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Hairspray Analysis

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Hairspray the Movie’s Social Messages In the 1988 version of Hairspray the movie directed by John Waters, focuses primarily on the political and social issue of segregation of the African Americans from Caucasians in Baltimore, Maryland during the early 1960’s. The focal issue was the lack of everyday integration of television shows, as African Americans were not allowed to join the white dancers on “The Corny Collins Show” except for the last Thursday of every month known as“Negro Day”. Although the main female protagonist Tracy Turnblad fought for integration throughout the movie, she also established the importance of self-acceptance when it comes to body image. This message is prominent in the story through Tracy’s ongoing acceptance of …show more content…

Similar to current issues with the mass media’s portrayal of what is a beautiful woman, the viewer of the “Corny Collins Show” notes that it is ideal for women to be skinny and attractive in show business. An example of this can be found when the girl stuffed her bra in order to appear to have larger breast in addition to her already thin frame. In the film, the main female protagonist Tracy Turnblad is a slightly overweight girl that wishes to appear on the “Corny Collins Show”, but has to face the backlash from the rather thin and pretty Amber Von Tussle, who fits the image of the girls that appear on the show all the time. Despite the constant ridicule from Amber with statements like “Aren 't you a little fat for the show?’‘Come on. The show 's not filmed in Cinemascope”, Tracy is able to keep a positive body image as she sees herself as a role model for other women that are big boned as she responded to Amber’s statement “I 'm sure many of the other home viewers out there are pleasantly plump or chunky”. Although Tracy does want to appear beautiful and attractive to viewers( and the boys of the show), she does not feel that she must be thin to appear so as she stays to Edna (her mother), “Finally all of Baltimore knows I am big, blond, and beautiful!”. Therefore, Tracy became the spokesperson for the Hefty Hideaway clothing shop owned by Mr.

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During the 1800’s and 1900’s segregation was still going on and growing stronger over the year. Most African Americans were either working on plantations or working for others just to bet by and take care of their children. Sarah Breedlove McWilliams “Madam C.J. Walker” was born into a single parent household and ultimately lived a life of struggle but, still managed to become very successful in adulthood. Madam C.J. Walker is my Time’s Person of the Year because she changed African American hair forever, was the first black millionaire, and a global symbol to many American hair products and life.

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It’s an argument we’ve all heard before and there are more than a few books that have tackled the subject. But what’s different from even the last three years is just how widespread the media has become. Today’s teens spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes absorbing media in just one day, which includes the amount of time spent watching TV, listening to music, watching movies, reading magazines and using the internet. This is a generation that’s been raised watching reality TV – observing bodies transformed on Extreme Makeover; faces taken apart and pieced back together on I Want a Famous Face. They are, as Tina Fey puts it, bombarded by "a laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful.”

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Essentially, industries decrease people self-esteem in order to make money and sell their advertised products. Companies advertise the “perfect” body that even the models do not have because of edited images, all the while contradicting themselves saying “be yourself”, then promoting unrealistic standards. Roberts inductive thesis fell at the end of the film, stating that the promise of being beautiful leading to a better life, is propaganda and that women’s health is not as important as corporate profit. The primary appeal in this documentary is the appeal to authority.

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The models in the advertisement are far from average American women. The models represent the “ideal” American doll with tall, long legs; a “naturally” tanned complexion; and a waist size under 26 inches. Many Americans resonate with and aspire to achieve this image of beauty—regardless of how infeasible it may be. Consequently, when the Victoria’s Secret models kickbox, rock climb, or run on the beach, the audience desires the same look when they work out. So, the next time that a young woman shops for some new workout clothes, she buys from Victoria’s Secret because she’ll be one step closer to looking like a VS

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This constant fixation on physical perfection has created unreasonable beauty standards for women, ones we cannot possibly achieve on our own. Such standards permeate all forms of popular media, particularly fashion magazines and advertisements. Women are bombarded with the notion that we must be thin in order to be desirable. These images project an

