featured characters unrecognizable from the original movie and also talks about tackling gender politics while featuring a song about white supremacy. The reboot series also pins down some of the most taboo topics, like a student who allegedly has an affair with her adult English teacher. The series also went against the backdrop of the original movie's Rydell High School, while trying to create a reboot of the original movie. 

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John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in 'Grease' (Paramount)
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in 'Grease' (Paramount)

'Grease' reboot scurries away from the OG to highlight 'white supremacy' and 'gender expression'

The original premise of the show is how the leads find their way into creating their own musical assemblage while living their individual journey. While fans were furious that the reboot hasn't followed the actual story of the film and instead added elements very different from the original storyline. Some important characters in the reboot include gender nonconforming nonbinary trans character, Cynthia, played by Ari Notartomaso, who struggles to fit in at high school. Some characters can be seen from the original 1978 film 'Grease', like Jane, portrayed by Marisa Davila, who was cast as the older sister to character Frenchy.

Marisa Davila, Ari Notartomaso, Cheyenne Isabel Wells, and Tricia Fukuhara in ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ (Paramount+)
Marisa Davila, Ari Notartomaso, Cheyenne Isabel Wells, and Tricia Fukuhara in ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ (Paramount+)

A reboot no one asked for

While a Mexican-American student Olivia has an alleged affair with her English teacher, a Japanese-American student Nancy, struggles to settle at school. The most notable part of the series was a musical number, titled 'In The Club', where all the animated white country club founders come out of their paintings to sing along the songs about white supremacy. The series didn't even bring back the original lead actors who made the hit movie, while John Travolta was nowhere to be seen, his character was replaced by Jason Schmidt, which scurries away from its predecessor.

Fans were furious and said the reboot has ruined the original movie. One user said, "Doesn’t anyone have an original idea anymore?" while another user chimed in with, "Another "woke show" I won't be watching!" with another fan stating, "I'll never see it, not the least interested in woke anything!" another fan added, "Destroying all things classic, eh?"



 



 



 



 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.

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