Slog - Comments on No Ricki? No Ricki? http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki Okay, Dave is right--letting the fat white girl found the Civil Rights Movement? That's a little offensive. And letting Corny Collins, hot though his white ass may be, singlehandedly integrate American television? Just as offensive. But what I kept wondering while I watched Hairspray tonight... was... no cameo for Ricki Lake? What's with that?... Copyright 2008 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:45:59 -0800 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:05:27 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Landon Bryce Ricki did have a sort of cameo. She, original Broadway Tracey Marissa Jaret Winokur, and new Tracey Nikki Blonsky sing "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" over the credits. Overall, I think the movie is pretty great, although the dancing was rarely as exciting as it should have been.

]]> Landon Bryce http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767235 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767235 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 02:32:39 -0800 Comment by iflurry Now, I COULD be snarky and obnoxious by saying it's because the movie is just a cheap knockoff of the original. But I won't.

]]> iflurry http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767238 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767238 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:13:49 -0800 Comment by lawrence clark Divine was divine in her role as the mother in the John Waters version. For Ricky, it was her standout acting performance that was great. (I haven't seen this movie yet) Ricky, even if she had to don a fat suit, would have made the perfect mom for this incarnation, I'm sure. From the scenes I've seen, Travolta sucks. He was probably only included for his name recognition. I'll go see it though, just because the first one was so good.

]]> lawrence clark http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767242 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767242 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:22:13 -0800 Comment by lawrence clark Sorry about the Ricky, Ricki misspellings.

]]> lawrence clark http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767243 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767243 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:26:07 -0800 Comment by TTM Ricki Lake does have a cameo in the film. She is one of the talent agents at the end along with director Adam Shankman and music/lyrics writers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

]]> TTM http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767244 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767244 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 03:49:55 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe Filmography on IMDb: Hairspray (2007) .... Talent Agent

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767252 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767252 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:46:07 -0800 Comment by Dan Savage Oh, my God! I didn't recognize her at all. Thanks TTM!

And, yes, Travolta is pretty awful.

]]> Dan Savage http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767253 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767253 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:50:56 -0800 Comment by patrick You beat me to it, TTM. She has a black flip wig on. Not one line of dialog though.

Please don't tell anyone I saw it last night too. They should have cast a large woman in the role of Edna. The fat suit and Travolta's meat fists made him look stupid not ironic or humorous. His eyes are too close together with all the pseudo-fat around his head.

Anyway...this is not a historical documentary examination of American history. Preposterousness doesn't conflict with what we all SHOULD already know. Ah, Broadway....ick.

]]> patrick http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767254 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767254 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:53:36 -0800 Comment by Andy @8 Well, no, Edna should always be a man. It's a man's role. And I'm pretty sure any other man would have been better than John Travolta.

]]> Andy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767256 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767256 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:30:34 -0800 Comment by KENTUCKY KERNEL OF TRUTH "Hairspray" is a movie musical, folks; if you're looking for verisimilitude, maybe you should see "Roots".

]]> KENTUCKY KERNEL OF TRUTH http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767257 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767257 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:46:18 -0800 Comment by Deacon Seattle You actually went to see it?

]]> Deacon Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767275 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767275 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 14:41:44 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt I just got back from the movie! I saw it on stage with the original Broadway cast, and they did an excellent job translating it to the screen. So. Much. Fun. Fabulous. Strangely, I didn't mind John Travolta, and he easily got the biggest reaction from the crowd surrounding me. I love musicals. Sigh.

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767279 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767279 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:05:18 -0800 Comment by Bauhaus The original movie and the subsequent theater musical were performed with a knowing wink. The movie doesn't have that depth. It's a town full of village idiots - a clown school's dress rehearsal.
But then, when has Hollywood not taken a divinely ironic Reine de Saba and, using the lowest common denominator formula, turned it into a sugar-free fudgesicle?

]]> Bauhaus http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767281 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767281 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:43:07 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt But sometimes shallow is just. . . fun.

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767282 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767282 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:15:27 -0800 Comment by Asmodei I enjoyed the John Waters cameo as the streaker. Travolta didn't fit though, and now I can't stop thinking about him Christopher Walken in bed.

]]> Asmodei http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767300 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767300 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:09:59 -0800 Comment by Jonathan As a resident of Bal'mer. I can only say that I am horrified by this remake. How can you improve on:

Divine, Ricki Lake, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono and Jerry Stiller? How. Why try? John Travolta? Don't make me throw up.

]]> Jonathan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767325 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767325 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:42:46 -0800 Comment by Jonathan And a cameo by Pia Zadora. Come on. No hollywood casting agent can even come close to this...

]]> Jonathan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767328 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767328 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:50:29 -0800 Comment by Enuky You're kidding, right? She's one of the talent agents in the last scene!

]]> Enuky http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767403 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767403 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:55:06 -0800 Comment by MBI Never liked Hairspray. It's a naive idealist's movie with a naive idealist protagonist, and it does seem to be trivializing a highly significant issue in American history. Ms. Turnblad's idealism is to be admired, of course, but she's so STUPID. Can anyone watch her say that she's actually black underneath her skin and not cringe (please tell me that part didn't get included in the remake)? Furthermore, there's something just too fantasy-land about the fat chick getting the most popular guy in school. Good-looking guys don't go for fat chicks, or if they do, they don't get the courage to admit it until much later in life; this is what Savage Love taught me, at least. Waters largely corrected all these problems in his next movie, Cry-Baby, where the attractive teen rebel is played young Johnny Depp, who is both legitimately attractive and legitimately rebellious.

]]> MBI http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767439 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767439 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:03:34 -0800 Comment by Courtney Taylor Love the musical, laughed and loved the movie...

But honestly. John. Travolta.

Dear God, where is Harvey when we need him?!

]]> Courtney Taylor http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767875 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767875 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:06:09 -0800 Comment by Adrienne I enjoyed the movie. The scene with John Travolta and Christopher Walken (just love that man) was outrageous.

]]> Adrienne http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767904 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c767904 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:32:52 -0800 Comment by Susan Rogers Re: your original post. Penn Jillette said that mistaking a representation of something for the real thing is truly the definition of voodoo. We all get that white people had no major roles in the civil rights movement, so no offense taken here. Give John Travolta some credit for being the only one who affected a Baltimore accent, OK, "Hon?"

]]> Susan Rogers http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c768005 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/no_ricki_no_ricki#c768005 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:05:27 -0800