S02.E10: The Kiss

[Miss Bones]

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2020 at 9:46 AM, alexvillage said:

I wouldn't have minded Sophie lashing out so much if they hadn't resorted to cliches like having her dressed like an 80's punk, and staying out late, to show her rebellious self (although the punk movement was pretty rebellious). Or maybe I am just completely out of touch with how teenagers dress these days, or I don't remember her choice of clothing before the break. For once, I would like to see a more subtle rebellious teen on TV.

I like Theo and the actor is cute but sometimes he seems too immature for his age. He is supposed to be what, 10? It is starting to annoy me. My nieces are 12 and 8 and I don't see anything that is even close to how Theo acts/reacts sometimes. 

Can't stand Gary. Or Maggie.

Rome annoyed me.

Katherine is way too understanding. Pretty unrealistic too. 

Everyone LOOOOOOVES Delilah again. Awwww. Cue Kumbaya. (yikes!)

Rome was super annoying this episode.  They were trying soo hard to make him be awkward and funny and it was not working for me, at all. 

I think Sophie's style has always leaned toward rocker chick. 

[gonzosgirrl]

I know we're talking about a show where forgiveness is handed out like party favors, but if Maggie (or her mother) forgives Eric, ever, then I call utter bullshit. Try as I might, I can't conceive of any circumstance where it would be okay to lie about something like this.

[smartymarty]

On 1/24/2020 at 12:26 PM, Clanstarling said:

But the thing that sticks with me right now as being inappropriate is not so much the raunchiness, but the message - good girl remakes herself into a "bad" girl to get the guy. Terrible message for kids in their formative years.

Yep. Loved the music and all, but the story is terrible.

Though his kiss of the girl at the end wasn't much, I was surprised that a 6th grade production would include it. I only remember a Romeo and Juliet production done by sixth graders where they air kissed each other's cheek. Strange too if the directors were going to have the two actually kiss, that they didn't have them do it until the opening night. 

[Dowel Jones]

6 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Try as I might, I can't conceive of any circumstance where it would be okay to lie about something like this.

Only when your show is struggling to maintain a coherent story line with an ensemble of otherwise totally unlikable characters.

[desertflower]

On 1/27/2020 at 4:01 PM, smartymarty said:

Though his kiss of the girl at the end wasn't much, I was surprised that a 6th grade production would include it. I only remember a Romeo and Juliet production done by sixth graders where they air kissed each other's cheek. Strange too if the directors were going to have the two actually kiss, that they didn't have them do it until the opening night. 

Agreed. I don’t think they would have a kiss in a play at that age. It was quick and innocent but it wasn’t necessary so I don’t they would make the kids do that. 

I thought Delilah sounded very French in this episode, like more than usual. I could really hear it when she was calling the kids down to breakfast. 

[iwasish]

On 1/29/2020 at 9:11 AM, desertflower said:

Agreed. I don’t think they would have a kiss in a play at that age. It was quick and innocent but it wasn’t necessary so I don’t they would make the kids do that. 

I thought Delilah sounded very French in this episode, like more than usual. I could really hear it when she was calling the kids down to breakfast. 

Ah yes!! And she made croissants!! How could Sophie not forgive her??

[debraran]

I just saw Jon's jersey on the babies wall. Really? Still?

[iwasish]

It’s her third kid, she doesn’t  have a 9-5 job, take a nap, By now she should be a pro at sleep training. 

[DSchreiber]

When the clerk asked Gary, "Did you just search page 1? You got to search page 9..." 

I am curious.. 

[LisaM]

Still can't stand Maggie and now really annoyed with Gary. Pleased however that she lost the pink wig. 

Delilah does not bother me. 

I was surprised at the No Scar reveal. 

Love Katherine and Eddie. 

[sinkwriter]

On 1/23/2020 at 10:19 PM, kazza said:

So, I haven't been 12 in a while. Is Grease really an appropriate middle school play?

When I was a senior in high school, we really wanted to our choir / musical director to do Grease, but the principal voted it down. We were so mad. (Especially because we ended up having to do Bye Bye Birdie instead, which felt like the complete opposite and very uncool. LOL.) 

