Time for another startling confession. Before this weekend, I had never seen “Grease.”

I’ve seen bits and pieces over the years, thanks to cable. I’ve probably seen the last half-hour a dozen times, but I’ve never seen it all the way through, beginning to end.

During its original release, my mom didn’t think the movie was appropriate for someone my age. Just doing her job as a mother to protect me from evil influences.

Who knows, if I had seen “Grease” as a child, I might have ended up spending a lot of my future thinking about sex, drinking beer and smoking. Of course, I would never do any of those things now. Well, no more than two at once, anyway.

At least I had the soundtrack. In third grade, everyone had the soundtrack. I thought it was so cool because they said “shit” during “Greased Lightning.” (Give me a break, I was eight.)

Now the biggest movie musical of all time is back in theaters for a 20th anniversary run. Yes, 20 years. Yes, that makes you old.

Welcome back to Rydell High, where if you can’t be an athlete, “be an athletic supporter.”

It’s the first day of classes, and the world’s oldest-looking teenagers are returning to school after summer vacation.

Stockard Channing wins the prize as oldest-looking high school student. Channing was 34 when “Grease” came out.

As Rizzo, she is probably my favorite character in the movie. Rizzo is a self-proclaimed bad girl, full of attitude and head of the girl gang the Pink Ladies.

“Grease” opens as tough guy Danny (John Travolta) is talking about his summer love with the guys, who have an even cruder take on things. He met Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) at the beach. It turned colder, and that’s where it ends.

Until Sandy ends up at the same school. Danny wants to seem cool in front of the guys and Sandy is just too goody two-shoes … enough plot stuff. Almost all of you have seen “Grease” before, so you know what happens.

Plus, the plot doesn’t really matter, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense either. The story developments are just there to provide a framework for the musical numbers.

Do you ever watch a musical and wish you lived in a world where you could break out into a song and dance number, complete with a soundtrack and choreographed backup dancers?

The music is still as catchy as it ever was. In fact, I’ve had “Sandy” stuck in my head for almost two days now. You may catch yourself singing along or trying to remember all the moves to “Hand Jive.”

My favorite musical number would have to be the above mentioned “Greased Lightning.” Even though I haven’t listened to the soundtrack in quite a few years, I still remembered all the lyrics.

“Beauty School Dropout” is still as awful as it ever was. But awful in a good way, if that makes any sense.

And I still have no idea what the lyrics to “We Go Together” are, the movie’s big closing carnival number.

They don’t make full-length movie musicals any more. For our generation, the music video has taken over.

Watching “Grease” is a couple hours of pure fun and will make you feel like a kid again.

It’s kind of weird watching this movie as a bit of ’70s nostalgia since it was originally made as ’50s nostalgia. The music is still great, and you get a chance to see Travolta in his first incarnation as film superstar.

Twenty years later, “Grease” is still the word. Chang chang, changitty chang shoo-bop, that’s the way it should be.

4 1/2 stars out of five

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Mike Milik is a senior in advertising from West Des Moines.