Hairspray (2007)

I remember vividly the first time I saw the 2007 Hairspray remake. I was in bed, in February, suffering from the sort of epic flu that causes one to lose control of multiple bodily functions, sometimes simultaneously. I was lonely, too, because Mr. Beaupepys was a couple of days ahead of me in our mutual suffering, so I was still burning up in the coldest room of the house while he was shivering abjectly a couple of rooms away in front of the gas fire. I'd been watching Quest, the Discovery Channel's freebie cousin, but there's only so many cheerfully talky engineers a sick Sarah can endure and I eventually summoned up the energy to start channel hopping.

I managed to find the second half of Zoolander, which wasn't ideal but was still much, much better than no Zoolander at all, and by the time Zoolander Junior was performing his first look for the camera (sorry for spoilers) my will to live had been at least partially restored. Changing the channel, however, still seemed like a huge mountain to climb. For Titanic, perhaps, I might have found the energy to switch to something different. For War Horse, even, (had it been made). A cute sixties-set musical based on a John Waters film, though? That actually sounded like sort of fun, even if it did feature a female character played by a man in a fat suit.

Three years on, give or take, and I still feel a little bounce of happiness every time I see the title on the TV listings.

Hairspray is a movie based on a musical based on the aforementioned John Waters movie, which I haven't seen and so can't offer a comparison. From what I can surmise, the remake offers a tamer, more family-friendly version, but please don't quote me on this? In any case, the plot, setting and major characters remain the same. We have, therefore, chubby teen Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) living in Baltimore in 1962, when rock'n'roll was in the ascendant and the civil rights movement was finally starting to gain serious momentum. 

Tracy dreams of being one of the well-scrubbed, wholesome kids on the local American Bandstand-style dance show, but when a slot becomes free for audition her mother Edna (John Travolta - I kid you not) discourages her, not wanting to see her feelings hurt. Tracy, however, is one of life's optimists, and besides, she's been practicing some moves she's been working on with the black kids in detention. Even when she's summarily dismissed from the audition by vampish producer Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), her persistence and ingenuity mean she soon wins the role she desires.

In some films, this would already have taken us to the happy ending, but Hairspray has loftier goals in mind. After all, Von Tussle's stranglehold on the show means that the black kids are only permitted to perform once a month on the designated Negro Day, and even this seems to be under threat. Tracy determines to change this, no matter what the cost might be to her status or career.

The good

Did I mention that I love this film? It's an injection of positive energy delivered straight to the heart, and one that lifts me even on my very darkest days. The only question is, where to begin?

We'll start, I think, with the performances, which vary from the good (Michelle Pfeiffer, purring and sashaying as an evil former beauty queen) to the excellent (John Travolta, in a role I'd expected to find uncomfortable to watch). It's tempting to single everybody out for special credit, but here are a couple more of my favourites: Elijah Kelley as Seaweed, whose voice is pleasantly reminiscent of Smokey Robinson, and sometime Cyclops James Marsden, looking more at home than I've ever seen him before as dance show host Corney Collins. It is to Nikki Blonsky's Tracy Turnblad, however, that the film really belongs - she's in almost every scene, and her powerful voice and great dance moves are almost secondary to the radiant good-heartedness she exudes whenever she's on camera. It's a travesty that she hasn't been swamped with work ever since. Finally, for those interested in such things, John Waters also appears, in a cameo to make Stan Lee hang his head in shame.

Visually, the film is appealing, too, presenting a sugar-frosted fantasy of the early sixties even as it gently undermines the mores of the period. It could be argued that it looks a little stagey at some points, but I'm not sure this is a bad thing - this is a musical, after all, and so we don't necessarily want Dogme 95 rules to apply. Speaking of the music, it's a loving and fairly accurate pastiche of the period, although obviously it knocks off any rough edges. This is compensated for by the lyrics, which are sly but never spiteful. It's all eminently hummable, and the big final number You can't stop the beat is definitely a classic in waiting.

All of this is great, obviously, but it doesn't even come close to being the best thing about Hairspray. John Waters, you see, as well as being a gross-out merchant, is definitely a humanitarian, and remake director Adam Shankman has ensured this spirit carries over. It's an incredibly inclusive film, with the overt message that everybody deserves to be celebrated, regardless of gender, race or size.

Yes, size. The, um, elephant in the room, and the reason it took me several years to get round to watching the film in the first place. I'd assumed that the character of Tracy was going to be a figure of fun, and that's before we get anywhere near the implications of putting John Travolta into a fatsuit (horrible things, should be banned). This has to be the most fat-positive movie I've ever seen, though, and I wish it had been around during my awkward teenage phase when I was starving myself and miserable. Tracy is a fantastic role model, clearly aware of her size but never letting it hold her back - after all, it's just one aspect of the smart, spirited, talented person she is. I repeat, just one aspect, not the defining one, so she's not constantly eating on camera. Thank you, Adam Shankman. Tracy's mother Edna, on the other hand, is thoroughly ashamed of her own weight, despite being a good mother and a sharp business brain, but as Tracy blossoms she's determined to bring Edna forward with her, and by the end of the film the character has had the chance to go on a journey of her own. Oh, and did I mention that Tracy has a skinny, conventionally pretty blonde best friend who nevertheless always remains slightly in her shadow? It's a beautiful little piece of trope subversion, because none of the other characters ever seem to bat an eyelash.

You'll notice I'm not mentioning many male characters here. This is because by and large, they're not the decision-makers in Hairspray - sure, they get the odd song here and there but they don't drive the action, and come the finale they're relegated to chorus line status. What they do do, however, is support the women in their lives, and when push comes to shove they can always be relied on to do the right thing. This is that sort of movie, one where everybody gets their chance, and for me at least, that's part of the joy of it.

The bad

This just leaves the question of race, which is unfortunate, given that it's such a complex topic and not one I find easy to discuss. It is, however, every bit as relevant to Hairspray as size, and sadly, it isn't handled quite so well. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing offensive here - I loved a shot where the black kids sang and danced on a bus while our three white protagonists sat and watched from the back of the bus. In the midst of all the good vibrations, however, there's a definite tendency to use cliche as shorthand - we're not quite talking Magical Negroes, but at times it gets close. The black kids are the best dancers, therefore, and the best songwriters, and matriarch Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah, always welcome on screen) cooks soul food to die for. The white characters had their own individual story arcs and personality quirks; the black characters had soul, apparently, and that was their sole collective distinguishing mark. Perhaps this is because of the editing involved in compressing a musical down to popcorn-movie length, but I haven't seen the stage show, so that might just be me putting the most positive spin on a less than ideal situation.

The verdict

Definitely my favourite movie musical of recent years, and likely to remain so until The Book of Mormon gets filmed and released. If you're any sort of fan of the genre and haven't already seen this one, you owe it to yourself to take a look as soon as possible.