Hairspray (1988)

                John Waters’ 1988 film Hairspray is certainly an amusing and “bouncy” film, portraying the purported favorite pastime of Baltimore teens in the early 1960’s.  The mostly lighthearted film does contain some messages concerning social issues, though, despite its seeming lack of substance.  In the New York Times review of Hairspray, Maslin first criticizes the teenagers in the film, saying that the initial montage portrays them spraying hairspray onto their “teased, empty heads”.  While this certainly may be true (the hairspray appears to serve as an intoxicating social staple, some of the teens appearing to derive pleasure from its use), the main character, Tracy Turnblad, denies the air-headedness that Maslin claims goes hand-in-hand with the hairspray that Tracy utilizes in her rise to fame.  There are set ideas concerning gender and race, both of which Tracy ignores and works against with her self-confidence and certainty in her beliefs which she is able to make public because of her acceptance onto the council of the Corny Collins Show.

                The initial montage of the film shows the members of the show preparing to shoot.  All of these teenagers seem to be self-absorbed and primarily concerned with the superficial.  They are dressed in what I would guess was the height of fashion in the early 60’s (this is an assumption, as I have no way of knowing exactly what styles were truly like at that time).  As is now familiar with the mass media’s current portrayal of the beautiful woman, the viewer notes that it is ideal for women to be skinny and well endowed.  A part of this montage portrays a girl stuffing her bra, and later, another is accused of doing the same thing when one of the show’s employees holds up a sign reading “falsies”.  While it promiscuity is discouraged (Amber Von Tussle spreads rumors that Tracy is “a whore”), young women are still clearly told that they need to be attractive and appealing to the other sex.  While Tracy certainly desires to be this, she rejects the idea that she must be thin in order to achieve it.  Seemingly unhurt by taunts such as “fatso”, Tracy proclaims to her mother that she is “big, blonde, and beautiful” and is proud that all of Baltimore knows it.  This seems to be one particular message that she wishes to convey to the public, and the other is one concerning race.

                The Corny Collins Show has “Negro day” every last Thursday of the month.  While Corny and certain other proponents of the show—especially the “Negro day” dancers—believe that the show should be integrated, the station’s producers and several other characters are against it.  Tracy, a self-proclaimed “integrationalist,” makes it one of her particular goals to end the show’s segregation and works towards doing so by making friends with “Motormouth Maybelle”, her son “Seaweed” and daughter “Little Inez”.  This brave step towards integration is certainly beneficial in the eventual de-segregation of the show, but even the portrayal of such characters has a fault.  Maybelle in particular conforms much too closely with the “mammy” stereotype to be a simple convention.  At first it seems that this is just a part of her personality on the television show, but as the movie goes on, it is clear that this mother figure always acts in the same manner, even rhyming everything she says, making her character a sort of joke.  One final character who forces the audience to take a closer look at the issue of race is Penny’s mother, Mrs. Pingleton.  This woman’s preposterous fear of black people is showcased in her  behavior when she searches for her daughter in a black neighborhood when she behaves as if every person is a criminal, and screams when she sees a black police officer.  In addition to this, Penny’s mother hires a psychiatrist to “cure” Penny of her attraction to Seaweed and threatens the use of shock therapy, barring her bedroom as if she requires legitimate psychiatric treatment.

                While Hairspray is meant to be entertaining and pleasant, Maslin exaggerates in her statement that “assiduously doing the Mashed Potato is these kids’ most thoughtful endeavor”.  Tracy Turnblad proves this wrong in her defiance of prevailing social norms concerning gender and race.  Her positive body image and drive for the de-segregation of the Corny Collins Show, along with the rest of Baltimore show that her head is full of more than hair product.  The message that this film conveys is one that is useful in all times, and is able to effectively reach even more audiences because of its simplicity.  Maslin is correct in her assertion that “the actors are best when they avoid exaggeration and remain weirdly sincere”, but it is this sincerity which lends the film a sense of credibility which it might not otherwise have.  Despite its simple and often “corny” nature, Hairspray is a film that makes a powerful social critique, and does so in a positive way without excessive violence or conflict.