Good news, Grease fans. The upsetting fan theory that Sandy Olsson dies at the beginning of the movie and the rest of the film is a dream sequence has officially been debunked.
Jim Jacobs, author of the original 1971 Grease book and musical with Warren Casey, confirmed to TMZ that Sandy is definitely alive in their movie. As far as what kind of person dreamed up this bizarre theory about the 1978 film? He says they must have been on acid.
This story was originally published September 8 at 12:20 p.m.
Grease is the pinnacle of high school movies. The 1978 classic boasts a summer fling, bad boys, fancy cars, catchy dance numbers, heartbreak, and drama. It also features a textbook happy ending between Sandy Olsson and Danny Zuko as they drive off into the sunset.
Or does it? A theory on Reddit shared by user atomicbolt is about to really burst your bubble — it posits that Sandy is dead the whole time.
According to the super dark theory, Sandy drowns in an unaired moment during one of the first beach scenes in the movie. If you remember, Danny brags about saving Sandy from drowning during "Summer Nights," singing, "She swam by me, she got a cramp... I saved her life, she nearly drowned."
In this interpretation of the movie, everything that follows — the drive-in movie, the prom, the carnival — is all Sandy's final vision as she dies in the ocean. A surprising number of commenters agree with the theory and say it isn't the first time they've heard it. There's also suggestion that the high school setting is symbolic of purgatory. And the car is her afterlife vehicle, literally taking her to heaven.
Another user, Randomd0g, has a slightly different, but equally depressing, fan theory. "Sandy kills herself towards the end of the movie and the entire last scene is her dying thoughts (and/or a dream sequence of some kind)." Fans of this theory believe that all the loose threads get tied up a little too neatly. Danny loves Sandy. Rizzo actually isn't pregnant. Kenickie realizes he is ready to commit to Rizzo. The nerdy kid gets on the sports team. But, this being a fictional musical, loose ends are supposed to be unrealistically tied up, right?
The former theory reemerged thanks to Sarah Michelle Gellar, who tweeted her shocked reaction after reading it.
Hold on, this new #Grease theory blew my mind. Sandy died when she drowned at the beach, and the car is taking them to heaven at the end???
— Sarah Michelle (@SarahMGellar) September 7, 2016
Many other fans of the movie are not taking kindly to this ghastly ending.
tension mounts in the tree house as lane learns of a new interpretation of the classic film "grease" pic.twitter.com/dEpLRpwyul
— emma (@Paul_Manafort) September 8, 2016
@SarahMGellar NOOOO that can't be pic.twitter.com/FMYnuikyMb
— Tina the Diva (@TinaLuvsU) September 7, 2016
@SarahMGellar pic.twitter.com/a3n55H7KHL
— B 🐝 (@biawonders) September 7, 2016
Hopefully this theory will be proven false, just like that ghoulish Rugrats one was. It's much more fun to believe in happily ever after.
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