Arts John Travolta's Aggressive Suckery
posted by June 15 at 9:14 AM
onWhen I first heard that the new movie musical of Hairspray would star John Travolta as Edna Turnblad (originated on film by the brilliant Divine and reprised in the musical by a Tony-winning Harvey Feirstein), I did more than reserve judgment--I actively hoped Travolta was harboring some untapped camp talent that would make the casting make sense and perhaps result in triumph. It seemed possible: Why would John Travolta want to do something he's horrible at?
Who knows, but judging from this preview clip, he does, and has, and it ain't pretty. As Defamer notes, "The scene prominently features Travolta's Edna Turnblad delivering her dialogue in an utterly inscrutable Southern-ish accent (doesn't it take place in Baltimore?) in a register slightly deeper than Travolta's own."
As for "untapped camp talent," Travolta displays none. I'm tempted to say, "This is the kind of drag your dad would do," but it's too weird. One thing's for sure: Travolta's never seemed straighter. Weird.
(However, I remain excited to see Alison Janney's take on the spastic-with-racism Mrs. Pingleton.)