Listen, I think we were all hoping for a “Cool Rider” kind of year and instead we ended up freezing on stage, taking off our star crowns, and hallucinating out of our fucking minds from the stress of it all.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the deliciously campy Grease 2, the girls of Rydell High’s talent show decide to perform something akin to the “Calendar Girl” song but with more of a home-spun “Chicken Soup with Rice” feeling to the music.
Our protagonist, Stephanie, is supposed to be the big December finale. But she’s distraught over the fate of her love, who has been attacked by a motorcycle gang (a much meaner version of the original Grease’s mostly lovable T-Birds) and is presumed dead. Yeah it’s a downer. This causes Stephanie to enter a fugue state. Fortunately, her disassociation also involves some off-the-cuff song-writing abilities, which gives us “(Love Will) Turn Back the Hands of Time.”
I thought this was powerful stuff when I first saw it at 8 years old. In the years since, it’s felt pretty ridiculous. But I’ve come back around. I love it again. I think this is the kind of saccharine shit my cold, cold heart needs right now.
If that doesn’t work for you, this one should. If ever there was a “Hard Candy Christmas,” it’s this year:
For a literal hard candy Christmas, try these stained glass cookies.
I love Stephanie’s Christmas tree ensemble. Proof that la Pfeiffer can look good in anything!
I think my favorite part is they added the word “December” to the bottom just in case it wasn’t clear enough already. I’m strongly considering it for a future Halloween costume. People who get it will immediately become my new best friends and everyone else will think I’m nuts which is also fun.