Talkin 'Bout Good & Bad Hair
If you don’t get the School Daze reference in the title you might be too young.
When I first saw the trailer for Bad Hair I did not realize that it was a horror/spoof/satire movie. My assumption was that it was truly a horror film. Once it was released I discovered it was a satire so I tried to keep that in mind while I watched. When I watched the movie on Saturday, I already had a friend tell me she hated it. I was so nervous to watch because I had such high hopes for this movie. While there aren’t too many moments when I really laughed outside of the end, I was intrigued by the story the entire time. The internet has been so divided over this movie for the past few days. Let’s dig in.
Bad Hair is set in 1989 and revolves around Anna, a young woman working as an assistant at a pop culture music video network. Anna’s boss is let go and her new boss (played by Vanessa Williams - who is so good at being bad) lets it be known if Anna had a more appealing look then she could make it much further at the network than her current position an assistant. Anna decides to get her first weave and she is loving all the good stares and compliments she is getting for her new look. But she quickly realizes that hair isn’t just some regular 1B Brazilian bundles. The hair needs blood to survive and in turn, the movie has a high body count. What we then learn by the end of the film, is that the hair from Virgie’s salon comes from witches. Anna’s uncle gives her a book of folklore at the beginning of the movie and the story of a moss haired girl is mentioned repeatedly throughout the movie as foreshadowing. The hair will eventually take over the mind and body of the Black woman wearing it. I will admit, this could have been written better for a clearer understanding but the story still related to what Anna and the women she worked with were going through – being controlled by society’s expectations of what they should be. By the end of the movie, pretty much everyone Anna works with has made a trip to Virgie’s to get a weave so they can “look the part.”
People either loved this movie or absolutely hated it. I haven’t talked to anyone who was in the middle. I absolutely loved it. I thought it was something new and original and sent an important message. My favorite part of the movie was Anna trying to escape her possessed boss Zora and running around the building with Brooke-Lynn (played by Lena Waithe). It was really the funniest part of the movie and added much needed comic relief. I also loved how the whole cast was full of people we know and love. When Usher entered the movie for the first time I swooned. Kelly Rowland also did so good in her role as a possessed pop star.
While Bad Hair is set in the late ‘80s, everything about it still resonates true today. How many times have you or someone you know been judged in the work place for natural or eccentric hair while white counterparts can come in with blue hair? How many times did someone tell you if your hair was straighter or edges more laid you would look more presentable? If you are less “ethnic” then you will get further in your career. Black women are not afforded the opportunity to be ourselves in the workplace. We have to code switch and look and act a certain way. We have to sometimes water down the best parts of ourselves to get half as far as our counterparts of paler complexions. The message of this movie is deeper than horror. That’s why this film is considered a satirical horror film- you have to commit to it for the message. For most Black women, this message has been loud and clear for years. California became the first state to pass the CROWN Act which is a means to end discrimination in the work place over natural hair styles. This just happened in 2019.
Bad Hair is currently streaming on Hulu. Give it a chance and tell me your thoughts!
