The main character Tracy Turnblad (played by Nikki Blonsky) chases her dream of becoming a dancer on the 'Corny Collins show' which is the most popular kids show in America; she auditions but gets turned down until she gets recognition from Link (one of the main characters within the Corny Collins show - played by Zac Efron). Once Tracy commenced her place on the Corny Collins show - she made ratings shoot up and became the most popular girl on the show and at school! Tracy was a firm believer in integration and decided to fight for what she believed in.
Once a month on the 'Corny Collins show' there was Negro day - a day where Negro's could be on the show with people of different race and dance together - this was Tracy's dream - but for it to be Negro day everyday - for integration! It appears that in the 1960's black people had no rights and were forced to work for a small fee or to do jobs no-one else wanted to do because it was believed that white people had power - also, people were judged on their appearance, colour of their skin, weight, hair etc. The overall meaning for this film was to put the message across that prejudice is wrong and everybody should be treated equally.
Whilst watching this film, i wrote notes about the aspects of film language and took these into account when thinking about my interpretation of the message that was trying to be put across:
Setting:
It is set in the 1960's which meant that the morals and beliefs were different than they are in modern society which meant that i had to think about how certain actions would have been interpreted by people back in the 1960's. The time period it was set in also influenced the costume, hair and make-up due to the fashions at that time.
Props and lighting:
There was a prop used for the stage that was used on the 'Corny Collins show' - this prop was used effectively to represent the style of the 1960's and helped create the 'stage' atmosphere.
Lighting was used effectively to highlight each character within the show by putting the focus on them.
Figure and facial expression:
The characters within this movie all had fast paced movement - especially the children - they were all generally excited and enthusiastic about life and what fate had in store. The facial expression of the characters was very much joyful throughout the film even when things weren't going to plan.
Costume, make-up and hairstyle:
The hair and make-up and costume was totally influenced by the time frame that the film was set in - during the 1960's hair was big and clothes and make-up were bright and vibrant which was reflected in the film.
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| An example of the fashion in the 1960's - shows the big hair and vibrant colours that are being represented in the film - although not a picture from hairspray- it's something to show the fashion of that time. |
In conclusion, the film Hairspray is a representation of how things used to be back in the 60's - where morals and beliefs are now known to be wrong - where integration was something unheard of and how people were victims of prejudice due to their appearance. The moral to hairspray is that you shouldn't judge other people or discriminate against them because they're different.
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