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This negative portrayal leads to self-hatred and a negative self-image for women. A major point of this is the idea of excessive thinness for women, which the advertising industry is dominantly influencing how women need to meet this standard. Kilbourne argues that advertising and the media cause women to believe this is the only standard and we must meet it. A recent advertisement in Glamour magazine for Kashi cereal “GoLEAN Crunch”, is a great example of how women are represented and materialized in today’s society. This advertisement supports and contradicts Kilbourne’s argument that advertisers depict women as powerless, in-shape and perfectly beautified to meet the standard created by the media.

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Becker’s article focuses on the damaging practices and behaviors women can learn by watching reality television. Becker points out that the reality program, Are You Hot?, a show entirely focused on a female competitor’s appearance being evaluated by a panel of judges, is one such program that can lead to female viewers developing body image issues. This is said as competitors are frequently unhappy with the way they look, and they can resort to unhealthy eating habits. Throughout the article, the author effectively criticizes the show and highlights the negative side of reality television. Although the author states that parents should advise their daughters to avoid watching the show and similar programs, she fails to make note of the enlightening effects reality shows have on eating disorder research.

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In the Hollywood movie, “Hairspray,” which was produced in 1988, and again in 2007, tells a story, based in the 1960’s, about segregation and equality. The main character, a white woman in high school, Tracy Turnblad, gets detention and must serve it with the blacks of her school. As soon as she is faced with this, she is open minded to these students, despite the common belief that blacks were inferior to whites. As the movie plays out, Tracy marches for black rights and stands up for equality among all races. This is also portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird when Atticus stands up for Tom Robinson and his family.

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Why as a culture do we still glorify these kinds of shows? Reality TV magnifies these stereotypes, that leads to approval of what a woman should be in a pop culture, lets women know how they are judged only on appearance. In some cases, the “fantasies of power” as she puts it, take the image of superheroes She says that these images do what is called “enlightened sexism”, creating the major actions we see in reality. The “enlightened sexism” tends to mislead the young women that are trying to look good, for the approval within our culture values trying to compete against each other.

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She catches the attention of the town’s resident heartthrob, Link, although she is not seen as “conventionally pretty”. Although Hairspray seems to support racial integration and feminism, there are aspects of the movie that prove racist and anti-feminist. I will prove this by highlighting some post-colonial concepts in the movie and using feminist concepts. I first watched this movie when it premiered in 2007— I was nine at the time.

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In the musical Hairspray, main character Tracy Turnblad questions whether it is righteous that blacks and white be separated on television. After auditioning and being cast onto The Corny Collins Show, a local teen dance television show, Tracy befriends Maybelle, the host of the monthly "Negro Day". Through this friendship, Tracy realizes that all humans deserve to be treated equally, and initiates a campaign for racial integration on television. Had Tracy remained at home with her prejudiced white family, and never been exposed to the blatant racial inequality behind the scenes of the show and its effect on the careers of its African American dancers, Tracey never would have realized the fault in the principle of “separate but equal.”. She would have remained narrow-minded, with a different set of values.

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The short story by Andre Dubus follows Louise from age nine up until the time she becomes a mother. It gives insight to the damage that can be done when loved ones force negative body images on young children. Louise’s mother starts her on a self-destructive path, which Louise will never overcome and continually affects her life. This is reinforced by the similar opinions of her relatives and friends who make her feel that she will only be truly loved if she is thin. The prevalent theme of Dubus’ “The Fat Girl” is the destructive way society views food addiction and how it adversely affects women.

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From an early age, we are exposed to the western culture of the “thin-ideal” and that looks matter (Shapiro 9). Images on modern television spend countless hours telling us to lose weight, be thin and beautiful. Often, television portrays the thin women as successful and powerful whereas the overweight characters are portrayed as “lazy” and the one with no friends (“The Media”). Furthermore, most images we see on the media are heavily edited and airbrushed

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