Baltimore is the “Town Without Pity” of Gene Pitney’s song in John Waters’ classic 1988 high-camp bubblegum musical comedy now on re-release, about a youth TV pop show of the early 60s whose executives are resisting integration and black music even as their teen fans demand it. It’s a film that satirises racism and body-conformism, and 35 years on, it looks more than ever like a left-field riposte – part critical, part supportive – to the extravagant nostalgia of Grease, American Graffiti and TV’s Happy Days.
Hairspray spawned a stage musical version and a remake, but neither had the flavour of this first film. Despite the high production values and relatively family-friendly script, Hairspray has the spirit of provocation in Waters’ early underground movies, a spirit which survives most obviously in the gross-out scene where a spot is burst in gruesome closeup.
