Hairspray is a musical set in 1962 Baltimore. There are two main plots of the musical, the most important being the civil rights movement and the fight against segregation on the 'Corny Collins Show', the other is the stigma against plus-size people. Tracy Turnblad is the protagonist and a plus-size woman who earns her place on the 'Corny Collins Show' with help from the dance moves taught to her by a black student, Seaweed. Tracy is loud and proud and "all for integration” and is despised by characters Amber (the star of the Corny Collins Show) and her mother Velma Von Tussle (the station manager).
Tracy being plus-size is the core of her character...
Vogue completely loses the point of Hairspray, first of all by having a non-plus size model play Tracy. Tracy being plus-size is the core of her character and is why she is so supportive of others who are discriminated against due to how they look. Vogue does not include a single plus-size person in the Hairspray-inspired video which makes the point of it being Hairspray inspired void.
Notably, the line "you can't stop my knife and fork when I see a Christmas ham" is also omitted...
The cast-member that plays - to my shock - Edna Turnblad, is not plus-size. Singing ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ completely lost me as yes, it boasts about self-love, but Edna’s self-love comes from accepting her body and loving it. Notably, the line "you can't stop my knife and fork when I see a Christmas ham" is also omitted, showing that they are actively acknowledging that the characters are written to be plus-size and then ignoring it.
In Gigi Hadid’s interview with Vogue, she mentions her love for Hairspray and other musicals, but I cannot understand why Hairspray was chosen as there are plenty of musicals with typically straight-size roles which Gigi would be perfect for. However, it appears that Vogue does not like plus-size people.
The moral of Hairspray and what should be taken away from it is that you should love yourself and not change how you look for other people, as well as standing up for what’s right. I do think that this is a halt in representation — in fact, I think it has taken a step back — but I am comforted by the fact that other people feel the same way as I do.