Rock’s ‘Good Hair’ Gets To Root Of Blacks’ Self-Esteem Issues

Comedian Chris Rock is at again.

Not one to shy away from pushing racial boundaries, Rock’s highly anticipated film “Good Hair” opened in select movie theaters Oct. 9 and will be released nationwide Oct. 23.

Throughout the film, Rock visits beauty salons, laboratories and Indian temples to uncover how hair impacts the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships and self-esteem of the black community. The film won Sundance Film Festival’s Jury Prize.

Rock goes to Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York and India, talking to everyone from poet Maya Angelou to the Rev. Al Sharpton. Many of the film’s subjects talk about the pressures of style and what it currently means to have good hair, or not to have it.

Women are serious about their hair, said Micheline Barber, owner of MSalon1 near Lowry Park Zoo.

“Hair is the first thing people notice,“ she said.

Barber co-owns the salon with her husband, Anthony, and employs three stylists.

“If it ain’t on the floor, you have good hair.“

The question, “Daddy, why don’t I have good hair?“ from Rock’s daughter kick started the filming and propels Rock to uncover the answer.

Yet, the idea for a documentary about the culture of black hair took root in Rock’s head while doing a stand-up gig in Atlanta.

“I’ve been around hairdressers my whole life,“ he said in a statement, “but I’d never seen anything like this – it was just a whole another vibe. So 15 years ago, I had the idea this would make a great film.“

Tracy Moore, who plans on seeing the film when it comes to Tampa, visits MSalon1 weekly. She spends an average $200 a month on her hair.

The 48-year-old said that when she was growing up the term “good hair” often referred to a person’s social standing, something she continues to hear.

“Good hair meant you were mixed with something other than just black,“ she said, and added that it was easier for her to work in corporate America with relaxed hair versus “natural.“

“If you had good hair, you were better than some others.“

For Angela Bronner Helm, senior editor at BlackVoices.com, “Good Hair” doesn’t tell the whole story — and she’s seen it twice.

The film doesn’t touch well enough on the history of black hair and its social significance, said. She said the nation’s history of racism coupled with unattainable white standards of beauty is a large part of problem.

“I think he [Rock] never got to the why – why is our self-esteem tied to our hair,“ Bronner Helm said. “This [hair] is a huge, very deep and touchy subject. I also felt that men were left off the hook. I do think black men do put a value on good black hair.“

The obsession with hair and beauty products has helped make the black hair business is a $9 billion industry.

Relaxers, the chemical that makes curly hair straight and has been dubbed “creamy crack” because of a client’s dependency on it, cost $67 and more at MSalon1. Certain hair-extension application techniques can start at $350.

“I just have to have it,“ salon regular Kerrie Scott of Tampa said.

Scott visits the salon almost weekly.

“I used to wear my hair natural. And now I have to get my relaxer.“

“Good Hair” (95 minutes) is rated PG-13 for some profanity, sex and drug references, and brief partial nudity.