Pelo malo, cheveux rebelles

Captivating and tells a lot about the lives of the people living there. How politics remains on the background, how dominant ideas shape the reaction of the mother and the immense poverty they live under is grasped perfectly.

Nothing uplifting about this movie. Long, depressing (and cruel) ...with a disappointing ending. Should have been called "Bad Movie."

I had high hopes for this movie, believing that it would address the issue of finding one's identity and coming of age as a hispanic person, no matter what complexion you are. This movie is the Spanish language version of the movie Precious. The intended audience is mostly likely middle to upper class whites, to invoke empathy and disgust for the plight this boy faces and the abuse he endures from the people closest to him.

This movie has very little to do with "Pelo Malo" or bad hair, and is mostly about a boy who grows up with very little parental supervision or guidance, and always ends up in situations where older adults are trying to take advantage of him sexually and force him into certain abnormal gender roles (aka being tricked into becoming homosexual). I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak here for saying this, but this is a movie about underage sexual child abuse and neglect. If you're into that sort of thing, then this movie is for you(imho, this movie should be banned or come with a stern warning at best). If you're looking for an intellectually stimulating movie that touches on issues of race and coming to terms with one's identity, steer clear of this movie. It will leave you shaking your head. It is a bewildering roller coaster ride of sexual innuendo involving children, and ultimately, very depressing and anti-climatic.

I think that in this movie Pelo Malo by Mariana Rondón shows the problematic of the identity search of the Junior child. At the same time, it touches on topics such as family, childhood, racism, popular culture, and also the social, political and economic situation of Venezuelan society. Junior appears in the film as a poor child of low resources but he wants to look different from what he is, that's why he wants to lace his hair to pretend to be another but. But this brings with it the idea of racism in that society, her mother thinks she sees herself as a woman, not as a man. I think this happens because of the problem that exists in those Latin American countries that have a very old culture rooted in their society, like machismo. Racism is another problem in these countries, people can be treated and judged by just how they look physically. You can also see the desperation of the junior mother to be able to work and that without her work, her children could not eat, a sad reality in these poor countries. In his in this story shows the social reality of Venezuela, and the discrimination that is seen and felt in the streets of this country.

This film is excellent. The acting, the story telling, and the productions values are all very high. I think a previous reviewer had the impression that the film should address more head on the subject of growing up black. But I can tell you as someone who is from Venezuela and now lives in the US, that's not a subject that it's discussed much in Venezuela. So I believe you're coming at it from your experience of growing up in the US. I bet if you were to ask the little boy in the film if he considers himself black, he would say no. The way this film tackles ethnicity and socioeconomic disparities is very subtle and that's why I believe it's so effective. Venezuela is a country obsessed with beauty pageants, and as many we have accepted that "straight hair" is the definition of beauty. I myself grew up believing I had "Pelo Malo." I now of course love my hair just the way it is. That was a wonderful tool the filmmaker chose to illustrate a symbol of not belonging. For me this film is mostly an exploration of motherhood. Mothers are supposed to be perfect, but how can you be when you're so focused on just surviving? I never once doubted that in the film the mother deeply loves her children, she's just making the choices she believes she has to make in her situation, even though sometimes those choices were plainly wrong.