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By J. MATTHEW COBB Actress Nia Long, who Chris interviews in the film, agrees. "There's always this sort of pressure within the black community like, if you have good hair, you're prettier or better than the brown-skinned girl that wears the Afro or the dreads or the natural hairstyle," she says. Dr. Maya Angelou opens the film with a wise quote, “Hair is a woman’s glory.” The proverb rings true but comes with its own bag of paranoia as the movie unfolds with a laundry list of questions and problems. It compares racial differences, spending habits, deals with self-esteem, sex, Kiddie perm, stereotypes and focuses on the mere fact that while blacks only make 12 percent of the U.S. population, they make up 80 percent of the country’s hair-product sales. An even sadder revelation is knowing that the biggest moneymakers in the hair industry continues to be Asians and whites, according to the film. The taboos open up even further as it reveals that black women spend six to eight hours getting their hair braided into tiny sections; only then to be attached with tracks of hair called a weave. A good weave usually costs close to $1,000 and even reaches $3,500. Actress Raven Symone, along with a super list of Hollywood veterans including Nia Long, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Eve and rapper duo Salt-N-Pepa, all admit in the documentary to their weave impulsions. When the film opens up about hair relaxer – known to some beauticians as “creamy crack” – the mystery of its chemical foundation is exposed. The key substance: sodium hydroxide. The substance, usually offered in salons to add curl or straighten hair, can burn a woman’s hair, damage their scalp or worse. But Good Hair brings out more than just a bundle of laughs. It hints at healthy hair treatments and exposes the important roles beauty salons and barber shops play in urban communities while also offering up a powerful dialogue about the touchy subject of hair.
While promoting the movie, Rock appeared on a number of television programs including the Oprah Winfrey Show. His visit sparked an unusual healthy debate from black women that felt his movie was far too revealing and crude. The controversy was also profiled in the weekend edition of USA Today. Rock is dealing with tension from his own peers - who now label him as a sellout. “When it comes to hair, we’re still living in segregated America,” said Temple University professor Lori Tharps to USA Today. The co-author of Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America also mentioned “the hair salon on Saturdays is right up there with church on Sundays as the most segregated place in America.” Tharps also addressed how the hysteria surrounding Good Hair reminds her of “O.J. all over again. The mainstream media are saying it’s fantastic...on the Internet, opinion ranges from it didn’t go far enough to pure anger and I’m never watching Chris Rock again because he made black women a laughingstock’” Derek J, an Atlanta hairstylist who appears in the film, doesn't feel the same way. ‘They’re saying he’s attacking black women and their hair choices, but he’s not,” he says. “I tell them go see the movie because I’m in it.” AOL Black Voices also got in the heat of attention when discussion chat boards lit up with outrage from black women upset about the movie. Comments even reached the apex with strong expressions for the film to fail. Chris Rock, using his classic sense of humor, responded to the AOL bloggers and comments with Charlamagne Tha God on 100.3 FM. But even the comments caused concern with Rock as he expressed the possibilities of leaving black culture alone. It seriously left him a bit flustered. “I didn’t quite understand the controversy and call for boycotting the film,” said Patrice Grell Yusik, blog journalist with AOL’s Black Voices.”It’s important to remember who’s making the movie. It’s Chris Rock, the man who brought us Pootie Tang! The comedian who continually courts controversy. What did you really expect from Chris Rock besides comedy? Social commentary? Sorry-wrong filmmaker.” On the other hand while Yusik, along with Dr. Boyce Watkins, try their hardest to make AOL Black Voices look as if only the readers were the only ones expressing outrage over the film, a number of AOL Black Voices’ contributors during their 'Good Hair' podcast overwhelmingly derailed the film. While most in the black community, particularly women who pride over their weave fetishes and hair treatment, remain offended by the film and its heavy promotion, rave reviews are still coming in on Rock’s comedic, yet informative adventure. The Philadelphia Inquirer gave it 3 ½ stars. Unfortunately, only black women in the blogosphere and on AOL Black Voices are the only critics upset with the film. One of the big lines from the movie came from Long. She said she hopes the film erases the stigma surrounding black hair: "The truth is, all hair is good hair. That is the most important message of this piece. As long as you feel good about yourself, guess what? You have good hair." Well said Nia. After all the madness cools down some, we hope more black women would get the same revelation.
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