ipl-logo

Hairspray Film Analysis

1149 Words5 Pages

Hairspray is a romantic comedy film that came out in 1988. It was directed by John Waters. The movie takes place in 1962 in Baltimore and is about a self proclaimed young women called Tracy Turnblad. The story depicts both the rise of the teenager on a local TV to become a celebrity as a dancer and through her unpopular desire for racial integration. The story takes place at a time when the entertainment industry was greatly used to highlight the racial tensions and intercultural conflicts between the White and African-American that was taking place in the 1960’s. At a time when the Civil Right Movement was very much alive, racial tensions are portrayed and shown through the dances and interaction of a teenage group dancing show. One scene …show more content…

The scene takes place in a shop in which Link, Tracy and her best friend Penny just walked in and witnessed African-American people dancing. The first evidence that highlights the racial segregation is the place where the dance takes place. The dance takes place in a closed, private room, hidden from the public, in a small record shop owned by Motormouth Maybelle. One example that suggest that the African-American dancers do not want to be seen dancing are the partly closed blinders. They are immediately welcomed by the black dancers. It relates to the new “friendly and peaceful” African-American image that Martin Luther King was trying to create. The three white dancers are invited to learn an African-American dance called the Bird Dance. The dance involves a vertical movement of the upper arm and the elbow, very similar to a bird movement. The dance involves a constant change in vertical height of the body which is going up and down. The dance is very free and energetic, while using a powerful movement and a big inclination of the shoulders. The tempo is also …show more content…

Hairspray was able to be impactful to the audiences of the 1960’s and the one’s later through the depiction of the progression in the fight towards equality. Despite the banal nature of Hairspray, it does offer a concrete powerful account of that time period with the absence of excessive violence and conflict, unlike West Side Story for

Show More
Related

  • Janet Fay Collins: The African-American Dream

    661 Words  | 3 Pages

    This goes to show that if you were not white it was hard to be a dancer in those times. These two examples show clearly the color barriers that African-American dancers faced on a day-to-day basis. The color barriers made it hard for African American dancers to prosper in the world of

    Read More

  • Summary Of No Saco Nada De La Escuela

    774 Words  | 4 Pages

    The year 1969 was a year full of extreme racial tension. Race riots had already started, protests were in full swing, and racism was very front and center. Set around this time, in the play “No Saco Nada De La Escuela” by Luis Valdez, there are a group of six kids named Francisco, Moctezuma (Monty), Malcolm, Florence, Abraham, and Esperanza (Hopi), who go to school together, and each experience racism in their own way. Luis Valdez’s “No Saco Nada De La Escuela” highlights different aspects of racism through experiences in the lives of several students as they progress through elementary school, high school, and college.

    Read More

  • How Is Dary Presented In The Outsiders

    552 Words  | 3 Pages

    When you are dancing, there are many things you can channel; emotions, memories, people, experiences, stories, the list goes on and on. These properties can be portrayed through movements, facial expressions, and music. Dancing can also portray conflict; such as the conflict between Ponyboy Curtis and Darry Curtis in S.E. Hinton’s beloved novel, The Outsiders. In our dance piece, titled, Hard to See, both the music and movements work in harmony to illustrate Darry and Ponyboy’s maturing relationship.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper 'And Sonny's Blues'

    535 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Elements of A Good Story What makes a good story? Oftentimes writers encounter questions like this and start to wonder about the writing essentials of a good story. As many skills and beautiful words that make up a captivating story, it will have to be one that makes connections to the readers. Only when readers are able to make a connection to their experience or values, they start gaining from the story. Through creating conflicts, conveying the theme and a relative background, the writers of “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Sonny’s Blues” fully express their values and thoughts by the “bridge” between readers and them.

    Read More

  • How Did Jazz Music Influence Politics?

    871 Words  | 4 Pages

    For African Americans, jazz music, has always had a political undercurrent. Slave songs spoke of the “Israelites” enslaved by the Egyptians, such as in Go Down Moses, symbolising their own yearning for freedom. However, it took time for the assertion of the political message to develop in a more discernible way. Jazz’s status as a form of entertainment had effectively subdued the message for many years, because of the ostracisation of those involved and because of the early popularity of the white swing bands. The majority of jazz musicians were not political activists, rarely explicitly political in their work, however, they often expressed their political ideals, sometimes more subtley other times more overtly through their music.

