Hairspray was a fun remake of an original John Waters comedy that was a take on the 1950s that featured a parody of racism, sexism, and Victorian conservatism in turn and compelled audiences to take note of the big arguments being posed by the advent of the 1950s and the resulting culture clashes, civil rights battles, and societal changes that were occurring across the country.
Hairspray got stellar reviews, placing itself in the 7 category on IMDB out of 40,000 ratings. The director was Adam Shankman, and the screenwriters were Leslie Dixon and John Waters. In actuality, John Waters had written the screenplay several years before in 1988, and it was a cult hit and phenomenon then. It wasn’t until far afterward that it was adapted for modern audiences with some of the material cut out that had made it so offensive in the first place. It was more well received the second time around.
It is a comedy musical romance movie that featured an all-star ensemble cast with some unknown actors. John Travolta is even dressed up in a fat suit as a woman to play the mother, and he does a great job of reappraising Divine’s original role in the 1988 film. John Waters would have been happy. This movie is much better than a stage musical, and yet it has all the same elements of it. Supposedly, screening audiences were cheering after the first premiere of the movie, and the movie received even more cheers than the movie Chicago did. This movie musical measures up to all the previous modern hallmarks of musicals over the years like Grease, Rent, and even the modern Dreamgirls movie. The cast includes John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, and Zac Efron. This movie starred a great cast that seemed to add to the movie in all ways. Each person was perfectly cast and showcased their funniest appearances in years. John Travolta received stellar reviews, and it was nearly impossible to tell that it was him because it took 4 and half hours to get all the make up on, and John Travolta is a stellar performer that can take on any role and make it his own.
Hairspray is a modern camp classic that features all the classic elements of a camp classic.