Summary: Integration Techniques In Hairspray

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Integration Techniques in Hairspray
Hairspray(2007), as many modern musical films do, integrates all of its music numbers into its story and structure in at least one way, if not more. The most obvious way that the songs are integrated is by the film being a backstage musical, one that focuses on the people who create entertainment related to music, in this case “The Corny Collins Show”. The backstage setting allows for the songs to naturally integrate into the story and diegesis.One way is for songs to be part of the music show, like “The Nicest Kids in Town”. A second way is by having songs, such as "Good Morning Baltimore", to come from characters that want to be or are involved with the show, even if the song is not directly in the show, …show more content…

The opening song, "Good Morning Baltimore", is a perfect example of this technique, the song’s name alone reveals the location of the movie. Through the song and its corresponding visuals the audience is given important background information, for example, before the first word is sung, the central theme of segregation or integration of black people and those different from us is introduced through a newspaper headline talking about a ban on “Negros”. The song introducing themes and Tracy as the main character are the most obvious examples of exposition, but there are more. Tracy’s backstory is slightly fleshed out with her saying she hasn’t been given a chance, in the music scene, and there is numerous references to her character, but that falls under a different type of integration. The world is also introduced throughout the song usually being comically gross, from a flasher to a drunk. All of this information is cleverly laid out through the song to make the world feel as if it is driven by it. Most other songs in Hairspray lack much non-character exposition, besides “Miss Baltimore …show more content…

In the end, the voters at home, most likely predominantly white, vote overwhelmingly for a black girl to win the competition and to end up integrating the show. This is the most utopian idea in whole film, because in the 1960s there is no way that is how the idea of integration would be taken. This is a provable fact, the story Hairspray is based on ended with the show being shut down, because of integration, not celebrated. However, in the movie everything turns out exactly how the characters and audience want, because people joined together and acted like a real utopian

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