    Read More

  • Gloria Bird Short Story

    618 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bird’s story deals with the main characters scared of a figurative creature. The Stick Indians are a creature in tales that were used to scare young kids in some Indian culture. Similar to how the Loch Ness monster is used Scottish folklore. The men in Bird’s story, upon hearing about the Stick Indians, became uneasy sitting out in the open on the ice. The main characters decided that they wanted to head back to shore, because it was “cold”.

    Read More

  • Finding The Gold Within Film Analysis

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps the most significant event that occurred on October 7, 2015 was the exclusive screen of Finding the Gold Within in the W.V.M. Fines Arts Center. This film touched my soul because it revealed the concerns of young, black males at predominately white institutions. Although the students encountered similar problems as students at historically black colleges, their struggles differed due to the fact that racism was one of the greatest obstacles during their college experience. In addition to the discrimination and the racial undertones in the academic institution in which the males attended, the youths had to learn how to balance their internal conflicts as well. One of the greatest conflicts that continue to affect the African American

    Read More

  • It Happened One Night Analysis

    2528 Words  | 11 Pages

    This analysis will focus on questions of gender and notions of femininity existing during the Great Depression in US Culture, which are reproduced through the film itself. To support my thesis, I will analyze the most important key scenes

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Alvin Ailey's Cry

    2321 Words  | 10 Pages

    In 1971, Alvin Ailey choreographed Cry, a three part work solo dance set to gospel music that describes an emotional journey filled with struggle, hardships, defeat, survival and joy. It was intended as a birthday present to Alvin’s mother and a dedication to all black women everywhere. The first part of the dance is the struggle of trying to maintain pride irrespective of the opposition faced from outside. The second part reveals the sorrow within after the woman’s pride has been shattered into pieces and finally the third part is a spirited celebration of finding strength and joy in God. Even though cry was dedicated to only black women, i argue the notion that all women both black and white of the nineteenth century could relate

    Read More

  • Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer Analysis

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sampson Paquette Professor Edwards ENGL101C 9-13-2016 The Dance The essay: “Silent Dancing” By Judith Ortiz Cofer reflects on the transitional period in her life where herself and her immediate family made the move from Puerto Rico to the Big Apple, otherwise known as New York city. The timeline for the essay was set in the 1950’s where cultural fusion and blatant racism ran rampant in the streets.

    Read More

  • Flannery O Connor's Use Of Setting Analysis

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America, when desegregation is finally achieved. Flannery O’Connor’s use of setting augments the mood and deepens the context of the story. However, O’Connor’s method is subtle, often relying on connotation and implication to drive her point across. The story achieves its depressing mood mostly through the use of light and darkness in the setting.

    Read More

  • Social Stratification In The Movie The Help

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Hairspray

    1065 Words  | 5 Pages

    I enjoyed the comical and lighthearted dancing and singing approach the characters had to the somber situations around them. Watching this few years later and after taking a Text and Meaning course, I was struck at the sheer amount of things that stood out. The Negroes were declared “other”. In post colonialist theory, declaring one race “other” marginalizes them and stresses on how

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In A Streetcar Named Desire

    1245 Words  | 5 Pages

    The play takes place in the 1950s in New Orleans containing a diverse population. However, is race discriminated against, those who go against classifed gender roles are often discriminated and have trouble finding their way in society. Although gender equality has

    Read More

  • The Help Movie Analysis

    3436 Words  | 14 Pages

    The movie clearly exposes the many ways that the human dignity of African- American maids was ignored. They had suffered daily embarrassment but were able to claim their own way dignity. The film described about empowerment of individuals as well as about social justice for a group. It is a moving story depicting dehumanization in a racist culture but also the ability to move beyond the unjust structures of society and to declare the value of every human being.

    Read More

More about Hairspray Film Analysis

Open Document