Good Hair (2009)

Chris Rock explores the wonders of African-American hairstyles.

Director:

Jeff Stilson

Writers:

Lance Crouther, Paul Marchand (ghostwriter)

Stars:

Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, Al Sharpton

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tanya Crumel	...	Herself - Hair Battle Contestant
Kevin Kirk	...	Himself - Hair Battle Contestant
Jason Griggers	...	Himself - Hair Battle Contestant
Maya Angelou	...	Herself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marvet Britto	...	Herself
A'Lelia Bundles	...	Herself
Vanessa Bell Calloway	...	Herself
Sandra 'Pepa' Denton	...	Herself (as Salt-N-Pepa)
Eve	...	Herself
Farrah Fawcett	...	Herself (archive footage)
Melyssa Ford	...	Herself
Meagan Good	...	Herself
Andre Harrell	...	Himself
Ice-T	...	Himself
Cheryl 'Salt' James	...	Herself (as Salt-N-Pepa)

Storyline

Chris Rock, a man with two daughters, asks about good hair, as defined by Black Americans, mostly Black women. He visits Bronner Brothers' annual hair convention in Atlanta. He tells us about sodium hydroxide, a toxin used to relax hair. He looks at weaves, and he travels to India where tonsure ceremonies produce much of the hair sold in America. A weave is expensive: he asks who makes the money. We visit salons and barbershops, central to the Black community. Rock asks men if they can touch their mates' hair - no, it's decoration. Various talking heads (many of them women with good hair) comment. It's about self image. Maya Angelou and Tracie Thoms provide perspective.

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Plot Keywords:

hair | self image | sodium hydroxide | convention | chemical | 

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Taglines:

Sit back and relax.

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Genres:

Documentary | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language including sex and drug references, and brief partial nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hårfint

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,043,732 (USA) (9 October 2009)

Gross:

$4,157,104 (USA) (26 February 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chris Rock Entertainment, HBO Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Singer Jamelia covered similar territory in her 2008 documentary Jamelia: Whose Hair Is It Anyway? (2008).

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Quotes

Maya Angelou: I would say that hair is a woman's glory and that you share that glory with your family. And they get to see you braiding it and they get to see you washing it.
[... ]
Maya Angelou: But it is not a bad thing or a good thing, it's hair.

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Connections

Referenced in The Oprah Winfrey Show: Episode dated 9 October 2009 (2009)

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Soundtracks

Cigar Edie
Written by Hadley Caliman
Performed by Hadley Caliman
Courtesy of Pure/Mainstream
By arrangement with Hunnypot Unlimited

User Reviews

Good Movie

While this is not the greatest movie ever or even the last word about (mainly) black women's hair, it's well worth seeing, and strikes a nice balance between being entertaining and informative. Chris Rock is basically learning as he goes, and he sort of functions as a surrogate for us viewers. It's definitely an Obama-era movie: whenever it starts to get critical, it backs off a little and is careful not to offend any group. His style of questioning can be a bit cheeky but he's always engaging. The film keeps focus on the creative/fashion side, rightly so, I think. If you're up for something different, interesting but certainly not heavy, I recommend it.