Although I’m not a big musical fan, I admit that a few have captured my heart, and definitely Hairspray is one of them. Hairspray may seem superficial for the one who hasn’t watched it, and indeed it works its apparent superficiality in a very serious way.
The movie works in many layers. At first, it looks like another underdog success story, but it definitely isn’t. One might think it is about an overweight girl who successes in the local dance show (though she does) but it is much more.
Its main character, Tracy, despite being quite overweight, hardly seems to be concern about it, in fact, she looks pretty comfortable about that, and Nikki Blondsky’s debut steals the show, giving her character freshness and ingenuity.
The story is set in Baltimore in 1962, and Tracy, 16, wants to get a place in the local dance show, the Corny Collins, despite her mother’s opposition (delightful John Travolta) She has a big crush on Link, the school heartthrob, who is the main dancer and singer in the show (High School Musical Zac Effron).
But again, this is not an underdog story of self-conscious fat girl, nor it’s the story of a rebellious girl going against her mother (although her mom opposed to Tracy’s auditioning for the show, she was pleased when she got the part)
Tracy is a high-spirited, happy with herself, intelligent, young big woman. And what’s more important, she’s willing to stand for what she believes.
Because this movie is not about music, or teenagers, or the sixties, or underdogs: this movie is about DISCRIMINATION.
I wrote this in capital letters because that’s what the movie screams at you right from the start: it’s a movie about racism and about hate towards what’s different: black people, fat people, gay/cross gender people.
In fact, the story itself does not address the issue of cross-gender directly, but it does in the cast: the role of Edna, Tracy’s big and agoraphobic sweet mother has alway been played by a man, whether is a drag queen in real life (Divine in the 1988 version) or a straight guy.
Music and songs are great, and in fact, Michelle Pfeiffer surprised me a lot with her singing: she and Christopher Walken are the ones with less singing experience) but the rest of the cast are widely known for their singing career.
In conclusion, the movie surprised me in many way different ways, and for good! I highly recommend “Hairspray” whether you’re into musical or not.
