MovieChat Forums > Hairspray Live! (2016) Discussion > I figured out why the part of Tracy mom ...

I figured out why the part of Tracy mom is played by a man

posted 7 years ago by lonnieanixt
11 replies | jump to latest

It's simple, Edna is suppose to be ( when the play opens) fat and homely, ashamed to even go outside. We know later on there is a stark transformation as Edna begins to realize its not the people who dislike you that matter, it's only the people who love you that count-and you always have to be your own biggest supporter.
How exactly are you going to cast the part of fat ugly women, the casting call itself would be open to criticism. So to get around this, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder anyway, they cast a man, who can ugly himself up to his hearts content.
Maybe there is another deeper meaning, because the play is all about inward looking, and its a comment and a metaphor for all the homosexuals who had to hide their true desires in that time in history.

[–] doktorf 7 years ago

In the original movie, John Waters cast Divine because he was perfect for the role of course but also because they had had a long working relationship. After that it just would have seemed strange to cast a woman.

[–] BestOfAllPossible 7 years ago

Also, the show is about outsiders, outcasts, all those seen as 'other' by the lily-white mainstream. Without saying so explicitly, having a man playing a woman adds a type of outsider to the mix.

[–] doktorf 7 years ago

And Divine had a double role in the film as well.

[–] velcronewsletter 7 years ago

for us who are familiar with pantomime, she is also reminiscent of a panto dame, a man dressed up as a busty woman but it is played for laughs much more

[–] skater_girl_amanda 7 years ago

I think it also proved that men can by women in roles and vice verses without it simply being for just laugh, when John Travolta played the role it was very touching at times, especially the chemistry with Christopher Walken's Wilbur

I am now a checkerboard chick!

[–] radrobd 7 years ago

Speaking of men playing women and women playing men, a friend of mine who watched the show thought Rosie O'Donnell's gym teacher was a man because of the line of asking if any of the guys wanted extra credit, to take a shower.

It's a cliched joke that a female gym teacher is lesbian, so the line wouldn't make sense if Rosie was playing a lesbian gym teacher. Unless she's playing a straight woman, although that seems not only out of character, but not fitting her costume, which was manly.

[–] tankitty 7 years ago

A little history lesson: When Waters made Hairspray, he wasn't considered a power player in Hollywood. His earlier movies were downright disgusting. If you want to see Divine give her "son" head for REAL, then watch "Pink Flamingos." And there's also a nice little scene where she actually scoops up fresh dog poop and eats it. And it wasn't faked!

When Waters wrote and directed Hairspray, he was trying to spread his wings as a filmmaker. So the movie was a nostalgic look back at Baltimore when he was a child. He cast Divine because they'd grown up together, and Divine was a drag queen. No other reason. He didn't do it because Edna was ashamed or any of that nonsense. Divine was cast merely because he and Waters go way back. In fact, there were a few of Waters' old time friends in the film, many of whom made those earlier disgusting movies for him.

And Divine also played the owner of the TV station. So, he got to show off his diversity by playing both a man and a woman. There was no psychology behind hit, no "hidden meaning." And it wasn't necessarily a gimmick, because Waters didn't know if this film would even make a ripple. It got good reviews, most reviewers lauded it for its sweet look back at another time...but it only became a cult favorite due to cable. And then the Broadway show was made, and suddenly, EVERYBODY knows about Hairspray.

Watch the original movie. While there are some similarities to the musical, you can clearly see how brightened up everything's become. The original Tracy was almost a slob; not the well-kept teen with the perfect hair in the musical versions. Everything looked shabby and washed out, and Amber's hair actually exploded in the end! Nothing at all like the whitewashed, polished and gleaming stage presentations and movies, including this one.

[–] doktorf 7 years ago

Watch the original movie. While there are some similarities to the musical, you can clearly see how brightened up everything's become. The original Tracy was almost a slob; not the well-kept teen with the perfect hair in the musical versions. Everything looked shabby and washed out, and Amber's hair actually exploded in the end! Nothing at all like the whitewashed, polished and gleaming stage presentations and movies, including this one.

That's what happens with musicals in general. Anything gritty is subtracted.Even so, Hairspary was the *least* down and dirty of his films including ones he made later. He was going for something much more mainstream with Hairspray.

[–] matthieus2 7 years ago

I think ultimately it's sort of a tribute to Divine and John Waters wouldn't think the role would work with a woman playing the part.

But I too thought there may be a message behind Edna being played by a man too, underlying homosexuality and Edna being ashamed and repressed.
Maybe it's me but I also thought with Tracy being quite ahead of her time, her having two male parents but not overtly was sort of making a statement as well.

[–] day_tripper77 7 years ago

I love Waters' "disgusting" movies.

[–] doktorf 7 years ago

They are an acquired taste. I used to like them more than I do now. In my opinion, Hairspray is about his best film. Crybaby is up there also, but it is really dependent on a great performance by Johnny Depp. The scripts of most of his films are just not that good. The early ones sold on shock value and the later ones tanked on what was no longer shocking.