Kinky Boots Analysis

Legs by Steven Polansky was an interesting lens into the relationship held by fathers and sons. While the story uses the traditional relationship between a confused father and an angry son it also juxtaposes the relationship held between the father’s relationship with his son and the father’s relationship with God. While David, the father, cannot seem to connect to his son Randy, he does connect with God. I found this juxtaposition to mirror common faith vs family relationships in media where a parent connects heavily with a faith in God but struggles with or harms their family. I enjoyed how Legs took a different route and had a father who was trying to connect with their child. David was not distant but more so lost in how to communicate

In, "The Family of Little Feet," Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel wear the fancy shoes intended for women and they are excited to be experiencing what it feels like to dress in a grown up way. They walk around the streets in a very seductive way, which includes crossing their legs, and they are naive to the dangers of this. Some people realize the danger they are in and ask where they got the shoes and others call attention to themselves by complimenting the girls. Mr. Benny who works at the corner grocery store realizes that they could be potentially harmed and says, "Them are dangerous. You girls too young to be wearing shoes like that" (Cisneros 41).

It’s not just Carrie Bradshaw that’s obsessed with shoes—Sarah is, too. Apparently, she got sick of sharing her shoes with her numerous sisters, so she developed a sort of shoe fetish. She admittedly has an entire closet just full of shoes, and she even has her own line of high heels!

His tiny feet, encased in short black boots with steel buckles, would have neatly fitted into a delicate lady 's dancing slippers; when he stood up, he was no taller than a twelve-year-old child, and suddenly looked, strutting on stunted legs that seemed grotesquely inadequate to the grown-up bulk they supported, not like a well-built truck driver but like a retired jockey, overblown and muscle-bound, pg 15

Gladwell begins by discussing the incomprehensible recovery of then-terminally-uncool Hush Puppies shoes amongst a few of hipsters in Manhattan’s cutting-edge regions in the 1990s, a development which soon extended across the United States and lead to exponential increases in the company’s sales. Using this sensation as an introduction to the book’s methodical theme, the author states that he will recognize, dissect and give details on the mechanisms by which certain trends occur, while others fail.

The first few times you see shoes mentioned is irrelevant, but once you get to the chapter “The Family of Little Feet,” shoes begin to take on a meaning. A woman came up to Esperanza and her friends Rachel and Lucy, offering a bag of shoes which were said to be “one pair of lemon shoes and one red and one pair of dancing shoes that used to be white but were now pale blue” (40). The girls were excited by the shoes, made clear by the line “Hurray! Today we are Cinderella because our feet fit exactly” (40). They even go as far to describe them as “magic high heels” (40) while they were learning to walk in them. Soon, however, this innocence and joy get tainted once the girls go walking in the shoes, first having Mr. Benny, the grocer, say, “Them are dangerous. You girls too young to be wearing shoes like that” (41). But this didn’t faze the girls, and they continued walking. They enjoyed the attention they were getting, Esperanza even saying, “these are the best shoes. We will never go back to wearing the other

The film, Kinky Boots, is about a young shoe factory owner named Charlie Price, and his partnership with a drag queen named Lola. After his father’s death, Charlie had a choice to either sell the company, or to take on the responsibilities left by his father. Choosing to take on the business, he created a goal to save the factory by making a shoe designed for a niche market, drag queens. Charlie asked for Lola’s help, and they worked together with the other factory members to produce and bring these shoes to Milan. As the film progresses, both Charlie and Lola discover more about themselves and the friendship between them, thus building up the Kinky Boots factory striving against all odds.

“Without appearing to, Mrs. Turpin always noticed peoples feet. The well-dressed lady had on red and grey suede shoes to match her dress. Mrs. Turpin had on her good black-patent leather pumps. The ugly girl had on Girl Scout shoes and heavy socks. The old woman had on tennis shoes and white-trashy mother had on what appeared to be bedroom slippers, black straw with gold braid threaded through them exactly what you would have expected her to have on.” (O’Connor

In The House On Mango Street , by Sandra Cisneros the symbol shoes are relevant. For example, “The old saddle shoes I wear to school, brown and white, the kind I get every September,”(pg. 47 Cisneros). This shows Esperanza is wearing a new dress, new underclothes, new socks, but the old saddle shoes. This also shows Esperanza is being laughed at for wearing old shoes, but new clothes. Another example, “I want to buy shoes just like yours, like your black ones made out of suede,”( pg. 82 Cisneros). This shows Esperanza wants to a black pair just like her mom. She wants something she cannot have so she decides to ask when she is in a better mood.

Carla and Elliot trick J.D and Turk into thinking that they are discussing footwear. This episode makes use of the idea that all men are disinterested when hearing footwear discussions. When the guys hear footwear, they automatically assume nothing of any importance is being discussed. Meanwhile, the ladies know they are free to discuss anything, and the guys will not pay attention. J.D. and Turk catch some phrases that cause them to start listening. Once Carla and Elliot see this, the ladies say “strappy sandals” and immediately the guys lose all interest into what is being discussed. This is an example of how the show pokes at the masculine

"Shoeless ". In the novel written by W.P. Kinsella, both the characters and the setting go hand in

Christian Louboutin once said “a shoe has so much more to offer than just to walk”. Similarly, author Diane Riva discusses this idea in her essay “Exposed Toes”. Riva takes a compelling approach to her argument believing that shoes are not just part of your wardrobe rather they are your identity. For Riva, her black sneakers represent her career life as they are the shoes she wears to work, her boat shoes resemble her connection with nature, her high-heel dress shoes speak for her elegance, her sandals represent her spontaneous self and lastly her “shoes of choice” are her natural feet as they represent everything about Riva’s world and go with her everywhere. Overall, Riva express that her shoes are her identity and each pair resemble apart of her character.

Kinky Boots, directed by Jerry Mitchell with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, follows the story of Charlie Price when he inherits his family’s shoe factory from his father. The factory has fallen on hard times with sales reaching depressing lows and the factory bleeding cash flow. All seems lost until Charlie has a fateful meeting with drag performer Lola, who inspires Charlie to reinvent the factory and produce a new line of high-heeled boots in an unlikely partnership. Tensions mount and personalities clash as their production deadline nears, but in the end the partners realize that they have more in common than meets the eye.

A smart but naive college graduate Andrea has a big dream to become a journalist. Looking for a job she finds herself in the office of Miranda Priestley, ruthless and cynical editor-in-chief of the high fashion magazine the Runway. Hundreds of girls would kill for that job but Andrea finds it all bizarre – people running around trying to please a woman who picks belts for dresses. However, smart and determined to keep this job she tries to fit into this organization where people are evaluated based on their shoes.

Aesthetics function: An extravagant, modern take on Dorothy’s shoes from “The wizard of Oz” The delicate and intricate detail surrounding the shoe seems to create a sense of perfection. The shows don’t seem to be practical but have a unique and quirky design. It also seems to allude/ portray women as not only luxurious and feminine, but also intensive and powerful.