As an exchange student, I have not had the chance to see family and friends from home in quite a while. While I usually do not get homesick too quickly, a rainy Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago suddenly made me miss home a little bit more. Snuggled up in bed, I decided it was time for Grease. 

I still remember how shocked my sister and I were after our parents introduced us to Grease about ten years ago. A typical high school love story accompanied by catchy tunes, all wrapped up in an old-school fifties’ aesthetic a la milkshakes, petticoats, and jukeboxes. It is the OG High School Musical. 

Humming along to the songs in my room, I had to think of home. I was reminded of long car rides listening to our Grease CD, sobbing along to ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ with my sister, and an open-air screening of Grease in Munich where rain setting in midway through the film did not dampen anybody’s spirits. I guess it is the re-emergence of so many childhood and teenage memories that make me love this film so much. And I hope that everybody who rolls their eyes at Grease has a movie, song, or book that has the power to do the same to them – whether it is The Goonies, Toy Story, or Bend It Like Beckham. 

-Anne Pechtold

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