Chris Rock’s “Good Hair”

In a move that is bound to raise some eyebrows, Chris Rock is preparing to release his comedic documentary “Good Hair,” set to tell the tale of black women and their relationship with their hair. I’m actually looking forward to it, even though I’m sure something about it will probably offend me, but it wouldn’t be good satire if it didn’t do that.

More after the jump.

My own personal story with my hair has already been documented on this blog, but for the record, I am in recovery of being unnaturally and unhealthily obsessed with my hair. I was told I had “good hair” growing up because it was just wavy enough to be easily straightened and it was very long and thick. My mother worked hard to combat the good hair/bad hair stereotypes while at the same time endorsing straight hair as the best look for me. (I know … screwy. Love your hair! Now fix it!) This created a paranoia that all my looks were tied to my hair and at 23 I chopped it all off and went natural. Since then my hair is once again long, but it is not chemically straightened.

All the Snob sisters have naturals. Baby Snob once even had dreds before they got too heavy and started to break off. I can’t commit to a hairstyle so I wear it all kinds of ways, but I’m still kind of obsessed with my hair. Mostly now of going bald. Fortunately I’m not alone in hair hysteria, as this film and life has proven to me. For every black woman who is perfectly content and is all zen about it (“It’s just hair!”), there are about 20 of us fretting over every strand like neurotic beauty shop addicts. Will this film help us with our addiction? Or will we just be doing a lot of eye rolling?

daniellebelton

58 responses to “Chris Rock’s “Good Hair””

  1. shemari Avatar
    shemari

    I just to put my two cents on Zahara’s hair. It looks JUST FINE. It doesn’t look damaged or broken. As a matter of fact, how could anyone make that judgment without seeing it up close. Stop putting your hair issues on a child that is gonna have more than enough other issues to deal with.

    Reply
  2. blah Avatar
    blah

    Shiloh’s hair was about as unraveled as Zahara

    Reply
  3. emcee3 Avatar
    emcee3

    I’m writing from outside the circle, as I’m a white girl who got the kinky hair gene from her father’s side of the family (also white); a blend of curl/kink/frizz and like a wool sweater, had the tendency to repell water. It was a such hassle for my mom to maintain, she dictated the cropped cut I wore through most of grade school. And I have to smile at the remarks about Zahara’s hair – I had my own wild version after an hour on the playground. This was during 70’s, when popular media images were the “Breck Girl”, Marcia Brady or Charlies Angels . What really affected my self image back then were adults who were just astonishing in their lack of tact: “Wow, that was a bad perm you got, betcha can’t wait for it to grow out.” “How does a Catholic kid get a Jew-fro?” There were others that should just remain out of print. It all translated to "not good hair". And since my dad was clueless to the impact of these remarks (mom died when I was nine), I’m interested in Chris Rock’s attempt to address this on behalf of his daughter Lola. I hope he balances the humor w/ something from the heart.

    Reply
  4. Nacala Olufemi Avatar
    Nacala Olufemi

    Zahara’s hair is just fine. Brad Pitt said that they are using products from Carol’s Daughter. That alone will provide growth, sheen and health.

    Reply
  5. Kelly Avatar
    Kelly

    I bet all the people making negative comments about Zahara’s hair have relaxers. As a natural, Zahara’s hair looks beautiful, it is a cute style that many naturals wear. It’s so sad that your own self-loathing prevents you from seeing the beauty of the natural hair God gave you. As Bob Marley sang, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery." Thank God Angelina doesn’t have people like you around giving her bad hair advice.

    Reply
  6. sarah Avatar
    sarah

    Let’s be real…Zahara’s hair stay looking broken off and dry…they need to buy some charol’s daughter leave in conditioner and brush and for that child’s head…and that has nothing to do with it being nappy. Nappy hair needs grooming and proper care, too and Jolie should be ashamed of her damn self for letting BOTH her daughters walk around looking like little ragamuffins…she’s a freaking millionaire with a staff of at least 15 or 20 people. Clean, groom and dress your children well. The End.

    Reply
  7. Kim Avatar
    Kim

    I think Zahara’s hair is lovely, natural and free. I also don’t know how anyone could judge her hair from looking at a photo. If you look at pictures of Ethiopian model Liya Kebede’s daughter, her childs hair looks just like Zaharas. If anything Zahara’s hair has a bit more style to it. I think AA woman are a bit too obsessed with their hair and also every other black female’s as well. Although I am AA I am happy that I grew up for the most part in Europe. I have a 3 year old daughter who likes to wear her hair free without being encumbered by braids and barrettes and for the most part I just let her wear her hair free and natural. I laughed so hard when one day in a store an older black woman approached me and told me my daughter’s hair was "supposed" to be braided. I just told her if that were true then we would come out of the womb with our hair braided, the look on her face was priceless.

    Reply
  8. aron ranen Avatar
    aron ranen

    Just a note to inform you that I have placed my entire documentary film BLACK HAIR for free at youtube. 6 parts including an update from London, England.It explores the Korean Take-over of the Black Beauty Supply and Hair biz..can it be taken back?Linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p96aaTSdrAE

    Reply

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