Director: Jeff Stilson
Writer: Lance Crouther
Producers: Jenny Hunter, Kevin O’Donnell, Jeff Stilson
Starring: Chris Rock, Ice-T, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, Salt n Pepa, Eve, Reverend Al Sharpton
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 96 min.

(3.5/5)

Here’s something many of us take for granted: hair. I bet most of us don’t give it a second thought. We wake up in the morning, wash it, brush it, put it up. We run our fingers through it, sometimes we get caught in the rain. We swim, we make love and the entire time, the hair is in place; it’s such a natural part of who we are that it seems second nature. Enter Good Hair, a mix of comedy and documentary featuring comedian Chris Rock trying to answer the question: what is good hair? If you think that question has a simple answer, you’re obviously not: 1) a black woman or 2) dated a black woman.

Here’s the deal. The African American hair care business is a $60 billion dollar industry. We’re not talking shampoo, conditioner and hair spray either. We’re talking tons of Relaxer and perhaps an equal amount of hair; real human hair that has been cut from one woman to provide long, straight hair for another. And if you think it’s only the well to do who shell out upwards of $3,000 for hair weaves, you’d better prepare yourself because there are working women all over the US and Canada (as I’m sure there are in other places though the film focuses mainly on the US) walking around with hair that cost more than some cars. No joke.

Jeff Stilson’s directorial debut isn’t exactly Man on Wire but it has the advantage of being a film about a fascinating subject. Writer Lance Crouther with, I assume, the quick wit of Chris Rock, manage to uncover and share some of the mysteries of hair within the African American community and they are in one word, fascinating. Not to mention a little scary. The commonly used (on children as young as four) Relaxer has an active ingredient capable of burning through a pop can and yet people are willingly putting this on their heads; all in an attempt to attain that much coveted straight hair. If I’d known it was such a hot commodity, I’d probably think twice before cutting it (and god forbid anyone see the clumps that clog the drain after a few weeks – I could probably sell that healthy, dye free hair for a small fortune).

One would think that this effort for “good hair” would be enough to pull this documentary along and to an extent it is, but Stilson also develops (though not as extensively as he could have – extras!) the community that has developed around hair and the people that treat it. Hair salons in African American communities are centres of activity, hubs were people come once a week to not only care for their investment but also to talk in the same way everyone did in the 1950s. Now that so many people care for their hair at home and perms have essentially gone out of style, the salon has lost the appeal it once held but in black communities across North America, they are as important today as they were in the past. Then there are the other side effects of these hair treatments: financial constraints, dating and even, gasp!, sex.

Good Hair is an entertaining, though a little shallow, look at the quest for straight hair. Though there are some who go against the grain (there always are), the effort women (and some men) put into their hair on a daily basis is nothing short of staggering. I sometimes complain that women have it hard but black women, they’ve got it even harder. Thank you Chris Rock for being the vessel of good information. Who would have thought.

Good Hair is available on DVD on Tuesday, March 16th.

DVD Extras: None.