I apologize that this column is a few weeks late, but I’ve never been one to be on time.

On Friday, March 27, the movie “Grease” was re-released. You all know the flick: a musical about high school life in the fifties complete with greasers, jocks, cheerleaders, drive-ins, sock hops and drag races.

“Grease,” which started as a Broadway musical, has been around forever. The movie was first released in 1978. I had seen it several times on video. And though I had also seen it a countless number of times on TNT, TBS, or whatever obscure cable channel picked it up, I dropped $5.50 to see it in the theater.

The re-release was really hyped up, and I had to see what all the hoopla was about.

Supposedly, the songs had been digitally-remastered. That’s that old Led Zeppelin term that I have never really understood, and once again its meaning eluded me. The only thing I thought was different in the theater was that someone jacked up the volume during the songs and the divot in John Travolta’s chin was that much bigger.

This, in no way, detracted from my enjoyment of the movie. Just to see “Grease” on the big screen was enough to make me smile. I even ate at Ruttles beforehand to add to the ambiance of the evening. My night out of the 1950s was one to remember.

I’ve always thought I would have enjoyed being a part of that era. I’m not saying that I would have been a greaser. Most likely, I would have been more like the nerd Eugene Selnick or the poor jock who gets his foot caught in the helmet. But either way, those seem like fun times.

First of all, the music was magical. Early rock and roll is still the best music available, and it’s the majority of what I listen to. Those 50s du-wop songs and simple lyrics will never be matched. And there’s no better music to dance to. The upbeat rhythms and harmonies are enough to get anyone’s foot tapping.

I’m not saying there haven’t been other eras with great music. Take the 1980s for example. The punk rockers of that era are legends in my mind. They definitely made their mark in music, as they can still be heard on the radio almost a decade later. You can always tell when you’re listening to an eighties song. You’re guaranteed a synthesizer laying the background track, a saxophone somewhere in the song is always a staple and a falsetto male voice makes the song complete.

And many people will argue that the best era in music has been the 1990s, with the introduction of alternative rock and ska. That’s fine, but for me, nothing will ever beat those golden oldies.

In the 1950s there were specific dances that everyone knew how to do. One of the best scenes in “Grease” is the dance at Rydell High. There are different shots of couples doing moves that I only wish I knew how to do.

And then the finale was the hand jive contest where everyone in the gym was doing the same dance. The only thing we have in the nineties that’s comparable to that is the Macarena.

I think the only word to describe that is sad.

Another thing that attracts me to the 1950s is the innocence of it all. I know that some kids probably smoked, had sex and were into some bad things, but for the most part, times were good. Drugs weren’t a problem, gangs weren’t a problem and teenage pregnancy wasn’t a problem. The all-American couple was the high school quarterback and the captain of the cheerleading squad. Now the all-American couple is slowly becoming the high school quarterback and the captain of the wrestling team. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

And though it’s not portrayed in the movie “Grease,” it seems kids had a lot more pride in the 1950s. They took more pride in themselves, their school and their town. They came to school dressed halfway decent. They were involved in their school’s events and activities. They rallied behind their school’s football team or basketball team.

Now, a lot of high school kids could care less how the team’s doing, and an extracurricular activity involves bumming around outside the school with a pack of cigarettes.

I’m not at all bashing the nineties. Great things and astonishing feats were accomplished in this era. This is my decade, and I’ll always look back on it fondly. But ideally, I would have liked to have been a teenager in the 1950s. Unfortunately, I was born four decades too late.

But then again, I’ve never been one to be on time.

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Jackson Lashier is a freshman in journalism and mass communication from Marshalltown.