Good Hair (2009)

I do believe this is my first review of a documentary so I am not entirely sure where to start...

What makes you beautiful? I'm sure I don't know, but I know beauty when I see it--or rather I know ugly when it glares me in the face. But is a particular nose "good"? or eyebrows? or feet? They are natural and often not naturally changing. But what about hair? We gain it and lose it. It often changes color on its own, and people born with curls may find themselves suddenly without. What it exceptional about hair is its versatility--its willingness to change--allowing us to alter a part of ourselves at will which we might be able to do a few times with a nose for instance, but at great financial cost and a lot of pain. Chris Rock has decided to explore the world of black hair to find out what it is that black people, particularly women, find to be beautiful, and the lengths that they will go (and they are considerable) to achieve "good hair".

The arc of the film that ties it all together is a national hair convention in Atlanta where people from around the country come to sell their products and strut their stuff. The three day convention ends in a hair battle spectacular, and it is the four competitors that we meet to find their secret weapons and their method for cutting what could certainly be a daunting area of the barbering world.

But that is really of little interest to me, as I am sure is much the same for most viewers. What is absolutely fascinating, though, is Rock's journey not only across the nation, but across the globe as he learns about relaxers, perms, weaves, wigs, and all of the absurdities and money that go into African-American hairstyles. It is a $9 billion dollar industry centered in this minority group trying desperately to have white people's hair. It is a culture that I had no knowledge of, nor could I possibly have known about considering I am not black nor do I have any black friends, and this was a glimpse into a mysterious world that I didn't even know existed.

Rock, who is actually much funnier than I think I give him credit for, talks to a great many black celebrities and important figures including Al Sharpton, Ice-T, Maya Angelou, Eve and Raven Symone, as well as to people who run barbershops in Brooklyn, Harlem, Atlanta and practically everywhere else where a black community is particularly strong. Women, and not just the celebrities, will literally spend thousands of dollars and travel across the nation for their hair every year, even when they can't put food on the table. It speaks so loudly of a culture that is lost and yet still so vibrantly original that it is entirely perplexing.

This is interesting, very funny, confusing, and eye-opening. Anybody can watch this film, feel a little bit closer to a community to which they are very alien, and thoroughly enjoy themselves at the same time. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a little bit of time and wants something novel to look at.

3.5/4