(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Paramount+ is rebooting the classic musical Grease with a modern activist spin.
As reported by PJ Media, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies premieres on the streaming service on April 6 and shows the beginnings of the Pink Ladies, acting as a prequel to the original musical.
Taking place in 1954—four years before the original Grease—the story will focus on teenagers at Rydell High with “marginalized identities.” Ari Notartomaso, one of the stars of the cast, even uses they/them pronouns.
Notartomaso made a public statement regarding the series, saying that the new cast of characters will “represent another struggle that overlaps with things that we’re dealing with today, like racism.”
The teaser shows the quirky out-crowd of marginalized teens attempting to sway the minds of their normal, well-adjusted classmates through song and dance.
“There are a lot of kids in Rydell who are sick of feeling like they’re not welcome here,” one of the main characters says in the trailer.
The four main characters face marginalization from several white bullies, who harass and heckle them for their skin color, sexual orientation and gender. In an act of retaliation, they form the Pink Ladies.
The announcement of the show fell on an ambivalent audience, with many people openly wondering why Paramount+ thought making a streaming show based on the iconic film would be worth the time and money.
Why is there a new Grease movie? WTF. We didn't want Grease 2 and we most certainly don't want Rise Of The Pink Ladies
— David/Daavaaad/Cheeks/Cheeeeeeks (@Daavaaad) February 6, 2023
This new endeavor seems especially strange when considering that streaming services and entertainment companies have been losing money hand over fist.
Stocks for Paramount Global, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery fell in 2022, with signs of decline only accelerating.
Walt Disney shares are also falling, having declined by 13% since March 2020, as hefty costs from the studio’s movies and growing library of streaming content continue to rise.
In order to fund their many woke ventures, the Walt Disney Company also announced that they will be starting an ad-supported subscription tier in the coming months.
