Lessons from High School: Riverdale High

I met John Travolta. I asked him which movie he made was his favorite. Being the politically correct person he is, he didn't give an outright answer.

Which is odd considering for the 20th anniversary of Grease, he claimed the movie musical was his favorite. And while I am not a big JT fan, that movie is one of mine.

There was something magical about it. From the opening score of Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing, which can trigger my mom's retelling of the tragic love story between a Chinese girl and a Caucasian man that inspired the song; to the ethereal visual quality of JT in silhouette at the drive in when he sang Sandy.

They don't make movies like that anymore, where the spirit of the film makers literally pounce out of the screen. Where simple story telling is really the key to a great movie.

Friendships, love, heartache are all taken in micro doses, with no concerns of the global, more macro view on things. What I found appealing was this idea that love can be simple, even as life can throw a curve ball, and love can make even the hardiest person change.

In the last bits of dialogue, Danny Zucko says, "You know you guys are important to me, but Sandy is too, and I'm going to do anything to get her."

Of course, thanks to movie magic, Sandy was also transforming herself to be more like her man.

While feminists these days would scoff at the idea of changing their identities for a man, there is a very appealing quality in the idea that two people would be willing to move mountains to be with their lovers.

People don't live in a vacuum, and in a relationship, it is never about two strong individual personalities trying to cram into one space. Still it is beautiful in its simplicity.  That love changes everything.

Even the closing scene, where the characters wonder what would happen after graduation. And whether they would be together. The answer, as it may have been when we were all in high school, was simple.

We go together like
rama lama lama
ke ding a de dinga a dong
remembered for ever like
shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yipitty boom de boom

Chang chang chang-it-ty chang
shoo-bop
That's the way it should be
Wha oooh yeah!

We're one of a kind
Like dip di-dip di-dip
Doo-bop a doo-bee doo
Our names are signed
Boog-e-dy boog-e-dy boog-e-dy
boog-e-dy
Shoo-by doo-wop she-bop
Chang chang chang-it-ty chang
shoo-bop

We'll always be like one
Wa-wa-wa-waaa!

Can life be that simple. Do we complicate our own existence with the whys, wherefores, therefores and the shoud'ves, could'ves and would'ves? Can our feelings be pared down to its barest minimum, in an attempt to be as honest as we possibly can.

Can we economize our words, our adjectives, our verbs to keep things short and sweet. For example:

Sandy can't you see
i'm in misery
We made a start
Now we're apart
There's nothin' left for me
Love has flown
All alone I sit
And wonder wh - yi-yi-yi
Oh why you left me
Oh Sandy

Oh Sandy, baby, someday
When High School is done
Somehow someway
Our two worlds will be one
In heaven forever
And ever we will be
Oh please say you'll stay
Oh Sandy

And even faced with rejection, with fear and even confusion, can the outlook still be kept positive. We all have a tendency to give in to the negatives, but can it not be that even while the situation may be bleak, our true desires aren't? For example:

Guess mine is not the first heart broken, my eyes are not the first to cry
I'm not the first to know, there's just no gettin' over you

I know, I'm just a fool who's willing to sit around and wait for you
But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else for me to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to you

But now there's nowhere to hide, since you pushed my love aside
I'm not in my head, hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you, hopelessly devoted to you

My head is saying "fool, forget him", my heart is saying "don't let go"
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to you

Perhaps keeping it simple is to trust your heart and do the illogical. Perhaps the clearest path is the one that does not see into the future. We dump crap on ourselves because as we grow into adulthood, all our actions are based on our future yields. We think about consequences and potential failures instead of living for today. That is not to say we are to ignore our responsibilities and the rejecting accountability for our actions. It just means living life simply and enjoying it means to make the best of what you have today.

Sometimes I think we are not meant to try to grasp the big picture all the time. It's not within our reach, our capacities are limited. We should leave that to God and have faith that if we keep ourselves open day by day, the big picture will be ok. Perhaps we are meant to take our life experiences as little drops in the ocean, so that we are better able to digest and understand them.

Maybe life should be like a song from Grease. Abbreviated. Clean. Simple. Short. Sweet. Life may then return to what it was in high school, with not too much drama.

What's that playing on the radio?
Why do I start swaying to and fro?
I have never heard that song before
But if I don't hear it anymore

It's still familiar to me
Sends a thrill right through me
Cause those chords remind me of the night that I first fell in love to
Those magic changes
My heart arranges
A melody that's never the same
A melody that's calling your name
And begs you please come back to me
Please return to me don't go away again
Oh, make them play again
The music I wanna hear as once again you whisper in my ear
Ooh my darlin'

I'll be waiting by the radio
You'll come back to me some day I know
Been so lonesome since our last goodbye
But I'm singing as I cry-iy-iy

While the bass is sounding while the drums are pounding
Beatings of my broken heart will rise to first place in the
charts
Oh my heart arranges
Oh those magic changes

Whoa-whoa-ah-oh
Whoa-whoa-ah-oh yeah
Oooooo