Travolta says there is nothing gay about Hairspray

I'm scratching my head over this one -- John Travolta says there's nothing gay about Hairspray and, therefore, there's no good reason for gay activists to call for a boycott of the film over his church's stance on gay civil rights.

Perhaps Hairspray doesn't specifically deal with gay issues, but we are talking about a film based on a camp classic directed and written by a gay man that looks at prejudice and self-acceptance. In some ways, the story of Hairspray has even greater relevance to gay audiences now. One of the storylines involves an interracial romance in the years before anti-miscegenation laws were repealed -- an issue LGBT people have been considering more of late. Additionally, Travolta's is taking on a role associated with two gay men, Divine and Harvey Fierstein.

There's plenty of good reason for gay audiences to feel a bit of ownership of the Hairspray franchise. At the very least, its appeal to gay audiences should be easy to see; that should be enough to spur activists into asking gay moviegoers to stop and consider where a portion the box office royalties may end up.

I find myself wondering, now, if Travolta was alone in that sentiment or if other members of the team that put together the new Hairspray felt similarly. I'd say they were overlooking the full impact of the original Hairspray if they, too, didn't think of it as a gay film.