Hairspray
This was one of John Waters' more accessible films, and I thought it was
very good. It's about a spunky, unconventional and relentlessly
cheerful teenage girl who breaks social and racial barriers in her
pursuit of dancing nirvana in the early 60's. The girl was played
by Ricki Lake, who is now a popular talk show host, but was then an
unknown actress. The best bit of casting was Debbie Harry and Sonny
Bono as the stressed-out parents of a rival teenager.
This is beat-related because of the scene in which four "squares"
wander into a beatnik's house ... when the beatnik begins reading
'Howl' the squares run away. Thanks
to Ahmad Nimeh (animeh@gopher.chem.wayne.edu) for reminding me of
this scene (which is similar, interestingly, to a scene in the film
'American Pop').
Other Beat-related films
Literary Kicks
by
Levi Asher