Hairspray

Well it's little siblings weekend here at Fredonia and my sister and I were watching the movie Hairspray when I got an idea for this post, then realized that it was due rather soon.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie it is about a young girl who is attempting to be a part of a television show during the 60's.  Though this is the main theme running through the movie there is one other theme that is just as prevalent, the subject of racism and integration.  Though we haven't finished the movie I have a pretty good idea of where it is going.  The group that runs the show is very racist and not for the integration of African Americans with their everyday lives, but on the flip side there is another group, the one that represents change in the show. Tracy, the main character, had the show take a step out of their boundaries and allow her to join their cast all because she is overweight.  Tracy begins change in the show and allows her thoughts to be heard in making "Negro Day" for the show become and everyday event.  One half of the cast is all for it, but there is a rich white woman who runs the show and is completely against it.  Her and her daughter try to sabotage every effort made by Tracy.  She even went as far as going to removing "Negro Day" all together.  A "march" was then put in place by Tracy and the members of those who supported her.   Many racist terms and phrases are used throughout the movie such as "Afrotastic" and "If we get any more white people up in here it's gonna be a suburb."  These small words that seem like nothing to us now had a big impact on society in the 60's.  I'm interested in who will win in the end, the change or the inability to change.  Seeing as we live in 2011 and we are still seeing change occur, I'm going to make an educated guess as to those who accept change will triumph.  I know in class we had a discussion of how some of us see change still happening while others see things staying the same.  I'm not positive how I feel about the subject, but my hopes are that we as a culture are moving toward change in accepting everyone and not having the racist thoughts that were once so prevalent in our society.

Ashley Miranda- Post 8