First rule, and a dumb one, but there it is.

Second: you'll always be a second to her hair dresser.

Third, don't be looking at that white girl tossing her hair: I sees you!

But, don't let that dissuade you.

You are an asshole. My husband (and all previous lovers) can touch my hair whenever they wish. White boys aren't allowed on any part of my body, at any time.

@salon: You couldn't find ONE Black American to write this review??!

@Chris Rock: I'm sure you're concerned about your daughters' views of themselves...especially since your wife wears yak hair.

Me, I'm happy to be nappy. The whole discussion is screwed/skewed...after all, we're in the good ol' USA.

My hair is baby fine. Stick straight. Thin. Dull ash blonde. I have spent (wasted) countless hours and dollars trying to cut, curl, color, style, starch my hair into an "attractive" 'do. Just wanted to remind you that dissatisfaction if not outright idiocy crosses racial/cultural lines.

Black women perming (straightening) their hair has become so standard that I recall a white boy in high school asking our black teacher why Black woman's hair is straight while men's isn't. She was slightly stunned that he was serious then explained it to him. Whites are often most shocked by the amount of time and money Black Women have to spend to have hair like Michelle O or Condi Rice.

Since last November AA's have been getting use to seemingly every aspect of Black American life being discussed in the public forum like never before. At first it was unsettling but now becoming the norm. This movie brings back to the for front a long...long debate with in the AA community. The leftist Black revolutionary types thought they finally won with "Black is Beautiful" movement in the 60's and 70's when black Women were able to go natural but were beaten back in epic proportion in Reagan's 80's. The movement died due to the need to get a job.. working for a company where the owner/boss may not get it or even fear the non-assimilated black.

One movie may not be enough to fully explore this topic...really..its that contentious and consuming..at least in my house.

FYI:

Chris Rock Facing $5 Million Lawsuit; woman claims idea for "Good Hair" was hers (allegedly originally called "My Nappy Roots") http://bit.ly/uF58S

Here's the My Nappy Roots' injunction request:

http://www.box.net/shared/x0b80y61fa

And we both definitely have one, but,

"White boys aren't allowed on any part of my body, at any time."

I think you just agreed with me.

"there's also the concurrent truth that everyone, regardless of color, likes to feel good about his or her hair. And if you have the time and money to get the hair you want, why not?"

to make the point "why is the hair African Americans want" straight like (most) whites'," right after the statement that whites feel less threatened by straight hair on blacks (itself a remark that shows some kind of unconscious racism: why not just say what you really want to say, they feel less threatened by straight-haired blacks). Maybe the point is too obvious and hinted at elsewhere, but that desire for "whiteness" is at the crux of the whole thing. Missing it is inexcusably poor journalism.

Understandably in a movie review, you probably don't want to get into a controversial subject too deeply, but considering the controversial subject is the subject of the movie, you could have at least covered it honestly.

This part: "Historically in black culture, the idea of black hair being "bad" hair isn't even an unspoken one", would lead an uninformed reader to believe that black culture came up with this idea of hating their own hair all by themselves, rather than the fact that the idea of black hair being bad or undesirable has been pushed by the white mainstream from the time that black people arrived in America. White people (as a group) have advanced the idea for centuries that white features (including straight hair)are beautiful and black features (like curly/kinky hair) are ugly and inferior. *This is where the idea of good and bad hair in the black community comes from.*

Likewise this part: "If it's true, as one interviewee suggests, that white people feel less threatened by relaxed black hair" glosses right past the reason why some white people feel threatened by natural hair and misses a valuable point on the topic. When a black woman wears her hair natural (whether its her intention or not) she is essentially making a self affirming statement that she believes that the way she looks is just fine and that she doesn't buy into the belief that has been foisted on black people by white people for centuries that black hair is ugly/bad.

For white people who have been raised with the idea that their features are the standard of beauty, seeing a black woman who obviously and openly rejects that idea *is* threatening, both in its own right, and also because it signals the possibility that the woman has rejected the other longstanding beliefs that white people have been pushing on black people about the superiority of white people in general.

1. I believe the lawsuit against this movie was dismissed yesterday.

2. Landed in Fiji some 20 years ago and the entire population of native Fijian women had beautiful afro hair. It was like going back in time.

3. I'm glad this film is coming out because amongst other things, it shows how social "norms" apply pressure to transform. How those social expectations came about is an important and entirely different film... or discussion.

I don't know if Chris Rock covers it, but its not that simple to say that all the expenses that black women spend on their hair go into making it look more "white". The fact is, as anyone with eyes knows, plenty of black women have very elaborate hair styles that are very time consuming and expensive that do not in any way approximate white hair. Zacharek hits on it when she points out that Traci Thom's hair, while not straight, probably involves a very careful regimen as well. But think of all the tight braids, multi-tonal dye jobs and even dreadlocks you've seen: they take a lot of time to put together (although maintenance is much less time). So unless all black people decide to keep their hair pretty much short and tight like Chris Rock himself does, expensive time consuming hair care is going to be part of the package even if straight hair is not.