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At the sound of an old, analog alarm clock, two fiery eyes shoot open, before Tracy Turnblad spritzes out of bed, zips up her plaid skirt and smothers her hair in a large can of hairspray. Tracy is getting ready for school.
Most high school students grapple through the morning, rolling themselves out of bed and dragging their feet out the door. Yet Tracy powers through her morning routine with enthusiasm, knowing the day ahead of her is bound to be a great one no matter what challenges she may encounter. As she sings herself in the opening number of the film, “Good Morning Baltimore:”
“every day’s like an open door.”
Who Is Tracy Turnblad?
Tracy Turnblad is a passionate and optimistic teenager living in 1960s Baltimore. Her dream is to be a dancer on The Corny Collins Show and to win the annual Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant. She’s also hopelessly in love with Link Larkin, her classmate and one of the stars of the show. She lives every day believing there are endless possibilities for great things to happen.
Tracy goes after her dreams and stands up for what she believes in even if it means disappointing her parents or potentially losing the love of her high school life. She stays true to herself because she’s proud of who she is and she believes that change is possible for her and other people. Most of all, Tracy is an inspiration because she always keeps a positive outlook on the world.
Tracy Turnblad Makes Her Dreams Come True
Every day after school, Tracy Turnblad rushes home with her best friend Penny Pingleton, making sure neither of them misses an episode of The Corny Collins Show. It’s Tracy’s dream to be one of the star dancers on the show. Even though all odds seem to be against her, Tracy doesn’t give up. She’s too passionate about her dreams to let the opinions of other people knock her down. She knows she’s a talented dancer who belongs on the show and she doesn’t let anyone derail her on her journey to making her dreams come true.
When one of the show’s performers takes a leave of absence, a spot opens up and Tracy is determined to get cast. She takes a leap of faith and skips school to audition. However, not everyone is pleased with the idea of her being on the show. Velma Von Tussle, the manager of the station where The Corny Collins Show is produced, belittles Tracy. Tracy doesn’t look like the other girls.
She isn’t as skinny, she isn’t stereotypically beautiful, and Velma is not pleased with her desire to integrate the show. Velma also doesn’t want anyone stealing the spotlight from her daughter, Amber, Tracy’s classmate, and Link’s girlfriend. Velma makes it clear Tracy is not welcome on her show. At The Corny Collins Show’s record hop, Tracy dances with the other performers. Corny Collins is so impressed by her talent that she wins a spot on his show. Tracy proves that if you’re really passionate about something you should go after it. As long as you believe in yourself, then it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.
Tracy Turnblad Encourages Change and Growth
After earning her spot on The Corny Collins Show, Tracy has now proved that being different is a good thing and that times are changing for the better. But Tracy hasn’t stopped at making her own dreams a reality. She also encourages others to experience the wonders of change. When Tracy rose to fame, a man named Mr. Pinky called and asked her to be a spokesgirl for his dress shop, Hefty Hideaway. He wants to meet her and she encourages her mother, Edna, to join her in going down to his shop.
“Ma, it’s changing out there, you’ll like it. People who are different, their time is coming.”
(( Tracy Turnblad, Hairspray ))
Edna is nervous because she hasn’t left the house in years due to her insecurities over her appearance. She tells Tracy she’ll leave the house after her next diet because the neighbors haven’t seen her since she was a size 10. Instead of accepting her mother’s excuses, Tracy motivates her mother to join her at the shop. When they get to the shop, Mr. Pinky treats both Edna and Tracy like royalty and for the first time, Edna feels good about herself.
Mr. Pinky puts them in matching sparkly, pink dresses, and Edna feels more confident than she has in years. Tracy teaches us that staying the same causes more harm than good and that change is not something to be afraid of, but something to aim for.
Tracy Turnblad Stands Up For Her Beliefs
Although Tracy loves The Corny Collins Show, she disagrees with the segregation on the show. The Corny Collins Show features an all-white cast of dancers, but one day a month, the show has it’s “Negro Day” and “Negro Day” is hosted by R&B DJ Motormouth Maybelle and allows for black performers to dance and sing on The Corny Collins Show. However, the performers must dance separately from the white dancers and are still not the focus of the show.
Tracy believes the show needs to integrate its dancers so that both black and white performers can perform together during every show. She’s not afraid to express this opinion either. She confidently tells Velma Von Tussle, “I’m all for integration, it’s the new frontier.”
