Good Hair

Chris Rock guides viewers on an insightful and humorous journey all about hair

The last place I expected to find comedian Chris Rock was in one of the most eye-opening documentaries of the year. But, lo and behold, that’s exactly the case with “Good Hair,” a humorous doc exposing the expensive lifestyle and $9 billion industry revolving around African American women and their manes.

Rock guides viewers on an incredibly informative yet entirely entertaining journey, detailing a topic most people (myself included) never would’ve thought themselves interested in before. Wanting to answer his daughter’s question “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”, Rock delves into the roots of why black American women are so obsessed with making their hair look “natural,” and just what it costs them to achieve this.

He begins at the Bonner Brothers International Hair Show, an annual trade convention of haircare products and techniques predominantly tailored towards African American women. One of the main draws to the event and the center of the film is an aggressive, overblown hair-styling competition between four of the country’s best stylists. In the days leading up to this battle royale, Rock follows around and gets to know each of the stylists, all four of whom have unique visions and highly interesting strategies for success. The audience quickly becomes immersed into their world, excitedly anticipating the exaggerated showdown.

Even more intriguing is the whole sub-culture built around African American hair, which viewers are given a crash course into through interviews interspersed throughout the movie and conversations with important black figures (ranging from actors and singers to Rev. Al Sharpton), as well as regular men and women in African American hair salons. With the help of these people’s vivid anecdotes and Rock’s in depth investigations, he teaches the audience about the chemical dangers of straightening, or “relaxing” hair, in addition to explaining everything about weaves (bundles of real hair attached to the scalp, collected from the heads of Indian women).

In fact, the most surprising and fascinating portion of the movie is when weaves and the effect they’ve had on black society are discussed. In the film’s funniest scene, Rock asks some black guys in a barbershop if they ever touch their partner’s hair. All of them respond that they aren’t allowed to, one patron even stating it’d been about twenty years since he could touch a woman’s hair.

While this discussion plays out hilariously, it almost starts a giant fight, and the audience’s interest peaks as they realize some of the enormous differences between white and black cultures. This is especially apparent when the women start talking about the weaves, how relationships are less intimate due to the lower level of contact, the ghastly costs for the hair ($400 to thousands of dollars sometimes) and how no matter what, black girls will continue buying their weaves, even when the rent is past due.

At the end of the film, Rock returns to the convention and the extravagant styling competition takes place. While it’s highly amusing, it also displays the importance of black hair more visually, epitomizing the glorified image of the society explored throughout the whole movie. However, after reaching a degree of more seriousness and depth a little bit earlier with the weaves, this lighter, funnier and Vegas-like show of entertainment drops the power and provocative message attained previously. Nonetheless, it’s still fun to watch.

By almost always keeping the mood playful and airy, Rock and first time director Jeff Stilson save “Good Hair” from ever feeling heavy-handed, boring or unimportant. They teach viewers just as much as they’d learn in a Michael Moore documentary, although in a wittier manner. But unlike a Moore doc, it mostly just skims the surface of the subject matter, which gives it less weight yet helps the film maintain a more pervasively comical tone. Some of the African Americans are presented in a stereotypical light occasionally due to this, but it’s not much of an issue since the humor usually covers for these negative portrayals.

It may not be inspiring or very ambitious, and misses a chance to analyze some of the broader differences between white and black women, but “Good Hair” happens to give a plethora of insight into a sub-culture which you probably knew very little about. Not only does it strike a comfortable balance between teaching you a lot and making you laugh often, but also leaves you with some food for thought.

Three out of Four Stars