Sisters Let their {Bought and Pressed} Hair Flow--But Should They? : A Review of Chris Rock's ``Good Hair''
By Writer--Activist--Businessman Brother Tracy Gibson
Chris Rock's movie ``Good Hair,'' which examines Black hair and the women who ``buy'' and ``straighten'' it, was enlightening, but most likely not in the way the producers and film makers intended. I'm giving my own personal opinion and I haven't read alot about the film. I know some Black Progressive commentators such as Professor Malana Keringa, the creator of Kwanzaa, had his opinion. That is a good thing. There are many others who talked about this film.
My feeling is that the 2009 film was ``a step'' that perhaps we needed to take. The next film that examines this issue should be called ``Black women and their Natural Good Hair and the men who LOVe Them.'' Now that, in the title alone, would be saying something positive and needed for the psychological advancement of our Black people. ``Good Hair,'' I feel, as someone who has served my time on the psychiatrist's sofa for about 30 years, is really about the demented people we have become as we have experienced White culture and tried to adhere and affix our selves as Africans to this cultural madness we are experiencing in North America.
``Good Hair,'' did have its' high points and it's good points. The scene where Chris went to a chemist ad talked about the damage the chemicals do to our Black women's hair by showing how certain chemicals that are put into Black women's hair will actually over about a few hours, eat away a aluminum soda can; and the short interviews with Sistahs who have ``Natural'' hair; and the scene where Black men say ``you had better NOT touch a Black woman's hair, if you are her boyfriend; and the scene where some celebrity Sisters actually say they will not go in a pool because of the ``high maintenance of their hair'' --these were all good scenes. The scene where a little Black girl about three or four, is getting her hair straightened with chemicals made me very sad to think that some parents think that is OK to do.
In actuality, I really think the film was needed because it tears the scab off of a very sick industry--where Black women are still trying to emulate their White female counterparts and where most of the money is made in the hair industry by Whites and Asians who have taken over an industry--the Black Hair Care industry--that was once dominated by Black business men and Black business women. The film showcases our sickness which is a good thing because we can't heal and get help as a people unless we know and understand just how sick we are in 2012 and going into 2013. Chris, in actuality, was a doctor saying ``is this stuff really alright?''
Where the film failed was in its loos of focus and in not offering solutions and answers. What about ways of relaxing hair that doesn't require harmful chemicals; what about a full film that looks as ``natural haired Black women'' and the issues they have in dating Black men; what about other solutions such as training our Black girls about how to really love themselves and move forward as thinking, positive and creative, professional, self-righteous, progressive, economically sound Black females--independent of a Black man's wallet, and able to earn Her own money and not be dependent on any man's money? This is where we need to focus next. But Chris' film was, as I said, needed because it showed the seamier side of Black hair care--especially with the Bracker Brothers Hair show near the end where ``insanity was on parade.'' I recommend we see this film, but that we not go away in shame, but demand another film with more positive direction and solutions and more positive images, which are so important for our little Black boys and little Black girls.
The above article is being researched and edited, but is being shared right now, at 6:43 A.M. on Thursday the 13th of December. I have to thank Mr. Chris Rock for making this film because it helped me by providing smethng of interests for me to watch while I washed the dishes. This is no small achievement, providing this film, because I had let the dishes sit for 10 days and I have trouble getting motivated to wash, dry and put the dishes away--they MUST be done correctly, NOT half-assed--as dear old Dad used to say... Please check back in three days and this article will be completed.
Copyright warnings and infringements from ``It's Your Biz,'' By Susan Wilson Solovic, with Ellen R. Kadin and a forward by Edie Weiner. Page 150...
``Because I write many columns and blog posts for a variety of companies and media organizations, I use search-engine tools to alert me if anyone is picking up and using my material. Some people have literally copied my writing and presented it as their own, even though this is an obvious copyright infringement. There are both civil and criminal penalties for copyright violations, and the severity of the penalties depends on the situation.''
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