“Yesterday is history, and it’s never coming back”
(( Motormouth Maybelle, Hairspray ))
When Tracy met Motormouth Maybelle’s son, Seaweed, in detention, they quickly became friends. The more time they spend together, the more Tracy understands the struggles of black Americans and the injustice of segregation on the show. This further pushes her to use her privilege to make a change.
When Maybelle finds out that Velma has canceled Negro Day, Tracy suggests they protest for integration. Her parents both disapprove, but she sneaks out of the house to march anyway. She knows standing up against the tv show she works for is dangerous. She could lose her job and sabotage her chances of winning the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant.
But Tracy is willing to take the risk because standing up for what’s right is more important to her than winning a competition or keeping her dream job. Tracy acts in a way that is fearless and selfless while expressing the importance of standing by your morals even if you risk losing everything else.
Tracy Turnblad Doesn’t Change For Anyone
In classic movies like Clueless, She’s All That, or Mean Girls we watch a shy, awkward girl get a makeover, then suddenly she’s the talk of the school. She’s effortlessly popular, all the guys are magnetically drawn to her and she has newfound confidence she could’ve never had if she didn’t completely alter her appearance and personality in order to appeal to society’s idea of what is cool and likable. Tracy is not one of these people.
Tracy isn’t popular and her only friend is the quirky and equally uncool Penny Pingleton. She is far from society’s definition of beautiful but she is not interested in changing herself in order to receive acceptance. Instead, she believes it is the world that needs to change its outdated beliefs to allow people who are different to have their chance to shine.
Tracy is hopelessly in love with Link Larkin, the coolest guy in her school as well as one of the stars of The Corny Collins Show. Unfortunately, Link is dating his co-star Amber Von Tussle. However, Link grows tired of Amber’s bad attitude and starts to fall for Tracy instead. Link decided not to join Tracy in protesting against segregation on the Corny Collins Show out of fear that he might lose his job. She’s disappointed in him and starts to fear he might not be the incredible guy she thought he was.
She also worries they might not get to be together like she dreamed they would. But this doesn’t mean she’s willing to hold herself back in order to be the kind of girl Link would want. Tracy goes on and protests anyway. In the end, Link decides he was wrong. Though he was initially worried about his career he realized how selfish he was being.
He’s inspired by Tracy’s courage and as a result, he chooses to be with her. But Tracy wouldn’t have gotten her happy ending had she not stood her ground. Sure, she might have still gotten Link, however, she would’ve won him over by betraying herself, which isn’t what she wanted at all. Tracy proves that in life you must live your truth and not adjust yourself to fit into other people’s molds.
Tracy Turnblad Cheers Others On
Seaweed’s younger sister, Little Inez, is an incredibly talented dancer and singer and Tracy never hesitates to compliment her. When Inez congratulates Tracy for being cast on The Corny Collins Show, Tracy responds, “You better be next.”
During the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant, Link brings her on stage and dances with her, allowing her the recognition she deserves. The audience is so impressed with her dancing that she wins the pageant, becoming Miss Teenage Hairspray and thus ending segregation on The Corny Collins Show.
Little Inez’s victory means that despite how badly Tracy wanted it, she has lost the competition. The natural reaction would be to be disappointed and upset, but Tracy doesn’t display either of these emotions. Instead, she is excited about Little Inez. She knows Little Inez is talented and deserves to win.
She’s also happy that someone other than the stereotypical idea of what Miss Teenage Hairspray should look like winning the competition, and that the show is finally being integrated after how hard everyone fought for change, which is what she truly wanted all along. It’s easy to feel jealous of other people when they’re also talented, but Tracy never feels threatened.
Tracy has no problem sharing the spotlight with someone else who is also uniquely talented. Tracy’s ability to be confident in her talent while also allowing other people the opportunity to shine is inspiring.
Tracy Turnblad’s Legacy
Though she is a fictional character from a movie-musical, there is still so much Tracy Turnblad can teach us. Tracy’s ability to see the silver lining in every situation and never letting anything bring her down no matter how tough things may get makes her such a powerful film character.
“Things need to change, and I won’t stop trying to change them. I don’t care how long it takes.”
(( Tracy Turnblad, Hairspray ))
It’s her positive attitude and resilience in the face of adversity that keeps Tracy plowing through her setbacks and ultimately ends with her having everything she dreamed of and more. Tracy teaches us how to be confident in who we are, even if who we are isn’t accepted by others. She also teaches us that when we are confident, we can cheer other people on instead of tearing them down to make ourselves feel better. Tracy Turnblad is an inspiration for everyone living in a constantly evolving world that always has room for more change.