It’s on my Netflix queue (finally) so I still haven’t seen it, but this is what I was afraid of. The gross mischaracterization of how most black women think and behave with regard to their hair. Obviously there’s a pretty screwed up dynamic with black people (other races too) and their perception of beauty, but then you see comments like, “I always knew about it, but I didn’t know it was like that!” Well it’s not like that. Most black women I know who straighten their hair (myself included), have their relaxers retouched every six weeks, don’t fry it to near-death, don’t give a flip if anyone touches their hair (unless it’s newly styled, or some random stranger decides to treat them like an exhibit on display somewhere - that is rude, and everyone hates it), have never spent $1,000 on an Indian weave, etc. I don’t know any women, at all, who aren’t rich who spend those kinds of exorbitant figures on hair products. It’s not like black women hate their hair so much, they’re taking out pay-day loans to get weaves they can’t afford. Some people might do stupid shit like that, but I can’t imagine that’s the norm.
Most of the moms I know will flat iron or how comb their kids’ hair for special occasions, but chemical relaxers aren’t allowed until they’re maybe 10 or 11. My mother wouldn’t let me relax my hair until I was in high school!
Totally what I was afraid of.
Indeed. I know a veritable shitload of sista girls who wouldn’t put a relaxer on their hair if you paid them. They’re in the minority, in my experiences, but they’re a sizeable enough minority that I would have thought would have warranted mention.
True and fair enough, but while a documentary can’t possibly cover everything, it shouldn’t paint a picture that distorts reality.
Regarding chemicals: So what? White women routinely bleach their hair, and subject it to harsh chemicals as well. If not over-processed, your hair will still be shiny and healthy. You dye your hair blonde, I relax mine straight.
MeanOldLady, that sounds similar to most beauty regimens. Like if you wanted to make a movie about body hair removal. You could make a scare tactics-y movie about women who suffer burns from waxing or little girls being made to get waxed at scary young ages, or women spending lots of money on electrolysis, etc. Yes, it’s true that most women remove their body hair. Occasionally you’ll meet someone who goes a bit mad about it, but it’s not some horribly unhealthy thing to do, which is what I think “Good Hair” made it seem–like there were countless black women mutilating their scalps in the search of the perfect 'do.
I finally saw it. As a Black guy who has had every hairstyle known to man (bald, fades, “processed,” S-curls, Afro, locks - for the second time) and the son and brother of Black women who have gone through hair drama (I exclude my wife due to the fact that through her biracial heritage, has - wait for it - “good hair”)… I liked it.
I think you have to understand the film. It’s essentially an extended version of the interview segments that used to be on The Chris Rock Show. The point typically is to point out the absurdity of some situation, Rock comes in and clowns the interviewees, and there’s some epic demonstration of the absurd event.
I loved the hair competition. I would pay money to go to see that! I agree, the White guy was robbed. Derek J cheated!
I think it was somewhat extreme, and I did think he missed an opportunity to delve into the natural movement. I work in academia, where I guess it’s more widespread, but easily half if not more of the Black women I know have naturals. And they look great.
I did like when he had the woman with alopecia on. She was a great looking woman… and like one of my friends in grad school who wore a bald fade, after you see it a few times it looks awfully normal.
I definitely think it was a good “intro” to the world of Black hair care for the uninitiated. I remember how my sister literally beat the shit out of these two kids who threw eggs at her on “initiation day” in middle school. She wouldn’t have been happy about it at any rate… but she just came from the salon with her new Jheri curl. Dudes caught a spectacular beat down AND had to pay for her to get her hair did.
I have gone through all permutations about what it means to have my hair touched… I suppose I would let a friend touch my locks if they asked. I think someone has before. I just have bad memories of people touching my hair as a kid and saying “ew! Grease!” Well, who fucking asked you to touch my hair, asshole?
Yes and no. Again, I haven’t seen the film, but if it’s making it seem like burning your scalp off and getting obscenely expensive weaves is just the status quo among black women, it’s totally scare tactics-y, and doesn’t actually teach anyone anything about the bizarre reality of black women and their hair. I think it was a good thing to take up a comical documentary look into the matter, because it is strange and worth talking about. Why do so many black women routinely straighten their hair? Is it because they want to look white? Is it because they fear their natural texture looks less professional? Is it simply because they find their hair to be more manageable when straight? It’s a good question that has been asked 1,000s of times before, and I suspect the answer, for many, does contain some element of self-loathing.
But to make a documentary that answers its own question --it’s because they hate themselves, and want to look white-- then exaggerates the lengths women will go to in order to accomplish this, doesn’t do anyone favors.
Well, Chris Rock doesn’t say that all women do this, but he doesn’t go into stats/numbers. He and Sharpton do explore the idea of how so many women are buying expensive weaves when they can’t afford them and they show testimonials from people who have had horrible burning relaxers. He’s not coming out and saying everyone does this, but when you watch a documentary it’s hard not to think of it as a trend. You see all these anecdotes about expensive weaves and so on, and you end up coming to the conclusion that there’s this huge underground obsession with hair that white people just never really knew about.
