Hairspray

Yesterday I was feeling a bit wiggy (thanks menstruation!) and Charlie was sweet enough to kick me out of the house send me out to spend some time by myself. I decided to go check out the new movie version of the musical version of the movie Hairspray.

Did you follow all that?

I'm sure you all know the history--many moons ago (1998) the wacky and wonderful John Waters decided to change his ways and make a "mainstream" movie. After a fascinating career that included highlights like "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble" he mellowed out (and left out things like recreational incest and poop eating) and created the absolutely delightful and fantastically subversive original movie of Hairspray.

Why was it subversive? Well, not because he used the fab drag queen Divine to play the mother of the main character-- although that WAS pretty fucking cool. No, it was subversive because the fat girl kicks ass and gets fame, fortune, AND the hot guy.

I absolutely and utterly LOVE the first movie. Seriously. It's one of my favorites, and when it comes on, I have to watch it. I love every little silly moment in it from Link dragging himself on stage to dance with broken knees that magically heal to Blondie's exploding wig. It's a masterpiece with an awesome soundtrack, a perfect commentary on the racial tensions in the mid-sixties, and--best of all--teenage love and self-discovery.

In the original movie, the role of Tracy Turnblad was played by the still-fat-at-the-time Ricki Lake. Sure, Ricki Lake isn't the world's best actress, but she brought a unique combination of self-confidence and ironic sexuality to the role that was just pure perfection. Best of all, Divine brought her massive personality down about ten notches to play the working-class laundress that is Tracy's mother Edna. It was a star turn by Divine, and he--oops, I mean she--was so dead-on that I never once thought about the fact that Divine had a penis (remember the scene where Tracy drags her into the hair salon? Was that not perfect?).

And that sexy love interest Link... ah, Link. The actor that played Link was so damned handsome that he was immediately cast in a movie to play the young Elvis--and rightly so (I'm sad to hear that he's left acting and is now a preacher that is unwilling to discuss his time as an actor). The scene where he makes out with Tracy in an alley is one of the best screen moments EVER (even with the rats!).

The idea of the fat girl getting the handsome guy (and stealing him from a skinny blond, no less) was deeply appealing to this then fat and single girl back in 1988. I saw the movie in the theater more than once.

So, knowing all this, you can imagine my trepidation in seeing the musical version on the big screen. I read the reviews, and thought long and hard about it. There was one major thing that made me not want to go.

John fucking Travolta.

In drag. AND a fat suit.

In BAD drag. He looks AWFUL. Did you ever notice that his eyes were that close together before? I hadn't. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Just so fucking wrong. Not convinced? Here's Divine. And here. And this is John Revolting. Ug!

This was a major mistake in my opinion. The gag in the original movie was NOT that Tracy's mother was played by a man. It was that his mother was played by a DRAG QUEEN (a "naturally" fat drag queen, no less). NOT a man in drag. See the difference? It's a crucial one, and it why John Travolta was wrong, wrong, wrong for the role.

The saddest thing, of course, is that Harvey Fierstein won Tony after Tony for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad on Broadway. Harvey is alive and well (unlike Divine) and would have been exactly the right person to play the role--at least he's been in drag for years (off and on). But I guess he wasn't a big enough draw in by Hollywood standards, and of course John Travolta has been kicking himself for years for not taking the role of Billy Flynn in the latest movie version of Chicago, so there you go (ironically, I think John Travolta would have been a much better Billy Flynn than Richard Gere was with his awful machine-gun vibrato). John Travolta has said in interviews that he wanted to play Edna as if she was a woman and not a drag queen, and when I heard that I thought "Gee, why the fuck didn't they cast a fat woman for the role then?" The whole POINT is that she's a drag queen, for fuck's sake.

Ug. But, I had a free afternoon and only one movie was scheduled right during Tori's nap. So off I went.

First off, I was stunned--no, knocked over--wait, I mean blown away immediately by the lovely young woman playing Tracy Turnblad. This 4' 10" tall stunner was so cute, so adorable, and so sweet as Tracy that I just couldn't help but love her. She is so graceful and light on her feet you would think she was wearing a fat suit, but of course she's not. She is the perfect epitome of the idea of "fit and fat." She danced and danced and danced and did not look even remotely out of breath. I love, love, love her.

But she is all light to Ricki Lake's mildly dark, and I missed that darkness. But still--I would give her a big hug if I met her, and it deeply saddens me that right this very moment she is probably surrounded by people telling her that she can play the "fat best friend" if she just loses a few pounds.

Overall, everyone else in the movie was delightful, although Zac Efron was nowhere near as hot as Michael St. Gerard in the first movie. Michelle Pfieffer was great although she is scary thin--seriously, if she ate a couple of cheeseburgers she'd look about 15 years younger (don't these Hollywood people ever realize that fat plumps up wrinkles? I guess fatness is SO HORRIBLE that they would rather look OLD). And weird and wonderful Christopher Walken as Tracy's father was just about the only nod to John Waters in the whole movie. Last but not least, of course--you can NEVER go wrong with Queen Latifah. She was excellent as Motor-Mouth Mabel.

