Hairspray
Waters’ “tamest” effort and his only PG-rated movie. While nodding towards a wider audience, the author of Pink Flamingos by no means betrayed the ideals he holds dear. Following the convention of the nostalgic musical film genre (set in Baltimore in the 1960s), Hairspray is a hymn in praise of equality, tolerance and self-acceptance. The story of a plump teenager who stands out due to her dance skills and uses the fame she has acquired to combat racial segregation was a success both artistically and commercially (especially after its release on VHS in the early 1990s). Hairspray turned out to hold a special place in Waters’s filmography for yet another reason. It was on the set of this movie that the director met for the last time with Divine, who dazzled in the role of the main protagonist’s mother, and died a few months after the shooting of the film ended.
phot. © 1988 WBEI
John Waters
Born in 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland. Since childhood interested in macabre and black humour, he completed one semester of a film school in New York. His amateur films shot with friends exhibited conscious violation of moral and aesthetic standards (Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs). His Pink Flamingos was a great commercial success, enabling him to make higher-budget movies, the most popular of which was Hairspray, adapted to a Brodway musical and to a high-budget remake with John Travolta. Waters is also a stand-up comedian and actor appearing in films of his friends.
Selected filmography
1969 Mondo Trasho
1970 Multiple Maniacs
1972 Różowe flamingi / Pink Flamingos
1974 Kobiece kłopoty / Female Trouble
1988 Lakier do włosów / Hairspray
1994 W czym mamy problem? / Serial Mom
Cast & Crew
