The Movie "Good Hair"- Thoughts From Malika

Hey again! This is Malika, the ever-loving cynic. Pumpkin took me to see Chris Rock's "Good Hair" and I have to say, it was pretty good. I couldn't help but to notice that there were very few men in attendance, no shocker there. Most of the men that were there were dragged by women, mine included. Most were just women in groups. I also noticed that although our movie was scheduled to start at 7:20, many trickled on in after the credits had rolled *sigh* it was still pretty cool though.
Like normal Chris Rock, the movie was hilarious. His constant quips kept the movie from being stale or boring. My date who is a guy's guy, really appreciated the movie about Black women's hair, which shows how good it really was.
It spotlights the world-famous Bonner Brothers Hair Show here in Atlanta, Ga. Now I'd heard about the Bonner Brothers Show before, but this movie showed exactly what goes on there and it showed the importance of the show. It showed how much money the Bonner Brothers Hair Show not only brings in to the city ($60 MILLION!!), but how much it relays to retailers and stylists what Black women are doing and want to be doing to their hair.
Of course, no movie about Black women and their hair would complete without talk about perms, AKA ammonium thyglocolate. Rock manages to get in how some women actually perm the hair of children that are as young as a year and a half. As a black woman that has worn natural hair for the last 8 years, that both angered and saddened me. There is even a demonstration of what the perms and relaxers do to an aluminum can. Sistas actually put that mess in their hair?! *shudders*
The other thing Rock touches on the movie is of course, hair weave. Different women (Nia Long, Sandy "Pepa" Denton, Raven Symone, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong to name a few) talk about their relationship with hairweaves. It is also discussed about how much Black women spend on hairweave, and according to the movie, the good stuff is not cheap!! The part that will make you think the most about hair weave is when Chris Rock travels to India to see where it comes from. According to the movie, much of it (the human hair of hair weave at least) comes from women that sacrifice it at temples. It is then harvested, washed, and brought here to the States. Another way its gotten is when women are sometimes sleeping or in the movies and some &*#^! comes and cuts their hair off. As you can tell, cutting a woman's hair without her permission doesn't sit well with me.
It was a pretty good movie, but the only complaint I have is that they didn't really touch on natural hair. When natural hair is featured in the movie, its typically in an Afro wig and people turn up their noses at it. Actress Tracie Toms has natural hair and during the taping, she had extensions. She made a comment about how strange it is for her to decide to wear her hair the way it naturally grows out of her head and people are amazed and baffled by it. That was such a profound statement and I can't even begin to tell how much I totally agreed with it. I just wish that Chris Rock had shown how many beautiful natural hair styles there are for Black women. Trust me, an Afro can be HOT on the right woman. Braids are really cute, and my hair is in dread locks (or locs as I prefer to refer to them) and I've seen dozens of hairstyles that are beautiful for natural hair. I've suggested to many women that they go natural and they normally complain that natural hair doesn't have enough variety. That is where Chris Rock should have gone and done a montage of the beautiful natural hairstyles that are available. In short, WHERE WAS THE NATURAL HAIR CHRIS?!


Overall: This is a great flick and even if you drag your dude along, he'll appreciate too. But I'd recommend it for a girl's night out, followed by drinks while you think talk about your impression of the movie. This is a great choice for those that are heavy thinkers that want to lament, and for those that don't want to think too hard and just want to laugh. It'll also give some Black women with weaves and perms something to think about.