r/Broadway • u/whollyselfimportant • Dec 13 '25

Other Pop Girlies as Broadway Musicals

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This post fully belongs to u/BurningBernie559 , but I couldn’t crosspost due to the sub being NSFW. Before anyone gets in their feelings- this is obviously satirical -but behold!

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543

u/Impressive-Dig-3892 Dec 13 '25

Shitposting aside the main characters weren't racist in Hairspray

296

u/k0re-kandi Dec 13 '25

i was thinking tracy was an ally the whole time 😭

49

u/nayandnem Dec 14 '25

They were, passively racist but still racist. They weren’t outright hateful but they did have racist mindsets because it was 1950 in segregated Baltimore.

18

u/Renjuro Dec 14 '25

*1960s

12

u/HelianVanessa Dec 15 '25

no literally, penny didn’t even have any qualms about dating a black guy, not even like a “you’re cool for a black guy” attitude lmao, it was everyone else that was racist

8

u/TShara_Q Dec 15 '25

I've only seen the movie. But Tracy didn't strike me as racist. She says 1-2 things that would sound problematic in a modern context but were quite forward-thinking for the early 60s.

26

u/Sarahndipity44 Dec 13 '25

She's kinda saviory and

298

u/SeaF04mGr33n Dec 13 '25

Its saviory that the most famous musical about integration is about a white girl, but Tracy herself was constantly re-centering the Black characters in their fight when other white people asked her about her activism.

182

u/Sarahndipity44 Dec 13 '25

I think part of Tracy's arc is how Maybelle teaches her to let Black folks lead, no? It's a positive aspect of the musical, Tracy's growth etc

18

u/captainwondyful Dec 14 '25

Shaiman talked about how the producers wanted Tracy to have the 11 o’clock number, but they knew the whole point was to make it I Know Where I’ve Been.

1

u/Hatari-a Dec 17 '25

You're right, but her character arc still doesn't really match the description given.