Is there a black backlash against Chris Rock's new film 'Good Hair?' (AP Photo/Roadside Attractions)
Chris Rock's Good Hair opens nation-wide on October 23rd, but criticism has already been thrown at the funnyman's first feature-length documentary.
And many of the critics are black people themselves.
Over at Entertainment Weekly, writer Alynda Wheat finds that Rock and the various women he interviews in Good Hair misrepresented the true reasons why African-American women spend so many hours in the hair salon:
"There isn’t a black woman I know who sits down in a stylist’s chair to get a relaxer because she, as Rock posits, wants to look white. Not one. I have a relaxer. I have one for the same reason that I don’t wear makeup, don’t have a gym membership, and can usually be found in jeans and a Gap tee—I’m lazy. I like getting out of the house in a reasonable amount of time, and don’t cope well with a lot of hassle over what I consider superficial things. So why bother fighting my naturally nappy hair on a daily basis when every 8-10 weeks I can pay someone else to do it?"
Wheat ends her commentary, stating, "Neither the director nor any of the writers on Good Hair are women. It’s no surprise that a group of fellas got together and came up with a film that, while well-intentioned, just doesn’t get it."
It's not just journalists who are finding issues with Rock's film, either. Across Internet message boards and the blogosphere at large, some African-Americans feel that Good Hair is another production aiding in the destruction of the black female image. While some believe Good Hair portrays black women as shallow beings, others believe the documentary shows African-American women as monolithic--as one group who all treat their "nappy" hair in the same chemically-enhanced fashion.
What do you think? Does Good Hair play an otherwise complex subject for laughs? Would the film be better in the hands of a female director? Is Chris Rock receiving too much scrutiny?
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Comments
"I’m lazy. I like getting out of the house in a reasonable amount of time, and don’t cope well with a lot of hassle over what I consider superficial things. So why bother fighting my naturally nappy hair on a daily basis when every 8-10 weeks I can pay someone else to do it?"
If that were true then the writer of this article would wear her hair naturally curly, i.e. Afro or dreadlocks. Those are much simpler than going to the hair salon every 8-10 weeks for the creamy crack!
Yes,many Black women have elected to NOT see this film,because of the misrepresentation and condescension displayed by Chris Rock,a big sellout if there ever was one. Chris Rock is always misogynistic,and his behavior on Oprah was atrocious. His film also lacks historical context. And while Black women DO spend amply on their hair,the $1000.00 weaves are largely in Hollywood circles,not on Main street. And the vast majority of Black women with relaxed hair do not wish to be white whatsoever....Chris Rock was the wrong man for any such documentary,he is as shallow as a mirror. SMH!
I noticed that the people who criticize "Good Hair" the most are the ones who haven't even seen the film. I saw the movie and I thought it was very good.
By the way, African-American women who wear their hair naturally (no relaxers, wigs or weaves) were interviewed in the film too. Tracie Thoms is one of those women.
Don't believe the haters. There was a good cross-section of African-American women represented in the movie.
I also take issue with the "lazy comment. I have to wear my hair natural. I'm not "lazy" The chemicals in relaxers have weakened my scalp and my hair fell out. It grows faster then ever now that I have decided to stop burning my scalp every 6 weeks with chemicals. It was the best choice for me.
The truth is Africans lost in America are ashamed of themselves and their African heritage; they’ve bought into the stereotypes and myths Europeans have given them over the years. One of the first things some Europeans did to Africans before they reached the Americas was to shave them and placed them with other Africans that spoke other languages so they could not rebel.
Over time people who knew how to decorate African hair as well as reinforced other cultural practices was just weeded out.
I’ve seen illustrations of Africans in Brazil during slavery and for the most part their hair was decorated in African styles, both men/woman.
Look up Afro-Brazilian on wikipedia
They also kept a lot more African cultural practices even though they we banned for some time. Playing of the Drums, incorporation African religions into the Roman Catholic Faith, African Martial Arts know as ( Capoeira ) which turned into Break Dancing in the United states.
Until African lost American embrace t
I live in Virginia and Chris Rock's "Good Hair" did not do so well. I could not find the movie the 1st week it came out. We finally got the movie but it only stayed in the theaters about a week. I have not spoken to any african-american women in my area who saw the film. A co-worker of mine seem to take offense to the movie without even seeing it. I don't understand why some black women are taking a combative stance on this issue of hair. Could it be that the truth hurts?
It's time for us to embrace our God-given beauty, everything that God made is good, including our natural hair.
white woman ca kiss ass when it comes to the blck community and they want to be like us getting a tan and having our brothers on their arms to only use their white asses for one thing. getting down on their knees.
Lady obviously is not an Ivy league graduate. My guess she is an unemployed welfare and medicade leech who has numerous kids out of wedlock. Your hair looks like steel wool and you smell
"Fe-fi-fo-figga-boy I hate a reggin"
"I take care of my kids"- YOUR SUPPOSED TO YOU DUMBMothaf!
"I've never been to jail"- WHAT YOU WANT, A COOKIE?
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