10 Movie Endings That Are Secretly Depressing
8. Grease
Plot:
In this classic musical, two teens who had a summer fling unexpectedly end up attending the same school. Sandy is sweet and kind and believes Danny, the boy she fell in love with, is also. At school we see Danny is a bad boy who feels pressured to act like an a-hole for the benefit of his friends. He is actually in love with Sandy, though, and they both work things out in the end.
But Wait...
Who is Danny, really? Is he the sweet boy who romanced Sandy over the summer, or the bad boy he is at school? A bit of both, probably. There is no question who Sandy is. She is sweet and sincere, but feels an immense pressure from her friends to act more wild. In the end Danny decides to try and stay friends with his boys but also straighten up for Sandy.
That's when Sandy shows up dressed in tight black and smoking a cigarette. In a fascinating interaction Sandy holds the cigarette in confusion as her friends mime to her how to look cool with it. That's what this whole scene is: two people who feel pressured to pretend to be people their not.
What do Danny and Sandy really even like about each other? Their first love existed in a summer away from prying eyes, but now the rest of their relationship will be them performing the caricatures of themselves they think their friends want.