As you will no doubt have deduced, Hairspray is a common household aqueous solution that is used to keep hair stiff or in a certain style thanks to the active ingredient of a suitable polymer or chemical elastasse.
Some sprays are scented or have colour, no doubt inspiring director Adam Shankman to embark on his adaptation of the stage musical which, in turn, was based on the 1988 cinematic entertainment by John Waters.
What is significant - as any fool would know - is the film's knowing reference to the derivative of non-art aspects of history that were influenced by Postmodernism. It is often understood as an effect of, or reaction to, postmodernity – a historical and cultural period that many believe has succeeded modernity.
So, no it's not - as lesser mortals would have it - a simple anti-racism fable featuring John Travolta in a fat suit.
In fact, Postmodernist ideas in the arts have influenced philosophy and the analysis of culture and society, expanded the importance of critical theory, and been the point of departure for works of literature, architecture, and design, most notably Norman Foster's glass and steel allotment shed just outside Rotherham.
Where Shankman scores highly is...(shut it - ed)
Zut alors! Dining with literary chums from Cahiers du Cinema (Eric Rohmer is a dear old friend) the subject of our exalted conversation ranged from modern plasma screens and their place in the films of Godard to the poser Kelly's Heroes - a cinematic template for Saving Private Ryan?
Astute cinemagoers will no doubt have noted (as have I) the glaring error in the title Ocean's Thirteen. There is, as any averagely educated cineaste will tell you, just one ocean - a global ocean.


I was violently taken aback (see pic) when I deduced - as you will no doubt concur - that the plot from 28 Weeks Later owes more than a smidgin to the fever that consumed a quarter of the Athenian troops in the Pelloponesian War of 430BC.
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