Oh--and the love scene between Edna and Wilbur Turnblad was so fucking surreal (we're talking Christopher Walken trying to woo John Travolta in drag--with SINGING AND DANCING) that it almost--ALMOST--made casting John Revolting acceptable.

While the movie was rolling, I was tapping my toes and feeling like dancing in the aisles--which is really all you can ask of a musical, right? But as the initial glow has faded, I find myself more and more seeing what was right in the first one and what was wrong and just off in this latest version (for instance, there was no cockroach dress in the musical--why oh why not?).

Mostly, I guess, I miss the subversive nature of the first one. The latest movie is just so light and fluffy! Instead of a toned-down Pink Flamingos it's a toned-up High School Musical. And that's just sad, and wrong--I mean, come ON. We're talking JOHN WATERS here, folks.

Did you see it? What did you think? Were you a fan of the original?

Comments

[gillian]

loved loved loved the original
love love love John Travola
Hate hate hate him in this movie...lol
He totally creeped me out in the fat suit..glad I wasnt the only one..he he he

[margalit]

Original Jon Waters film was one of my all time favorites. I've introduced it to my kids who loved it too. LOVED it.

I can't stand John Revolting, which incidentally is exactly what I call him, too. Not only is he disgustingly revolting, he's a creepy scientologist and no thanks, no money from my purse will ever cross over to the scientologists. Which is my way of saying I won't see the new one.

But my question is, did they dance to the Madison? My FAVE dance scene in the original.

[Donnie]

I've been too scared to see the new one; do you think I should spend the dough?
I love the quirky, off-ness of the original.. I mean, how could you NOT wear an evening gown decorated with cockroaches after being teased and accused of being infested with the critters? I mean, that sort of confidence is what I want my daughter to have, regardless of her body type, you know?

[robin]

I just think it's a bad idea to compare the two movies as if they even aspire to be the same thing. I loved the subversiveness of the original, and the way it was just _different_. I loved the zinger lyrics of the new one. I wanted to dance in the aisles, and now i want to buy the dvd and play it over and over just to be able to use some of those lines in conversation. Totally different intentions -- different results. But I agree, that putting someone in a fatsuit to play Edna is insulting to the original, as opposed to the rest, which could just be seen as "inspired by but different from" the original.

[Emily]

I totally get you on the drag queen vs. man in drag. And the movie was filmed in Canada(?) instead of Baltimore; that bothers me. I'm planning on skipping it!

[Rachel]

I remember watching the Jon Waters film when I was 20 and then going to TLA to get all of the Waters movies. I saw Hairspray off Broadway and loved it and then the the movie and now this remake. I am excited to see it but nothing will compare to the first one. So funny and so n utty at the same time.

[Sheri]

Did you catch all the nods to the original movie in there? John Waters was the flasher in the first number and Ricki Lake was one of the modeling agency people. I'm sure there were more...

My one gripe....Queen Latifah should have been BIGGER. Not fat enough! And I'd cast it all the same way again as long as it got me Walken as the doe-eyed dad.

[Liz]

I went into Hairspray prepared that it would be a cheery version of the movie - and enjoyed it for what it was. When you are able to hold back the comparisons, it is a cute, toe-tapping, feel-good movie. And meh, Travolta... he's no Divine.

I am questioning my crush on Link... he's such an emo-looking kid with his side-swept hair in real life!

[Lisa V]

Loved the original. Love Harvey- long time fan of Torch Song Trilogy. Liked this new version, but not loved.

As my 15 year old said- "John Travolta is an ugly women and Edna isn't supposed to be ugly." He danced well, but I never for one second forgot it was John Travolta.

Harvey would have been the best choice.

[evie]

I agree with Robin, I think the intent was different. I took my 9 year old twin daughters who are dancers and singers themselves. They LOVED it. I enjoyed it. They are singing "good morning Baltimore" all day, every day in the car now. I remember going to see Grease with my mom when I was a pre-teen, and this was kind of a full-circle thing to me, to take my girls to this movie. Oh, and they are both totally in love with Zac and now we have pictures of him all over their rooms. I was really grateful for a good summer movie I could feel comfortable taking my daughters to and having them get obsessed about. There is only so much High School Musical I can take day after day.

BTW, one thing that made me want to see the movie was to see Nikki in the Tracy role. I saw her on Oprah and they showed her reaction when she was offered the part. She was working in an ice cream store. It was really moving. I was wanting to go see the movie after watching that. She was delightful.

[Kathy C.]

Cec, can you please do another video post? We miss our baby girl.

[JuliaKB]

I wasn't in this country yet when the original came out, so I didn't know it existed (no one told me!). I was vaguely thinking of going to see this one, but now I think I should find the original one on Netflix and spend my movie time and dough on say the new Bourne movie...

