The Story: Terror strikes when a woman’s new hair weave seems to take on a life of its own. (Google)
It’s a concept that most women, majority black, would understood. My mother, a cosmetologist, would always say beauty was pain. I remember the smells of relaxers and chemicals and the sound of blow dryers in our home’s basement while she worked. The sounds were deafening sometimes, and the smells burned. Her clients fidgeted in their seats and fanned their scalp with things got really hot.
Why do this? Because in a world where color of your skin matters very much, it’s sometimes overlooked that having “good hair” (straight and long) gets you attention. What black girl doesn’t know that burn of a perm on that quest to get good hair? Or the itch of a weave so that you could meet some standard of beauty?
What I Like: I appreciate Justin Simien’s attempt at capture this kind of body dysphoria in a form that black people will immediately get. Yet again, our narratives can bring new life and lens to a genre, and elevate a conversation about our experience in America.
Set in the 80s and studded with black actors of various talents, it was a pleasure to feel like I was reliving my youth. The shoulder pads, the braids, and snitched-waists cocktail dresses and kitten-heels, and the gaudy colors and headwraps, I loved it all. Artistically, the costume and design was executed well.
What I Didn’t Like: For this to reach Jordan Peelean standards, it has to capture elements of horror and dig deep into the stories that make it so terrifying.
Bad Hair at best is a B-List Horror movie, and yet it swings to high at times. It could’ve worked within the confines of what it was, but so often it added too many elements that muddled its single story. Was it about female empowerment and witches’ revenge? Was it a slave folktale? Was it a cautionary tale about loving your hair? Yes and still those parts didn’t quite meld together on screen as it would’ve paper.
My Verdict: Watch it and judge of yourself. Bad Hair is available on Hulu with your subscription, but be warned: the conflict of colorism and beauty isn’t explored in a deep kind of way.