But he may have turned it down because it would have been edited to shreds until you think, "What's the point of doing it at all?" -- he would have insisted we cut out or tone down the plot points about teen pregnancy and all the comments and jokes and songs about sex and, well... if you even listen to the lyrics of Greased Lightning, I think he knew the parents would not be cool with the guys singing about a car being a real pussy wagon. 😉 

So yeah, I couldn't believe that a middle school got permission to do that show. No way they'd allow that. Not the real stage version of Grease. No way.

 

On 1/23/2020 at 10:47 PM, Lady Calypso said:

She has a real reason to be pissed, and I'm glad that Delilah's temper tantrum ("HOW CAN SHE STILL BE MAD AT ME? IT'S BEEN MONTHS!") didn't sway Sophie at all. 

I was all for Sophie's anger. By jumping ahead a few months, I felt like they were going to skip right over Delilah getting any consequence for her actions. Her son's already fine with her, her friends are calling her the best mom ever and being all sensitive and apologizing that she's having such a hard time with Sophie, as if Sophie's being unreasonable, and I'm like, HELL NO. Delilah needs to take some fucking responsibility for her actions. A quick "Sorry" just doesn't cut it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, sinkwriter said:

When I was a senior in high school, we really wanted to our choir / musical director to do Grease, but the principal voted it down. We were so mad. (Especially because we ended up having to do Bye Bye Birdie instead, which felt like the complete opposite and very uncool. LOL.) 

But he may have turned it down because it would have been edited to shreds until you think, "What's the point of doing it at all?" -- he would have insisted we cut out or tone down the plot points about teen pregnancy and all the comments and jokes and songs about sex and, well... if you even listen to the lyrics of Greased Lightning, I think he knew the parents would not be cool with the guys singing about a car being a real pussy wagon. 😉 

So yeah, I couldn't believe that a middle school got permission to do that show. No way they'd allow that. Not the real stage version of Grease. No way.

As noted above, there are multiple versions of Grease that can be licensed. They have more sanitized middle school and high school versions with altered lyrics and without Rizzo's pregnancy. The original stage version is much more adult than the movie version.

On a related note, Eleanor Bergstein said that when she originally pitched Dirty Dancing, the producers were fine with the script but later they wanted her to cut Penny's pregnancy and abortion storyline. She told them that the entire plot of the movie hinges on that because if not for Penny needing an abortion, there is no impetus for Baby to get involved (ask her father for money, take Penny's place at the Sheldrake) and everything that follows (falling in love with Johnny). Grease, on the other hand, can be done without Rizzo's pregnancy and with cleaned up lyrics and it doesn't really affect the overall plot.

[Clanstarling]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 Grease, on the other hand, can be done without Rizzo's pregnancy and with cleaned up lyrics and it doesn't really affect the overall plot.

True, but the overall message of Grease is pretty terrible for middle schoolers - "hey girls, to get your man, completely change everything about yourself." So even with the sex and salty language removed, it isn't really great for a young crowd.

I loved the play when I first saw it in the 70's when I was in my late teens. I have the Broadway soundtrack and love the songs. The only way I can still love it is to tell myself it's a reflection on what the 50's were like (though truthfully, even the 70's wasn't that different in that regard.)

[formerlyfreedom]

3 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

True, but the overall message of Grease is pretty terrible for middle schoolers - "hey girls, to get your man, completely change everything about yourself." So even with the sex and salty language removed, it isn't really great for a young crowd.

When I first saw Grease, my parents sat me down to talk to me about the 'message' - which really, kind of went right over my head at the time? But I appreciate that they recognized that the message was not a great one for my then ten year old self.

That said, I'm inclined to believe that for the purposes of the show, they did use the sanitized version for the middle school production. And it did give us some fun shots of the kids in their Grease costumes!

[Gothish520]

On 1/30/2020 at 7:44 PM, iwasish said:

Ah yes!! And she made croissants!! How could Sophie not forgive her??

I'd forgive a lot for some freshly made croissants!