Hairspray and the use of Camp

A favorite film, and subsequent musical, of mine is John Waters’ 1988 hit Hairspray. The film, which centers its drama around the desegregation or integration of a popular teen-dance television series, emphasizes the absurdity through which—primarily white—Americans attempt to sterilize and oversimplify the Civil Rights Movement to meet their expectations of a young and good generation annihilating the old and bad values of the prior generation. However, in recent years I have encountered negative reactions from others when bringing up the film…