Hairspray (1988)
Kitsch-master John Waters, after a rare seven-year hiatus from making films, takes a loving, though critical, look back at the early 1960s, utilizing the craze for dance shows on television to explore heavier issues on race, class, repression of expression, tolerance, and segregation. Known more for his trash, it’s one of Waters’ least edgy films (many of his early works were originally rated X), at least in terms of its content (his first PG-rated film, and, thus far, his only), though once you look under the benign surface and delivery, there’s plenty of relevant content to mull over regarding where the country has been, and how much, or how little, society has changed in terms of embracing each others’ differences.
Set in 1962, before the country would change forever through the dark times of the Sixties to come, Ricki Lake stars as Tracy Turnblad, a pleasantly plump teenager in Baltimore (Waters’ home city and where all of his early films are set) who dreams of being on the most popular show in town, “The Corny Collins Show” (akin to “American Bandstand”, but based on a real show that took Bandstand’s place in Baltimore, “The Buddy Deane Show” — Deane appears in a cameo role in this film), where teens can go dancing in front of TV cameras for the whole town to see, making it a status symbol of top priority for any teen who wants to be popular. She ends up making her way in through a dance contest, and becomes something of a sensation after her TV debut, though with popularity comes jealousy, derision and body shaming for being overweight.
Tensions escalate when she gains the attention sought by rival schoolmate Amber von Tussle and snatches Link Larkin, her boyfriend, to boot. Compounding the issues, Tracy decides to promote an integrated show, to put whites and blacks on the same screen dancing together in an era when they were only allowed to appear on separate episodes, causing the town to spill into demonstrations in a heated fight for what’s right. There’s a certain irony in seeing a show in which Blacks are relegated only to dancing on the show once a month, while the rest of the shows feature the white high school kids all dancing to songs featuring predominantly Black singers (called “race music” at the time) while performing a few novelty dance moves that also largely stem from the Black community. The sole African-American presence is DJ and monthly”Negro Day” host for “The Corny Collins Show”, Motormouth Maybelle (played by renowned Rhythm & Blues singer Ruth Brown), whose son, Seaweed, soon gets romantically involved with one of Tracy’s white friends, leading her mother to go into a panic, enough to hire a hypnotherapist (played by Waters himself) to “deprogram” her against her attraction to another race.
The themes of the film are in championing the marginalized to the forefront into acceptance, from integration to interracial relationships to body image to activism. It also measures the burgeoning importance of television for individuals, as well as certain groups, in gaining attention and acceptance among the communities of viewers who come to know them in their homes. Waters isn’t interest in speeches and grandstanding, concentrating more on the idiocy of established norms, expressing a desire to break up the stranglehold of sameness and prejudice that exists and is desired within many communities not willing to make the neighborhood a safe and accepting place for all.
After her breakthrough role in Hairspray, Ricki Lake would go on to become a TV sensation of her own after this breakthrough, hosting her own talk show from 1993 to 2004 in syndication. Maintaining her appearance throughout the film grew to be a chore due to the amount of time she spent dancing and shedding pounds; she had to “eat like crazy” to stay at a consistent level of weight the entire way through production.
John Waters regular Divine plays the mother of Tracy, as well as a smaller supporting role, not in drag, as a negotiation with Waters after becoming tired of doing drag roles exclusively. Divine took the role that was originally meant for famous transsexual Christine Jorgensen but agreed to play that part when plans didn’t work out. Alas, it would be the last John Waters film for Divine, as the 42-year-old would die only a three weeks after the film’s release, during a road trip to promote the film.
The rest of the cast is an eclectic mix of either character actors, or from the world of music. Sonny Bono, who, at the time, was the mayor of Palm Springs, was cast into the role of one of the “heavies” of the film, Franklin von Tussle, who represented the old ways of wanting the races to stay segregated. As the film was a rock-n-roll film, Waters felt he needed representation from people in the world of music to sell it, so Bono and Ruth Brown were cast, along with Debbie Harry (of Blondie fame), and small beatnik parts going to Ric Ocasek (of The Cars) and wanna-be pop star Pia Zadora, who was originally supposed to play Colleen Fitzpatrick’s role of Amber von Tussle, but couldn’t due to conflicts in her schedule.
Although it had a modest budget of approximately $3 million, it would be, by far, the largest budget of Waters career up to that point, a good chunk of which he would use in securing the song rights to many of the classics played during the course of his film. It would end up being a small success, making about $6.7 million, but took off even more on home video, where it would build a great deal of fan base that would propel it becoming a favorite among teens and others in the 1990s.
Hairspray is a whimsical look into an interesting time in the United States, powered by lots of hip (for its era) dancing and a dynamic soundtrack of contemporary jukebox hits that propelled it into becoming a favorite among many, and eventually would lead to a 2002 Broadway musical adaptation that would also result in another even more financially popular movie take in 2007. Waters has crafted a fun, infectious, and heady look at a seemingly benign era just before actually confronting its deep-rooted issues with race throughout the rest of the decade to follow.
Qwipster’s rating: A-
MPAA Rated: PG for some suggestive material, drug references, thematic material, and mild language
Running Time: 92 min.
Cast: Ricki Lake, Divine, Colleen Fitzpatrick (Vitamin C), Debbie Harry, Michael St. Gerard, Jerry Stiller, Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Leslie Ann Powers, Clayton Prince, Mink Stole
Cameo: Ric Ocasek, Pia Zadora, John Waters
Director: John Waters
Screenplay: John Waters