“that girls got roaches in her hair!”
“roaches? our little tracy is a clean teen!”
“there’s no bugs on our baby!”
i loved the 2007 hairspray and i just imagined that being the original, as i’d never heard of this before: but as soon as i found out john waters directed a hairspray movie i knew it’d a lot of fun, and i was definitely right. i was shocked to find out that this wasn’t a musical, but it really didn’t matter as this movie has so much more to offer than just that. its noticeably a lot more of an accessible film than the rest of his catalogue, while obviously still having his outrageous, campy signature style blended with a more feel good, linear narrative. underneath the hilarious humour and gorgeous costumes; there’s some amazing commentary on racial segregation and body image, as tracy turnblad, a plump teenager, fights for the ability of black people to be involved in the all white tv dance show, having a really positive, left leaning perspective that is another thing that makes john waters movies so loveable. the cast is just beyond iconic: i think the reason i prefer this to the 2007 version is one has divine, the other one had john travolta for some reason? divine starring in their last role as edna makes me realise how necessary it is to have the legendary drag queen in the films of john waters, as it feels empty without his energetic, eclectic, over the top performances: his unhinged acting style makes everything so memorable, and that vocal delivery was just completely on point. ricki lake is also another standout, a staple in john waters movies with her breakout role as tracy (may i add, the better version of tracy by a long mark) and is just another actor i adore for her energetic antics. the soundtrack felt authentic to baltimore of the 60s, which was sort of lacking in the 2007 version. the black comedy is edgy and a little tasteless, which is always fun.
“that girls got roaches in her hair!”
“roaches? our little tracy is a clean teen!”
“there’s no bugs on our baby!”
i loved the 2007 hairspray and i just imagined that being the original, as i’d never heard of this before: but as soon as i found out john waters directed a hairspray movie i knew it’d a lot of fun, and i was definitely right. i was shocked to find out that this wasn’t a musical, but it really didn’t matter as this movie has so much more to offer than just that. its noticeably a lot more of an accessible film than the rest of his catalogue, while obviously still having his outrageous, campy signature style blended with a more feel good, linear narrative. underneath the hilarious humour and gorgeous costumes; there’s some amazing commentary on racial segregation and body image, as tracy turnblad, a plump teenager, fights for the ability of black people to be involved in the all white tv dance show, having a really positive, left leaning perspective that is another thing that makes john waters movies so loveable. the cast is just beyond iconic: i think the reason i prefer this to the 2007 version is one has divine, the other one had john travolta for some reason? divine starring in their last role as edna makes me realise how necessary it is to have the legendary drag queen in the films of john waters, as it feels empty without his energetic, eclectic, over the top performances: his unhinged acting style makes everything so memorable, and that vocal delivery was just completely on point. ricki lake is also another standout, a staple in john waters movies with her breakout role as tracy (may i add, the better version of tracy by a long mark) and is just another actor i adore for her energetic antics. the soundtrack felt authentic to baltimore of the 60s, which was sort of lacking in the 2007 version. the black comedy is edgy and a little tasteless, which is always fun.
