History lessons through big hair
I woke up this morning with the overwhelming desire to wear my hair big, use a lot of hairspray and sing and dance my way to work.
These are all aftershocks of having attended the prescreening of “Hairspray” last night. The film, in my humble opinion, is the film of the summer to date. It’s just good, clean fun – as you will hear in nearly every review of the film. Honestly, how could a film featuring John Travolta as a heavyweight momma not be fun?
Watch the “Hairspray” trailer.
The film focuses on the theme of segregation. But some folks, like this Newsweek reviewer, think the movie is too sugar-coated for people to take the point seriously.
For adults who grew up in the “Hairspray” generation, I wonder if any film could ever be serious enough to portray what segregation was really like. What was it like for the black students to be forced to use a different water fountain and bus than the white students? What kind of heartless words and actions from outsiders did interracial couples have to endure?
Those of us in the younger generation find it hard to imagine a world that isn’t checkerboarded. Every basketball team I ever played on had both black and white players; every choir I ever sang in was the same. I can’t imagine a world where I don’t make friends of a different color almost as naturally as those of my same shade.
But the fact of the matter is, “Hairspray” helped me at least get a taste of what segregation was like. A film doesn’t have to be a drama or a documentary for the younger generation to get a taste of what people endured during that time in history. In fact, we’re easily turned off by something that isn’t fun and entertaining.
It was when Queen Latifah’s character, Motormouth Maybelle, leads her community in a march against TV discrimination that it all hit home for me. These people had to fight for equality.
If it took a goofy musical for me to get a serious history lesson, so be it. I’m thankful for perspective, whatever platter it’s served on.
-Lindsay Goodier
NewsOK.com Editor
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment