Good Hair

"Good Hair" manages to both entertain and educate. As someone who has little interest in the culture of hair care among African Americans, I was intrigued by this film because it was written, narrated and executive produced by Chris Rock, a very intelligent, perceptive, and entertaining comedian. In addition, it examines the cultural aspects of the care and treatment of hair among black women as well as its importance as a mark of beauty. Black women endure the potential of physical injury from the chemicals used to straighten their hair, hours upon hours of treatment in order to achieve the precise look they desire, and costs well into the thousands—yes thousands—of dollars to purchase a weave. I was particularly fascinated by the bi-annual competition among hairdressers that take place at the industry trade shows—a combination of skill, spectacle, and outlandish creativity, these competitions must be seen to be believed.

I enjoyed the movie Good Hair, because I felt it raised all of the issues regarding the African-American community and the thought process behind "good hair". This movie wasn't a preachy movie and introduced many concepts in a very subtle way ( the psyche of good hair, media images of black hair and acceptance/rejection of black hair in its natural state (the scene with high school girls, who tell the one girl with natural hair, she wouldn't be hired for a job and that she didn't look "together" was jarring.

I felt the film did a good job of covering who controls the economics behind black hair (hardly any blacks, mainly whites and Asians) and the staggering amount of revenue ($9 billion annually) in the industry, generated by people who own less than a percent of the industry. The film looked at everyday people who get weaves, and pay serious money (the lay-away plan was sad, funny, and ingenious at the same time) and the reason they feel weaves are necessary. Calling relaxers "creamy crack"was funny and alarming at the same time. The health risks, the thought of lye and the discussion of scalp burns was right on target.

The message regarding the impact of celebrity in our culture is so deep, that every day women will spend beyond their means to look like a Beyonce or Rhianna, though they don't have either of these women's financial means. The idea that straight "white" looking hair is equated with beauty and self worth was a undercurrent theme in this movie.

The male point of view is represented by the rich and famous (Andre Harrell, Paul Mooney) and the barbershop. No matter what a black man's economic status is, they all were catching the same type of hell regarding not being able to touch a woman's weaved head. Rev. Al Sharpton was the exception to this dilemma, but didn't mention the limitations of having relaxed hair. Yet he did point out hair shouldn't sabotage a black woman's economic situation, but often does. Money spent on a weave could be spend on education or a 401K plan instead. Black men also feel the economic pinch the weave provides, because they often have to provide money for weave upkeep and to keep their relationship.

The limitations of having a weave (no swimming, no touching the hair, can also be examined in the movie "Something New" which is also an examination of the weave culture in addition to interracial relationships between black women and white men. The question was posed do some black men deal with white women exclusively, because they can go swimming, and have their hair touched, opened up another can of worms. This movie can't explore all of the psyche behind the phrase "good hair" but does a good job of opening up the conversation.

One thing the movie does is make the audience look at the children who looked too young to be putting chemicals in their tender scalps,and who seemed to be indoctrinated with the message that their hair needed to be straight in order for them to be considered pretty. That was just sad, because the people sending them those messages were their own mothers,grandmothers, and society at large. As a black woman with relaxed hair, I really have to think about the ideology, society, and the culture that has influenced the choice I've made regarding the hair choice I am making. These women are making a choice, but if they knew of the insidious nature that feeds the beast, would they or I consider a different reality, which is our natural hair?

This breezy documentary explored the black female hair industry, which turns out to be crazily huge, because so many black women want hair very different from what grows out of their head. Of course, white women are often dissatisfied with their hair too, but not, it seems, to this extent.

It's an interesting look at the world of black womens' hair. I never really thought much about it, but apparently when you see a black girl with straight hair you are looking at an elaborate, expensive process and possibly some Indian girl's hair sewn on.

It's also interesting to see a "hair show" where hair stylists have these crazy elaborate, very entertaining demos of their skills. That looks like fun.

Rock is amusing and entertaining as he tells us how it is forbidden to touch a black girl's hair and goes to the barbershop to learn how men feel about it all.

And that's all good as far as it goes. But I felt the documentary fell short of really exploring the topic. It beings with Rock talking about how his young daughter asks why she doesn't have "good hair." This means, basically, non-black hair. While the documentary explores the lengths women go to in order to get this non-black hair, there is virtually no discussion of those black women who stick with the hair they've got. There's only one girl with an afro in the movie, and she's there so her friends can talk about how awful they think her hair is.

I like natural black-girl hair. I think it can look really cool. But the movie never talks about that. The movie doesn't discuss the 60s, when young black men and women were making a political decision to not process their hair. The movie shows the world of black hair care as being a bit insane, but it doesn't really show an alternative.

I suspect Rock was flummoxed by his daughter's question in part because he agrees with her. He can say he wants her to be happy the way she is, but his wife has her hair heavily processed, and that is probably what he likes. So he can't really just tell his daughter, your hair is awesome.

I can tell her that, though. Maybe it's because I'm white and grew up among white people with white hair and find afros interesting because they seem unusual to me, but for whatever reason, I really like that afro look (sometimes; hair always varies from person to person).

(Apparently there is a similar movie called "My Nappy Roots" that presumably would get into more of this. The director sued this movie saying Rock had ripped off her ideas. There are more examples of black women with natural hair in the minute-and-a-half trailer for that movie than in all of "Good Hair.")

People are crazy, but some are crazier than others. We spend billions of dollars on pets, on sports, on cigarettes, booze and drugs, on video games, on movies and TV, all to fill our need for companionship, excitement, entertainment, to look good and to feel good. For some people, it's clothes. For others, it's the gym. For black women, it seems to be all about the hair. A good friend of mine adopted two little black girls. Being white herself, she keenly felt the scrutiny of black women, who judge other black women on how they keep their daughter's hair. She would drive three hours to a neighboring city and spend two nights in a motel with her daughters so that each could have a day to get their hair done with a specialist. My friend later paid $1,000 to learn how to do her daughters' hair, and now she does it professionally on the side. The hair money was better spent than the money spent on her law degree. But getting back to the movie, it's fascinating, and, like many movies about obsessions, somewhat sickening. Rock shows the lengths black women go to in order to have silky hair and the costs paid in dollars, pain, even lack of intimacy with their lovers. It's nuts, but that's what makes humans such interesting creatures. You won't believe your eyes when you see the wrestlemania-type, hair stylist smackdown which ends the movie. The subject may not be as universally relatable as chowing down on fast food, but it's just as good a documentary, and in its way, just as disturbing.

Chris Rock has two young daughters Lola and Zahra. One day, Lola asks why she doesn't have good hair. Chris goes into a funny in-depth dive into the world of black people's hair. It's a hidden world for most non-blacks and this is informative. The interview with the white chemistry professor is funny when he asks why black people put sodium hydroxide in their hair. Rock could have had more white people interviews. He follows some of the competitors in the Bronner Bros Hair Battle. His wit is great and he's able to also deal with the material seriously. This is very much right up his alley. It's fun and ultimately has a point to make.