"Grease Live!" put a modern spin on the classic film that most people know and love. "Grease" premiered in 1978 with a primarily white cast, but this time, CBS chose a more diverse group for the most recent production. Was adding a more diverse cast to the classic film a wise choice for CBS? I say yes! It's about time we add more people of color in renditions of films of the past! It is 2016 after all!
However, some could argue that the cast should have stayed primarily white, for back in the 1950s when the original was set, races were segregated in public schools until 1954. Is it actually likely that Marty would have been a part of the Pink Ladies if she were African American? Probably not, due to the fact that the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case was not established until 1954. The Little Rock Nine enrolled in an all-white school in 1957, and they received a lot of criticism even after all the public schools were desegregated. So although it's great that "Grease Live" included Kiki Palmer as Marty in the TV special (and she is so talented and a hell of a singer), in reality, it is highly unlikely that Marty would have been accepted into a primarily white girl group if she were African American.
But there was one diverse character that did make sense. Vanessa Hudgens played Rizzo, the queen of the Pink Ladies, and most people don't know that Baby V is part Filipino. Her mother is originally from the Philippines, thus making Vanessa of Filipino-decent. While this is not an issue in today's society, Filipino people were also harshly discriminated in the past. Due to the Tydings-McDuffy Act of 1935, people from the Philippines were considered aliens in the United States, and immigration of Filipinos was limited to 50 people a year. However, during World War II, a lot of people from the Philippines came to America to serve in the military. A majority of Filipino-Americans live on the West Coast, so it would make sense for Rizzo to be part Filipino, for the Grease movie is set in California. Filipina or not, Vanessa Hudgens is such a beautiful and talented woman, and she portrayed the role of Rizzo fantastically even after the recent death of her father.
Overall, was the cast diversity a good thing? Of course it was! The acting industry is becoming less white-washed, and more races represented in today's society than ever before. So although casting an African American girl to play a Pink Lady in a 1950s film may be a little unrealistic, it gives the Grease film a more modernized touch.
