When it was first announced that we were going to be watching
“Hairspray” I wasn’t excited. I’d seen it twice before, and I didn’t care to
again, but in this different context I learned a lot more, a lot different, and
I ended up enjoying it.
Because we watched “Hairspray” after discussing the effect
of media on culture and the culture inserted into media I was able to notice
the political statements being made in the film. This clearly fights for
desegregation as the beloved characters in the film are for it, and the
demonized characters of the film support racism and segregation. I think
viewing it in our time, twenty years after the fact further polarizes the
competing sides because of what did happen and how we view this
post-desegregation.
Considering the Ballard quote posted on the class blog, he
states, “Because of its sheer size, media today presents vast and sharply
contrasting options. Opposite from its harmful and permissive side, media
offers much that is positive and productive...Thus our biggest challenge is to
choose wisely what we listen to and what we watch.” (Ballard, Oct. 2003) I find
it interesting because those contrasting options are themselves present in the
film. The parents saw the music and dancing as harmful and permissive. And it
was to an extent, there was inappropriateness happening as a result of the
environment and moves. But for Lake’s character she recognized this music as an
equalizer. It brought people of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds
together on the dance floor. The music was also the gateway for white kids into
black culture. The music made the people more familiar to them even before they
had really interacted with one another personally. (Although, in noticing this,
it is important to remember Stam and Spence's essay "Colonialism, Racism,
and Representation." We can't know a culture just by being exposed to one
form of media representation from that culture.) Lake’s character was able to
love and accept her otherwise segregated peers because she loved and accepted
their music. Because of her media literacy, she had a better understanding of the
“other” in her community.
Media had a positive effect on the characters of this story,
but what if a different message had been promoted by the proponents of this media?
The young people acted very fast because of “celebrity activism” as we
mentioned in class. If the celebrity and the media were supporters of
segregation, then that culture would have been reinforced and followed by the
masses. “Hairspray” shows that media mobilizes people, for better or for worse.
Because of the power of media, it can be dangerous and so it’s important that
we’re either producing media that echoes our beliefs/morals on politics and
society or that we’re educated enough to analyze media when it doesn’t and use
it accordingly.
