Hairspray: The Politics of Transgender Performance from 1988-2007

‘The camp object can be created deliberately by an artist anxious to violate boundaries between the serious and the absurd’ (scott long 1983:80)[1]

A romantic, American musical set in Baltimore in the early 1960s, Hairspray follows the life of Tracey Turnblad, an overweight teenager whose ambition it is to dance on a local TV station, but she is held back from achieving her goals and securing the man she loves due to her size. However, over the duration of the film Tracey overcomes these obstacles to secure her ambitions, whilst simultaneously helping to fight to racial integration on the show. Transgender performances are used to evoke an array of feelings in the viewer ranging from the absurd and humorous to the sinister and uncomfortable. In both John Waters 1988[2] hairspray and Adam Shankman’s 2007[3] remake transgender peoples are used to play the role of Edna Turnblad, Tracey’s mother. The way in which Edna is portrayed varies greatly between the two films and in many ways her characterization is essential in emphasizing crucial motifs on which the film is underpinned. In exploring the use of transgender peoples to play the role of Edna I will compare the use of formal aspects in the opening scenes where she is ironing, analyzing how they are engineered in such a fashion as to give a very different reading of Edna and how the use of transgender peoples varies between the two.

In john Waters 1988 hairspray the role of Edna is played by Divine, a performance artist with whom waters frequently collaborated with in his more controversial cinematic endeavours such a Pink Flamingos and Polyester. Divine was little known and had only a small cult following. Those familiar with Divine’s previous roles will be aware of the ‘anti-normative gender politics’[4] (Suzanne woodward, pp 123) within her performance. Waters stating ‘I liked drag queens that made people nervous. I’m against family friendly drag queens’. Divine is obese and a large portion of her persona centres around the fact she is unwholesome, for example, in Pink Flamingos she is in competition to be the filthiest person alive, with the film ending on an infamous scene in which Divine eats dog faeces. In contrast to this is Adam Shankman’s casting of John Tavolta, a well-known, straight actor to play Edna is well-within the comfort of most audiences with his caricature of a women. One reason for this is that the audience cannot look past the fact that underneath the fat suit and dress it is very clearly John Travolta, there is no ambiguity. Whereas Divine lives as a drag queen and is not in a fat suit, but is her standard appearance. ‘The two portrayals of Edna, both highlight the importance of mannerisms and gestures, and of voice in constructing a feminine persona, whereas Travolta produces a parody of feminine stereotypes, while Divine invents a whole new version of femininity’.

When the audience is first introduced to Edna as played by Divine a close up shot of her hands ironing is shown. It is ambiguous as to whether these are the hands of a man or a woman, even as the camera continues to pan up her forearms to her chest and neck it is hard to distinguish. The way in which we pan up Divine’s body, from a low angle makes her appear to be larger and fill the entire shot, giving the impression that she is of great stature and is a powerful figure. In many respects the larger physical appearance of Travolta is also emphasized in our first introduction to him, as slipper shod feet on the end of thick calves enter the room. However, Travolta is presented as ungainly, but lovable and the audience is encouraged to sympathize with her. Divine on the other hand is presented as being slovenly and disgruntled. During this scene both Ednas’ request that Tracey turn down the television. However, Divine is cruel, making derogatory comments about her hair, whereas Travolta makes a remark in the same vein, but is much kinder in approach. Travolta is portrayed as a ‘gentle giant’, Divine is presented as being slightly malicious and resentful.

This notion of Divine’s power is further emphasized through the use of camera. In the scene where she is taunting Tracey about her hairstyle a low angle shot is used.  This adds a prominence to her jaw, increasing the sense of ambiguity about her gender and adding a further element of aggression to her characterization.

Divine’s make-up in the film offers no clues as to her gender. Her lipstick is smudged around her mouth and her eye make-up is messy. This adds to the general image of a disheveled and unclean character. However, in my opinion it is her drawn-on eye-brows that make her overall appearance so unpleasant.  The eyebrows are false, overtly mobile and are used to emphasize what she is saying in an intimidating manner. Their positioning is too far up the forehead and the stationary nature of the rest of her features adds a very sinister quality to her overall image. On the other hand Travolta’s make-up is understated, careful and motherly. It is clear from her curlers that she is making an effort and trying to do the best she can, whereas Divine appears to have little pride and is almost flaunting her grotesqueness. Kate Stables[5] suggests that ‘ Travolta’s cuddly drag act owes more to misses doubt fire, than Divine’s lovably freakish original portrayal. When he twirls girlishly around the yard, with Christopher Walken’s uxorious Wilbur Turnblad (…) he and his indulgent audience are reveling in a mainstream masquerade, without the slightest tinge of transgression.

