In 2007, director Adam Shankman decided to take a venture at remaking the 1988 musical drama, Hairspray. Casting Nikki Blonsky, playing Tracy Turnblad, and Zac Efron, playing Link Larkin, to portray the two main characters, he perfectly executes the times in which they were living. Based in 1960 in Baltimore, segregation was at its height. The film revolves around a dance show called “The Corny Collins Show”, which Tracy Turnblad auditions to be a part of. After making it onto the show, there is a night once a month called Negro Day; this is where the Corny Collins Show allows the African Americans to integrate and dance with the white dancers. Even then, there is a rope completely separating the two and they dance on different stages. A reoccurring theme in this film is the mistreatment of African Americans and the movement of integrating races led by the main character, Tracy Turnblad. 

At this time, schools had been integrated. But there is still a clear line of distinction. No mixed couples and no mixed friend groups, the African Americans sat together at lunch and the white kids sat together in lunch. Most of the African American students spent their days in the detention room, but this wasn’t as bad as it seems. One day, Tracy Turnblad received a detention for inappropriate hair height, which another student complained about and went into the detention room where she was surrounded by a new style of dance. Wanting this dance to be shown on the Corny Collins Show, she made the suggestion of the African American students coming to dance with them. This was automatically turned down; it was socially unheard of to have a racially integrated TV show during this time period. This was when Tracy’s efforts to make this change were put into place.  As Link, the “perfect, all American boy”, and Tracy began to get closer; he stuck up for her when she got another detention, landing him in detention as well. Here he saw how truly talented the African American dancers would be on the show, and how unfair the treatment was. Link was considered a main component of the show so for him to begin to notice this was a big deal in the movement. Tracy’s efforts were beginning to have an effect on other members of the write community and making others realize the disservice that was happening around the world, and especially in their own community. 

On the first Negro Day that Tracy witnesses, the ladies in color chose to sing a song that they wrote. The white women also chose to sing the same song, even though it was not theirs to choose. This act caused there to be aggression taken out on the ladies in color because they should have just known that the white women had chosen to sing this song. It was viewed as disgraceful and embarrassing to the show. This was when the efforts to remove Negro Day were taken into place by the snobby producer, Velma Von Tussell. 

Tracy’s biggest act of integration was when the African Americans decided to take a march after in defense of Negro Day, after it was taken away. They went from having one day on the show every month, to having absolutely nothing. Tracy was the only white woman to stick up for this, a courageous act that could have had her dream of being on the show taken away. When a rude police officer was speaking to them and not paying them the attention they deserved, she tapped him on the head to have him listen. This is blown out of proportion saying that she assaulted the police officer and there was now a warrant out for her arrest. By standing with the African Americans in this time, she began to be treated with the same disrespect that they were treated with. This was something that she was willing to put up with for the cause that she believed in. 

The movie revolved around the crowning of the 1998’s Corny Collins Dance Queen. This was voted on by viewers for whom they felt should have been crowned. Tracy was in the running, along with many other cast members and most importantly the reigning champion, Amber. Tracy starts a dance number where others who are not on the show join in and sing and dance together. During the final number, Link ran down and grabbed an African American girl, Little Inez, who has been dreaming of dancing on the show one day. The couple danced and she was able to show off what she could have offered to the show. The phones started ringing off the hook. Even though she was not in the competition, Little Inez received more votes then any other girl in the competition. She was the first African American to do so and won the competition, Little Inez landed herself the lead spot on the show for next year. 

Finally, there was the monumental final scene where Tracy was lowered onto the floor of the live show wearing a checkerboard dress. Her fashion choice and the image of this represented the bringing together of races and ending of segregation on the show. Earlier in this scene, a white girl on live TV looks into the camera and said, “I’m a checkerboard chick”, and proceeds to kiss an African American man for the whole world to see.  The host of the show, Corny Collins, announced that the show will be officially integrated and Negro day was no longer. In the final dance number, there were mixed couples, which was unheard of during this time. Everyone was finally coming together. Throughout the entire movie, Tracy made an extreme effort for the African Americans to be treated fairly and for all races to be brought together. 