Hairspray Movie Recap (2007)

 

Hairspray Movie Recap

This movie takes place in Baltimore 1962. We meet our protagonist Tracy Trunblad and not even two minutes into this movie, we get a musical number. As she’s getting engaged with this musical number we get some questionable scenes in Baltimore, like rats dancing around the city, encountering a serial flasher, a bum on the ballroom stool. Telling me about Baltimore makes me not want to go to the city. While she cuts into a dance number, she misses the school bus and has to take a garbage truck to school. As the school day goes by, she waits to the end of the day so she can rush home and watch her favorite show The Corny Collins Show. We also meet Penny Lou (played by Amanda Bynes, one of her final roles before going insane). While watching the Corny Collins Show we meet Tracy’s mother Edna played by John Travolta. I know what you are thinking, why is a man playing a woman here? The original Broadway play and the 1988 movie had a man in drag playing the mother role, so writers and directors decide to keep in tradition.

At the show we meet Velma Von Tussle, played by Michele Phifer in her major role in five years. Travolta requested her to fill that role. She is the manager of the network that broadcasts The Corny Collins Show and her daughter is a dancer on the show. She makes sure her daughter is one of the main dancers of the show. Once a month, The Corny Collins Show have Negro Day to showcase only Negro dancers’ headline by Motormouth Maybell played by the legendary Queen Latifah. During one of the Corny Collins broadcast, Tracy learns that there is an opening at the Corny Collins show as one of their dancers is disappearing for nine months (she pregnant?) Tracy wants to audition against Edna’s wishes. Edna doesn’t want her to get hurt, since Tracy is a plus sized woman. Her dad encourages Tracy to go for her dreams.

At the auditions, Velma rejects Tracy for her size and her support of integration. [] Back at school, she gets caught by her teacher for cutting class and gets sent into detention. At detention, there’s nothing but black people there, are they trying to say all black people are bad? In detention we meet Seaweed, he is Maybell’s son and played by Elijah Kelly. In detention, they are getting funky. While getting with the good foot, another Corny dancer named Link Larkin, played by High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron spots Tracy dancing and feels like she’s perfect for the show. Tracy gets the googly eyed effect for Link cue another musical number as she fantasies over him, even with some questionable lines.  

Corny Collins is hosting a record hop or sock hop or whatever it was called at the time, one side divided by the black, the other for the whites. Tracy decides to showcase the moves Seaweed taught and Link immediately notices, making Amber jealous. Shortly after, Penny Lou rushes to the Turnblads to tell them that Tracy made it to the Corny Collins Show. During the interview, she says the thing that angers Velma. Velma gets into an argument with Corny Collins as he wants to integrate his show. Tracy becomes a sensation and is now a threat to Amber and the future Miss Teenage Hairspray.

Edna gets a phone call from Mr. Pinky and he tells her he wants Tracy to become a spokesperson for his company. Upon hearing this, she wants her mother to become her agent/manager. But she has anxiety due to her appearance. After begging, Edna finally steps out, welcome to the 60s. They go to Mr. Pinky’s department and both get makeovers. Back in detention, Link finally gets a scene of what goes down in detention. Not long after, Seaweed invites Tracy, Penny (whom he got the googly eyed effect for) and Link for a party at Maybell’s record shop. Amber decides to call Edna, in an effort to bust Tracy at Maybell’s. Edna was about to get in to some trouble but when Maybell shows her some of southern favorites, Edna keeps silent. At the party she tells her party that Negro Day has been cancelled by Velma. Tracy gets the idea to hold a protest march, which Maybell cosigns but Edna doesn’t approve of it as it will give Tracy negative publicity. Tracy offers Link to join them but he turns it down. He got a performing spot on Miss Hairspray and does not want to jeopardize that.

Velma arrives at the Turnblad’s shop and she decides to seduce Wilbur. This is a plot to get Tracy removed from the show. Edna catches them and is devastated. Later that night, he tries to explain what happens but she doesn’t want to hear it but he does some convincing and then some and it works as he tells her that “she’s Timeless to me”. The next morning Tracy sneaks out to protest the networks decision. It’s a gutsy decision for Tracy. During the protest the are encountered by the police. Tracy unintendingly hits a cop with her protest sign and is now a wanted woman. Tracy hides out Penny’s air-raid shelter but she gets busted by her bible beating mother. She ties Penny to her bed as punishment. Shortly after Seaweed sneaks in to free Penny and they share a kiss. Link goes to the Turnblad’s and tells them that he regrets not attending the protest. That’s when Link sings about how he feels.

The next day is the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant and security is extra tight as they don’t want Tracy nowhere near the pageant. In the meantime, Velma is cheating to help her daughter win. Seaweed and his boys, with the help of Wilbur create a diversion to get Tracy in. The police use a battery hairspray ram as the Seaweed boys locked the police out. Turns out Tracy was hiding in said Hairspray can and the police winded up helping getting her in. Tracy breaks in the last minute to showcase her moves. Link then invites Little Inez Stubbs (Seaweeds little sister), to dance. Seaweed then brings Penny on the set and they kiss on live television (yikes). At the end of the pageant, thanks to surge of last minute voting Little Inez Stubbs wins Miss Teen Hairspray. Shortly after this, Corny Collins announces that his show is forever integrated.

After losing, Amber talks to her mother after losing. Amber is fine but Velma is distraught and tells her daughter that she switched the votes to rig her victory. That’s when Edna and Wilber catches her confession on live television. Velma is fired from her position. For the final dance, Edna takes the floor and stunts on Velma. Corny Collins invites Maybell to do her thing and the pageant becomes a celebration for the future. And they all live happily ever after, I’m trying to end this on a joke but I can’t do that guess you can’t stop the beat.

Final Thoughts: This was my first time ever watching this movie and I got to say wow, this movie is full of energy. Everyone brought it to the table but let’s have a discussion with the characters with no order of importance. Edna, someone who has dealt with insecurities feared her daughter on chasing fame. Not sure of her past experiences or the fact that she and her daughter are plus sized women and women then are often frowned upon. Not going to waste time on Velma, do give energy towards racists. Seaweed and Penny, every time I see them, I get worried. Remember 1962, interracial relationship was severely frowned upon and them kissing on national television reminded me of a story of Frankie Lymon danced with a white girl on television and it help get that show cancelled and all tapes burned. Yes the show got integrated but they need to be careful on how they move, that’s all. Tracy, our leading lady, love her confidence, her fearless to push boundaries. Don’t tell her no, she’s always going to find a yes. Overall, for a first time watch I enjoyed this movie, it’s energetic and deserves a watch to all who haven’t seen it.