By reconsidering assumptions about mainstream popular culture and its revolutionary possibilities, author Dana Heller reveals that John Waters' popular 1988 film Hairspray is the director's most subversive movie.

• Represents the first scholarly work on any of film director John Waters' films
• Incorporates original interview material with the director
• Reveals meanings embedded in the film's narrative treatment of racial and sexual politics

Dana Heller is Professor and Chair of English at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She has written widely about elements of popular culture, gay and lesbian studies, consumer culture, television, and almost all things considered "bad" taste.