The main room where Tracey is watching the corny Collins show and Edna is ironing is colorful and ornaments line the shelves in the 1988 film. Edna however, is dressed in dismal rags. Edna is juxtaposed with the rest of the room and the effervescent girls and is shown to be a dark and bleak presence. It is she who is irritable and bringing the girls’ fun to an end. This is further emphasized through the use of composition. In this scene Edna has asked the girls to turn the TV down and they have not listened, so she comes through to do it. The to girls are positioned in the foreground of the shot, colorfully clothed and happily dancing, while Edna approaches the doorway becoming an increasingly large and looming figure until she fills it, blocking out the light and casting the room into shade as she turns the TV off. In comparison in the 2007 film Travolta is dressed in a lilac dress, with matching slipper and curlers. The living room is painted in a dismal green/grey hue and Travolta thus becomes the source of color and breaks from the drabness. Not only that, but the camera follows Travolta from behind as he leans in the doorway to tell the girls to ‘keep it down.’ The doorframe is significantly larger than him and he only partially fills it. The way in which color and composition has been used in the original hairspray portrays Divine to be a darker, powerful figure who one is to be wary of, whereas Travolta is shown to be a brighter and safer figure, as achieved through the warmer color scheme of his dress and positioning within the frame and in comparison to the set.

In the 2007 remake the music on the television does not fluctuate in quality or volume when the shot moves from the corny Collins set to the television show on the set in their living room. This maintains a level of falseness and reminds the viewer that it is a stage set. Alternatively in the 1988 version the quality and volume of sound changes dramatically when the shot cuts from the live television studio to the living room.

This fractures the reality of the film diegesis and can be seen as putting a distance between Tracey and her dreams, with Divine standing between her ambitions and overwhelming the noise produced on the television by her presence until she eventually turns it off. Later on in the scene Penny’s mother arrives at the door. As Edna opens the door psycho style music plays and when she walks into the room a heavy base comes in with her. This creates a sense of threat a foreboding, uniting the two adults against the two teenage girls and further distancing Tracey from her ambitions. While in the 2007 remake, Edna is in sympathy with Penny, whilst inadvertently getting her into trouble. Due to the fact that the two women unite it enforces the fact that Divine is a woman to the audience as she sympathizes and for that moment bonds with penny’s mother, whereas Travolta’s siding with the girls, distances her from the other adult female, emphasizing the fact he is not a woman.

In many ways Divine’s performance both refutes and reflects what Warhol[6] stated when he wrote ‘When they took the movie stars and stuck them in the kitchen, they weren’t stars anymore- they were just like you and me. Drag queens are reminders that some stars still aren’t just like you and me.’ Divine is doing domestic chores, yet she is never going to be like a majority of the audience, whereas Travolta is a significantly closer representation of the average viewer in the sense that she is caring, hard-working and takes dignity and pride in her appearance and work. Divine is outrageously out-size from her appearance to her performance and to those who know of her, her private life. Divine transcends gender normative behavior in everything aspect of her being and therefore will always play a more over the top woman than a woman.

Waters was out to shock and entertain and his inclusion of a cult transgender person was designed to add an uncomfortable edge to the film. Shankman’s 2007 version was a more comfortable and sanitized performance designed for mainstream consumption. It is hard to overlook the fact that the audience that Travolta was not transgender. In having an actor who was so easy to recognize and laugh at, the serious issues in the film were somewhat overlooked and the more serious narrative and edginess was removed which in the first film was present due to the inclusion of Divine.

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[1] Scott Long 1983:80, Suzanne Woodward, Taming Transgression: Gender Bending in Hairspray , new cinema, journal of contemporary film, 2012 pp. 116

[2] John Waters, Hairspray, 1988

[3] Adam Shankman, Hairspray, 2007

[4] Suzanne Woodward, Taming Transgression: Gender Bending in Hairspray , new cinema, journal of contemporary film, 2012 pp. 123

[5] Kate Stables 2007:58, Suzanne Woodward, Taming Transgression: Gender Bending in Hairspray , new cinema, journal of contemporary film, 2012 pp. 122

[6] Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: A to B and Back Again, Picador, 1975 pp. 55