Sunday, June 29, 2008
Worst Remake Ever
I just watched the original 1988 "Hairspray" again last night, after about five years since my last viewing... and it struck me forcibly just how godawful the remake is. John Travolta might be a touch more attractive in drag, but he just doesn't even hold a candle to Divine, who I spent years trying to decide - "he or a really ugly she?" Every single one of the new characters, with the only possible exception of Michelle Pfeiffer, utterly lacks the sparkle and soul of the original cast, and the musical numbers really pretty much blow. What was the point in turning a movie about music into a musical, which loses most of the fantastic original soundtrack? Or taking a character like Edna Turnblad and turning her into a sniveling, chin-quivering, hyper-sensitive waste of flesh? Seeing the musical remake just made me appreciate the original version more.
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4 comments:
Yeah...I thought the remake sucked too. And not just because of the music, but also because the original, in the strong stance that it takes: individuality and difference ought to be embraced, not oppressed, also managed to tackle the subject of body image, ultimately stating that it is ok to be overweight. The remake however, made me cringe at the overweight cast members. I felt it did more of a job making heavier individuals look obsurd, rather than acceptable. Overall I found the remake uncomfortable and difficult to watch.
Also as a young fat girl watching the original I fell in love with Link. As an adult I felt that Zac Efron was thoroughly unconvincing. Nikki Blonsky was cute though, great casting choice. I was pretty disappointed with this as well.
I forgot to mention how uncomfortable I was during the scene at Motor Mouth Mabel's where they lure Edna in with a buffet table of barbecue. I might be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't won over by ribs in the original.
No, you're not misremembering, there was no such scene in the original. The problem seems to be that they shifted the focus from the original, which was a broader message of 'you shouldn't discriminate against other people' to a more narrow 'don't be racist' in the remake.
I wonder if the focus changed because of all the hoopla over the 'obesity epidemic'? Regardless, the original managed to deliver the moral of its story in a light-hearted fashion that was fully integrated (ha ha) into the plot, and the remake played more like an after school special on the evils of racial discrimination.
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