Movie Details
| Title: | Good Hair | |
| Director: | Jeff Stilson | |
| Year: | 2009 | |
| Genre: | Documentary | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 03.27.11 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 03.27.11 | DVR | Chris Rock explores the business and culture of Black women's hair. To a white guy such as myself, this was just as informative as it was entertaining. I'd heard these words thrown around like weaves and tracks and whatnot but I really had no idea what they meant. Furthermore, I remember that scene in the beginning of Malcom X where Denzel gets his hair straightened and it starts to burn then later he denounces straightened hair as white man's oppression, but again I had no real idea what that product was or why it burned or whatever, so this doc taught me as well as made me laugh. Rock/Stilson gets pretty great interviews, which I think is really what makes the movie good. It's true that documenting the super duper hair bonanza show or whatever it was made for a good skeleton of the movie and that stuff contained my single favorite scene (the one white kid in this group of super hair-dressers that are competing in this weird talent show/hair cutting contest that's getting put on goes to get some botox for the first time. He gets injected in his forehead and cheeks and there's footage of him looking SUPREMELY upset in a way that only a tiny blonde gay hairdresser can and he says "I don't feel as beautiful as I had anticipated. I feel like I got stung by a thousand killer bees" as he presses some weird cold compress on his face. It cracked me up. Anyway, it's really the interviews with everyone from Al Sharpton to Ice-T, Nia Long to Salt N Peppa that sold the movie for me. They are all great interviews. I love how Ice-T has more knowledge on the subject than anyone, obviously pulling from his pimpin days. Even Maya Angelou was hilarious. Hearing everybody open up completely is really great. Oh, my other favorite moment is when Chris Rock goes with this Indian supplier to sell hair to a black Beverly Hills hairdresser who's a total gossip. The hairdresser jokingly admits that he's re-sold hair that's been on celebrities, then continues to dish dirt saying that Vivica Fox prefers Malaysian hair. Then he has a wide-eyed moment where he just realizes that he's given away a hair secret for all the movie-goers. It's great. Funny doc, even for white people. |
