Review of Good Hair (2009) by Bill V — 11 Feb 2011

Just so you know where I am coming from on this brief commentary: I don't like Chris Rock. However, I do give him props for trying to take a unique, running start at black culture.

But my appreciation was virtually stopped when he brought in Al Sharpton to explore the role of hair and hair care. Sharpton was successful in politicizing hair care. Did Rock need to involve him? It's boring and it's cliche. We politicize almost everything. Sharpton took almost all the humor out of what humor actually came through in this documentary.

I wish he had involved more children in this instead of showing us Indian girls and women going through the rite of tonsure and trying to make it look like Westerners are being exploitative of getting and using Indian hair for weaves worn by black women. Again, another waste of time. It was his daughter who had the concerns about "good hair". Let's explore this a little more because that statement and self-report captivated me at the beginning.

It didn't work very well for me. The cast of characters is pretty good (Sharpton excepted and maybe Ice-T), big spectrum. Chris Rock has failed to impress me and this didn't help improve my opinion. Rock's daughter was the springboard for this whole story. Rock and director Stilson couldn't handle the concerns of a child.