Furthermore, features a level of body positivity that feels shockingly modern. Tracy Turnblad is fat, and the film never suggests she needs to lose weight. She is desirable (two boys fight over her), athletic (she dances for hours), and smart. In an era of anorexia and "heroin chic" (the late 80s), Waters put a plus-size heroine at the center of the frame and refused to apologize for it.
. It uses the vibrant, high-energy world of 1960s dance culture to address serious social issues: Music Theatre International Racial Segregation Hairspray -1988-