(no subject)

[pensnest]

I've been meaning to post this for a few days, but now I have a story deadline, so it is obviously a good time.

I watched 'Hairspray' the movie (alas) on the plane home from New York, and enjoyed it a lot. The tiny, round heroine is completely adorable, and lots of the dance-y bits made me want to get up and be choreographed. It'd be charming to think that overcoming discrimination was Just That Easy back in 1962, too.

But I have a gripe. I cannot think of a good reason why Tracy's mother has to be played by a man (in the movie, John Travolta). Yes, apparently it's 'tradition' for the various incarnations of this production. But still—why?

'Cause I think it stinks.

Comments

[phaballa.livejournal.com]

Tracy's mom is played by a man because John Waters wrote and directed the original film. If you know anything about John Waters, you'll understand why this means anything. He was obsessed with Divine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_(Glen_Milstead)), who was a famous drag queen. Part of it is meant to be a statement about gender roles and sexuality; since the movie is primarily about prejudice of various sorts, I think the idea of having Divine play the mother was John Waters's way of saying 'fuck you' to the mainstream media in as many ways as possible.

And that's carried over into the musical because they want to honor Waters's original vision. The new movie (and the musical) is cute, but it doesn't have the same gritty punch of the original film. I think of the original 'Hairspray' as being sort of like a crack fic. It's really meant as a very serious social commentary about prejudice, and I think he wrote it as an allegory that's meant to represent the GLBT rights movement. He wrote it in the last 1980s, at the height of the AIDS scare in America when Reagan was president and almost the entire country had been brainwashed into thinking that gay = AIDS.

Anyway, that's just my interpretation. It might not be significant anymore to have the role played by a man. I also don't think John Travolta was the best choice, since he's NOT a drag queen. That takes the role away from the political meaning and sort of makes a mockery of Divine, which isn't really... yeah, I'm not fond of that.

[musiclover03.livejournal.com]

What if Joey were in the role? LOL

[withdiamonds.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it has nothing to do with being a fat, middle-aged woman, it has to do with John Waters and Divine. I don't imagine what you felt when you watched had anything to do with it.

Whatever one may think of John Travolta in the role.