By all means, SEE the movie before you get out the tar and feathers.
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And when you’re watching it, watch the movie that you’re watching, not the one in your head or the one you would have made.
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This film isn’t about ALL black women. It is about the black women whom it is about. You could make a movie about tattooed women or women body builders or women who are addicted to plastic surgery and that would not be about all women. This movie is about a segment of black female society.
I was really irritated by every freaking one of Ice-T’s comments. Everything he said was punctuated by me yelling at the tv, “HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR WIFE?” Seriously! She’s got augemented ass, rented titties, bee sting lips and a weave of her own, and your downing black women for wearing weaves? Seriously? I have no desire to put up cites or links, but Coco is internetionally known.
Hah, all so very true. Except that I really didn’t get the sense he was downing black women, just dissecting them in a generalized fashion (which is probably is no better that downing them en masse).
His “expert commentary” didn’t bother me as much as Nia Long’s did, who kept acting as if black women’s elaborate hair care habits (weaves, perms, etc) were a necessary evil that everyone just needs to learn to accept and shut up about. And her giggling while saying all of this just grated on me, because I found nothing funny about her remarks really. I’d have no problem with her saying straight hair is a personal preference, but her implying that black women need perms and weaves to be and feel attractive is insulting and quite frankly, sad.
Forgiveness, please, but I am on the cheap bastard Netflix that allows one DVD at a time + streaming. I just sent my at home movie back today, and Good Hair doesn’t stream (that I know of). I should have it by Thursday.
Raven Simone is the last person that needed to give commentary on weaves. I’m not a weave or hair expert, but I do know her hair was a hot mess. Maybe her killer clown eyebrows just made it look that way.
I’m going to disagree with you, you with the face. I don’t think we’ve progressed so far to say that natural 'dos are acceptable by corporate America. I recall that braids and cornrolls were banned at Six Flags when I worked there. Granted, that was a long time ago, but come to find out it’s still the policy! I don’t know about the Six Flags in Maryland, but Six Flags Over Georgia had a workforce that was easily 50% black out of a staff of hundreds (mostly teenagers). And believe it or not, some black colleges and universities have gotten some bad press for also enacting that kind of policy on their student bodies. WTF?
Once you’re a professional with a whole bunch of alphabets behind your name, you can generally wear your hair anyway you want. But for entry level workers, you still have to conform to the “uniform.”
Yeah, I watched it on HBO the other night. I have a lot of black friends and colleagues, but I was still appalled when they were talking about putting relaxer in the hair of 1 and 2 year old babies. The little girl who was like 4 that they were talking too was saying how much it hurt, but then telling Chris Rock that his own daughters should get it done because (to paraphrase) ‘everyone gets it done’ (I don’t remember her exact words, but it was pretty heart breaking…to me at least).
Cropped hair is even more outrageous than an afro, at least if you’re Solange Knowles. Beyoncé’s sister cut her hair extremely short and it became the #1 story on twitter, with the general consensus being that she must be having a breakdown a la Britney.
There was some controversy a few years back when an editor from *Glamour *magazine went to a law firm to talk to employees about corporate fashion and said afros were a no-no. I don’t doubt that some people see it and consider it a political statment, in the same way they might interpret underarm hair in a woman, despite both being cases of people leaving things in their natural state.
This in an interesting comparison, because I think as much as Rock or anyone can balk over the cost of maintenance or the pain endured… which women are they dating, exactly? The ones with the silky weaves (and electrolysis-ed legs).
Honestly, this is more in line with the cost of weaves white girls get, not black girls. Of course, white girls don’t call it a weave, we call them extensions. I know people who drop $5000 a year to get a full head of bonded in hair extensions (this is supposed to be the least damaging form of extension, as it uses a chemical to stick your hair and the purchased hair together). White people do sewn in extensions too and in a mid rate salon, that’ll run you $500 and up (plus cost of the hair, which is $100-$250).
Me? I had extensions once, they were sewn in and the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m not tender headed at all, but I sobbed and sobbed when I went back into have them tightened a few months later. Plus, it literally took WEEKS after having them put in for me to be able to sleep correctly and comfortable (otherwise my head was literally throbbing).
Now, I just bought some nice clip in extensions that I can take in and out with ease :p. Oh, I’m white, btw, if that wasn’t clear. After going through what I did for that sewn in weave, I cannot imagine doing that regularly. Shit, I’ll never do that again. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a knock on folks that do (and I certainly understand the great societal pressures faced in regard to weaves), but getting one myself really put the pain involved in perspective.
Did you see the movie? According to Good Hair, the low end they were talking was $1500…and it went up to $3-4k. And they were getting this done several times a year (IIRC, every 2-3 months, and in between having to go back for maintenance, which I presume isn’t free either).
The movie at the top of the queue had a “Short Wait” anyway.
The little girl who was like 4 that they were talking too was saying how much it hurt, but then telling Chris Rock that his own daughters should get it done because (to paraphrase) ‘everyone gets it done’ (I don’t remember her exact words, but it was pretty heart breaking…to me at least).