Part of Family Matinees (Apr–Jun)
Sunday, June 30, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
Museum of the Moving Image - Bartos Screening Room

Dir. John Waters. 1988, 92 mins. 35mm. With Ricki Lake, Divine, Debbie Harris, Jerry Stiller. It is 1962 in Baltimore and Tracy Turnblad, a self-proclaimed “pleasantly plump” teenager hungry for stardom competes for a spot in The Corny Collins Show, the most popular American Bandstand-type program watched by hundreds of young dreamers each day after school. Being chosen to dance on the show is the ultimate status symbol and every young girl's dream. Tracy improbably wins a featured spot when she infiltrates a dance contest and makes a better impression than her favored rival, the catty Amber von Tussle. The momentum does not stop there, as Tracy attempts to integrate black dancers and audiences into the show’s daily content, outside of their “blacks only” once-weekly theme night. Waters uses camp, comedy, and music to comment on the dangerous racial disparities present and active within and outside the national craze for variety TV shows. Recommended for ages 8+

Tickets: $15 ($11 seniors and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above). Order online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum (see gallery hours). View the Museum’s ticketing policy here. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page.