On Saturday night, October 23rd, Naturals and Naturals at heart from the DC/Maryland/Virginia area met-up to view Comedian/Actor Chris Rock's film Good Hair. The film (and restaurant meet-up) was orchestrated by the lovely Ansylla Ramsey of My Hairitage Holistic Hair Care and finalist for International Stylist of the Year at the Hair Awards in the UK.

Ansylla Ramsey, informed fellow naturals via Facebook that she thought it would be fun for all the naturals to "represent" en masse at the opening night of Good Hair, and she was correct. Chris Rock's Good Hair was entertaining, informative, and laugh out loud funny. It was also even sad at times i.e. women perming toddlers' hair, Indian women actually getting their stolen, women spending money on $1,000 plus weaves versus paying bills. I felt the film was a reflection of his stand-up comedy routines which focus on social issues, while at the same time make people laugh.

The highlights of Good Hair for me were Reverend Al Sharpton's recount of how the late James Brown introduced him to his first perm all for the cause of getting Martin Luther King's Birthday a Federal Holiday. The look inside of the Tonsure religious ceremony where believers shave their heads and in turn temples without their knowledge, sell their sacrificed hair to make hair weave.

A'Lelia Bundles, Madam C.J. Walker's great-great-granddaughter and biographer's appearance. And the most riveting account came from that of Interior Designer, and advocate for The National Alopecia Areata Foundation, Sheila Bridges speaking about having Alopecia. I also enjoyed the behind the scenes look at the Bronner Brothers' Hair Show.

What others are saying...

On the comedic aspect of approaching the topic, Gee of AfroGlitz in a blog post entitled, Chris Rock: Helping or Harming? wrote, "The thing about comedies is that no matter how serious the topic is, if the comedian is funny enough, the viewers who didn't take the topic seriously beforehand, probably will not take the issue seriously afterward."

On the other hand, Mireille Liong creator of Going-Natural stated, "While you shouldn't expect to get an in-depth view or answer from this comedy-documentary, it shows enough funny truths to get people talking. Check out her entire review, The Best Thing About Good Hair.

I also agree with many reviews that I have read stating that there was not a good representation of natural hair wearers in the film. Orchestrator, of the DMV event, Ansylla Ramsey of My Hairitage Holistic Hair Care agreed as well. "Though natural hair was mentioned, it would have been nice to see it better represented and discussed," she said.

Lady Kinnks creator of Kinnks.com Online Hair Resource also attended the viewing. In her blog review of Good Hair she stated "This is a great opportunity for us as a community to see US on the big-screen, not representations of us directed by someone else. I would have liked to see more [natural] representatives, someone like T'Keyah Crystal Keymah. She has written a book on hair, has a product line, and been in the limelight for some time."

I also agree with Mireille's statement , "Still, the best thing about Good Hair is the debate it sparked. Not only did this film finally give Black and White women an opportunity to touch upon a most delicate and literarily untouchable issue for centuries, the comedy also triggered deep seeded emotions and opened up the conversation about Black hair."

Like others, Chris Rock's Good Hair left me wanting more. "Of course I would have liked to see Good Hair talk about the Black Natural Hair community, but I think that's a separate documentary in itself," Lady Kinnks shared. And Ansylla added, "The movie explains that relaxers are toxic and harmful, the cost of weaves can be outrageous, so why not discuss a healthy, affordable alternative?"

After viewing the film, it made me even more curious to see Regina Kimbell's documentary My Nappy ROOTS which seems like it will take a deeper look into the subject. According to the My Nappy ROOTS The Movement website, exploring beyond the surface, My Nappy ROOTS delves internally into the mindset that created the never-ending debate of "good hair verses bad hair" and the role media plays as instigator. From the start of the film, an underlying theme of overcoming obstacles develops into an inspiring story of success and business that does not end. Instead, it raises the question of "where will we go from here?"

Check out an excerpt of My Nappy ROOTS