[Christine]

You know, I haven't seen the new one yet but I have to say that my loyality is with John Waters. Ever since my best friend and I would hang out at Tower Records scouring the shelves for Divine movies, I was a HUGE fan of Mr. Waters.

Somehow the idea of this movie makes me sad for both John and Divine. Divine for obvious reasons, but John as well since it's almost like he had to "sell out" to make his movie move to the top again. John is SO talented. I wish they could have just re-released the original.

Oh, which reminds me, HOW OLD AM I and WHY are they RE-MAKING movies I saw in HIGH SCHOOL?? HELL-O! Sickening!

[goodsandwich]

I might have felt this way but for the fact that John Waters himself also likes this version. Of course it's hard not to compare but honestly I think the existence of this version will only bring more fans to the original, which can only be a good thing!

[Anne]

I have mixed feelings about seeing this version b/c I LOVE the orriginal film and it would take away my enjoyment to be comparing the two. I think I'll wait till it hits HBO.

[Elizabeth]

I totally agree with your review. I LOVE the original so much and I was really leery of seeing the film. I liked it, especially Nikki Blonsky, but I hated John Travolta so much it almost ruined it for me. Loved the music and dancing and of course, Queen Latifah. I can't say it will ever live up to the first one, but I am glad I saw it.

[Heather]

Divine was one in a million and will never be equaled!! The biggest advantage is that Divine and John were both Baltomore natives. There is something about Balto people that can NOT matched by someone from Jersey. Would you believe that I read a quote from John Waters that he chose Revolting and liked him, and that he was so bored with the original! That just made me ill!!

[Vixannewigg]

I haven't seen it and I don't plan to. Maybe when it comes on HBO. I really can't stand John Travolta and I heard they lightened the movie up quite a lot, which I think stinks. I loved the John Waters movie, and I can't imagine that this one would be nearly as good.

[mojavi]

Been a lurker for a while but had to post to this... When I was 15 John Waters came to Allentown, PA at Dorney park to film his movie. I was an extra in it...you can barely see me in one scene of people walking but most of all the filming there was cut from the movie... ANyway I got to hang out with John Waters and the girl who played the blond... They were all so nice to me. I was in awe of him! Anyway had to post my take on it.. I am going to go see the new movie but I feel like I will be cheating on John... lol

[Steph]

Big John Waters fan but won't see it because of John Travolta. I also thought it was really weird that he didn't play Edna as a man in drag. Frankly, John Waters' stamp of approval doesn't mean much, because he surely stands to gain from its success. I don't want to call him a sellout, because I don't think he is; I think he just enjoys financial comfort as much as the rest of us.

[Jen]

The original is one of my favorite movies of all times, particularly because of the roach dress, and I am SO bummed to hear it's not in this one. I haven't seen the new one yet (haven't had a husband home lately to watch the kiddos) I can't stand John Travolta, and I would have loved to see Harvey play Edna. Boo for that. They should have used someone who was actually fat. I can't stand movies with people in fat suits.

See I live in Baltimore... and I've literally at this point seen all but the earliest John Waters films, "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket" and the other three shorts he did before his first full length film. Out of all of thsoe films, I find "Cry Baby" and Hairspray" virtually unwatchable... I hated the original film. The pacing was all wrong, quite boring to me. As such I couldn't imagine how it made a decent musical.

Instead, I was shocked, I loved it. The choreography was great, the colors and script were punched up, much tighter than the original. The marching scenes, Tracy's reapearance at the end, actually got me to cry.

As for Travolta, I did see him as belivable... it's just one of those things... I never saw Harvey do it, and Divine couldn't do it because she passed. But Travolta was fairly sympathetic in the role, and seemed to do a few nods to Divine and Edith Massey in his final... number.

[Amy]

What really bugged me were the theatre kids I went to see it with---they were PISSED that it was based more on the movie than the broadway musical!

I did love the cameos (Stiller played the guy working at the dress shop instead of tracy's dad, John Waters and Ricki Lake---who has a track on the soundtrack).

But John = yuck. His eyes bugged the living hell out of me, and a great deal of the gay community did not appreciate a scientologist taking the role that is notoriously portrayed by a real-deal drag queen!

Ah, what Hollywood will do to make a buck.

[Mara]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on just one point--I think Michelle Pfeiffer looks fabulous for a woman who is almost 50 years old. I don't think she looks 50 at all!

[squeak]

I LOVED the original Hairspray (and Cry Baby too). I have seen the musical, and enjoyed it. I haven't seen the new movie, and probably won't. I *might* rent it, since I like quite a few of the actors... except Travolta. I generally try to avoid him anyway. I don't think he is a great actor, and just annoys me for some reason. I was PISSED when I found out he was playing Edna. From the few bits I saw in commercials, he really didn't impress me. I get where you are coming from about the drag queen vs. man in drag thing, I just would have never been able to explain it as well as you! Harvey would have been great.

And I am glad to see I am not alone in my unhappiness about the remake.