I didn’t have the faintest idea what to expect going into “Hairspray.” I knew it was a comedy and I had heard rumors that John Travolta was in it and wore a dress, but I wasn’t expecting what I got. He wasn’t just in a dress – he was in a dress, fat suit, wig, and full makeup, portraying Edna Turnblad, mother of the main character.
Her name is Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonksi) and she’s a little on the portly side. That doesn’t keep her from bustin’ a move at every chance – she loves to dance and is pretty good at it, too. Every afternoon, she and her friend Penny (Amanda Bynes) groove out to the Corny Collins show, a television phenomenon featuring local teens who dance to the latest music. Link (Zach Efron) one of the stars, goes to Tracy’s school, and she’s had a crush on him forever. Her dream would be to go on the show, become one of the featured dancers, and date Link, but he’s already dating Amber, the best female dancer on the program.
When one of the dancers becomes pregnant, the show sends out a casting call and Tracy turns up. The show’s producer, who is also Amber’s mother, Ms. von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) throws her out, but later Link sees her dancing and encourages to come down and try again.
She wins the spot on the show, but discovers something disturbing. The show regularly featured “Negro* Day,” when they played music by all Negro artists and the dancers were Negro as well, but the producers are planning to do away with the feature altogether. Tracy and the other kids band together to protest, teaching everyone along the way a little something about discrimination against color as well as against size.
The other aspects of the movie were great, but the best part, by far, was John Travolta. Mr. Turnblad was played by Christopher Walkin, and he interacts with his “wife” beautifully. The best scene is a song and dance number between the two, where they are confirming their love for each other, and I can’t help but wonder how many takes it took for them to get through it – they’re both obviously on the brink of cracking up. I never thought I’d say that John Travolta makes a good woman, but you know what, he does.
This film was rated PG for some off color comments and occasionally frisky dance moves.
*I used the term “Negro” because the movie was set in the early 1960s, and that is the expression they were using at the time and was the name of the segment on the show.
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