Thursday, August 30, 2007
Hairspray has a theme of challenging common stereotypes. It is essentially about stepping out of a fixed and constricted mindset, exemplified when Tracy stepped into the showbiz world with her innocence and when Edna stepped out of her house after 20 over years. These addressed a less popular issue of the slim and beautiful being privileged over the others. However, what caught my attention during the show was how openly racist it was from the start. It was to the level of not being comfortable. This was (as expected) nicely woven in when Tracy skipped lessons and got caught, leading her to meet the other races in the detention class (another racism). And again leading to how protests were raised for integration of the races.
However, none is as disturbing as John Travolta acting as Edna. To a large extent, it kind of destroyed the romantic part about the parents but I think there must be some reasons why Travolta is there. I feel that it is in a way another method of challenging our mindsets. Afterall, this is one of the issues not very challenged as yet.
The Origin. 8/30/2007 11:51:00 pm