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Yesterday I saw the movie Good Hair by Chris Rock. I've been dying to see it since I first saw the trailer a few months back. I was even more interested the moment he said " Indian hair is worth more than gold"

Or something like that.

But after seeing the movie, I do have a few bones to pick with Chris Rock.

A Little Introduction

When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people. Celebrities such as Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter’s question. What he discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesn’t always benefit the black community and little Lola’s question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.

Moving On...

So eventually the question comes to weaves. And where all the hair comes from for the 100 % original Human hair weaves. Apparently a huge percentage of it comes from India ! So Chris Rock goes to India ( Chennai).

Recap : It is a funny documentary on hair and we are now on the topic of weaves and the hair for it coming from India.

At this point Chris Rock and his director decide the best way to describe India and the purpose they are there by mentioning the percentage of people below the poverty line in India and showing clips of poor people suffering in India.

Video clips. Not hair clips.

Really ?

This is a story about hair. Why does it matter what percentage of people in India live below the poverty line ? If they do mention it, I'd like to see them tie it back to the hair story. Ideally I would imagine they would show gorgeous or exotic Indian women ( as Padma Lakshmi puts it) and their long shiny black hair. Show women from all walks of life and their hair glistening under the hot Indian sun.

*****

And then it cuts to a shot of him riding on a bullock cart. Remember he is in Chennai - one of the major cities in India. Think Chicago. Think San Francisco. Big. Huge. Well relatively. Home to some of the biggest multinational corporations, five star hotels, best schools in the country and more importantly home for several women with gorgeous hair !

Nobody. Absolutely nobody rides on a bullock cart in the middle of the city. Yes they do in smaller towns and villages. But that's not where he was. He was bang in the middle of Chennai - a big city (Chicago, SanFran, relatively) !!

You know what is popular in India ? Scooters and Motorbikes. Why not show that ! Why not show beautiful Indian women/ girls riding a scooter with their long hair out in the wind ! That would make more sense that a bullock cart.

I would have liked him ride a taxi like the rest of India actually does. I bet he did that too except they chose not to show it.

And stay on point. Don't go all National Geographic on us talking about poverty, poor people and suffering. Yes, the nation might be poor but you are not here to document that !

*****

And then he comes back to Beverly Hills. He is in a store where an Indian guy is selling the real 100 % Indian human hair to a store owner. Chris Rock asks this Indian guy- " Do you ever say this hair is from a Hindu Princess and charge a little extra ??"

Hindu princess ? Hindu is a religion. Not a province or a dynasty or a kingdom. There were several rulers of India who were Hindus. I am just not sure they identified themselves as Hindu Kings and princesses. Second there are no Princesses and Kings in India anymore. Remember Gandhi ?Yeah thanks to several hundred thousands of Gandhis in India we have been an independent nation for over 62 years . It all ended even before Chris Rock was born.

*****

I just wish people wouldn't reinforce stereotypes blindly.

*****

That being said I am glad they showed people speaking English. Because its for real. A good majority of people in Indian cities converse in English.

I am glad no elephants were shown.

A few other thoughts that came to during the movie were...

Hey I'm Indian. My hair looks just like the ones shown on screen. So, how much is mine worth ? Really can I grown it out and sell it ? A thousand dollars ??? I can literally have my own free standing NARS blush counter with that money.

Not that I would ever do it. But, you know. Its good to know.

So Janet Jackson & Raven Symone actually have Indian Hair !!!

100 % Natural Indian Human Hair. LOL ! It does sound funny.

Not a bad business to get into. But I would never get into it. I have a weird phobia of touching anybody else's hair. Let alone hair that is just lying there in huge heaps and being sold in kilos.

In conclusion ...

This is a long conclusion.

Not a one that goes BANG !!!!
And people are standing up, applauding and going all BRAVO BRAVO.
It'll take me a while to get to that. So hang onto your seats.

Rich or poor, in India its a mom - daughter thing. Just like it is in the rest of the world. Moms oil the daughter's hair so its healthy and shiny. They monitor the length . They remind you that they spent a good part of Sunday mornings oiling your hair and taking good care of it. You dare not go and ruin everything by getting a hair cut !

Going for a haircut is an ordeal that starts with asking your mom ( God forbid Dad takes and interest in this too. My Dad does not.) for permission to cut it. I had to ask until I was officially recognized as an adult. I was 23 then.

I'd love to have seen a bit of this mom - daughter - hair drama in the movie.

Other than that, I did learn a lot from this documentary. The movie was funny and very informative at the same time. It is a wonderful insight into the world of women and their hair. You will never guess how big that world is !

Takeaways

"I'm not my hair."

"Do what ever makes you happy."

You can let go of your seats now. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Love,
Indian Girl
PS : You can see a ten minute video of the Indian part of the documentary here. The quality is very very bad. Keep the volume low.

Let me set the stage; The flight was completely full, the door was closed, and they were ready for take off. The plane door reopens (which never happens) and on walks Ashley Olsen, escorted by her personal assistant and a gate agent. They walk her to the only available seat on the plane, and just her luck, it happens to be next to the one and only JRL. She is wearing an “unnecessary” amount of layers for summer in LA, over sized sunglasses, and carried on just one bag… the over sized brown Birkin. Since she is so frail she was unable to put into the Birkin in the overhead and had to be assisted by the agent. Upon sitting down, she introduced herself, and JRL made a decision at that point to pretend as though he had no idea who she was. He spent the entire flight calling her "Amy", which I personally think is incredible. Over two glasses of pre-flight champagne, they toasted to a safe flight while flipping through magazines. (Ashley : InStyle JRL: Robb Report) The entire time both parties kept their sunglasses on. It wasn’t until JRL removed his sunglasses, that Ashley quickly followed suite.