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Script My Life: Bad Hair

My relationship with hair extensions will never be the same!



It's spooky season and what a time for all things that make your stomach churn, and eyes pop! For most of this series, I review romantic comedies and dramas. The big screen allows me to live vicariously through stories and characters. I can escape my mundane life and all the imperfections in between. I can be anything that I want, through whichever character that I relate to.

Funny enough I love horror and thrillers! I love the adrenalin rush of frightening encounters with the paranormal, or mentally unhinged. Most horrors or thrillers often follow a generic pattern, however there those that take the cup for scares. I will never watch 'The Exorcist' and 'The Nun' again! Apart from being scary, I am not playing with all that supernatural stuff.

And here we are, watching Hulu's new flick, 'Bad Hair'. Ever since the trailer, I have been religiously following the interviews. In one interview, the film’s director, Justin Simien explained the inspiration behind this film. The director 101, Justin is also the creator of ‘Dear White People’. For ‘Bad Hair‘ he was inspired by the Korean horror movies ‘The Wig’ and ‘Extensions.’ In an interview with Variety magazine, he shared that he wanted to tell the story of the relationships of black women and their hair. More so, the relationship between the mainstream and black women’s hair. He even stated that the female characters were named after his mother and the women who surrounded him. 

The film stars Elle Lorraine, Lena Waithe, Kelly Rowland, Jay Pharaoh, Laverne Cox, Chante Adams, Yaani King, Usher Raymond IV, Vanessa Williams, Blair Underwood, Michelle Hurd, and James Van Der Beek. The story is based in 1989, following the life of Anna Bludso (Elle Lorraine) who is a young executive assistant for the fictional network ‘Culture’. ‘Culture’ is a Bet-esque station focused on ‘urban’ music and culture. Anna aspires to climb the corporate ladder in entertainment. However, her biggest hindrance is her hair! When she’s offered the opportunity to have a makeover that changes her career she takes it at a price. The weave sewn in her hair begins to have a life of its own. It destroys any hindrance to Anna’s success to an extent of almost killing her. She quickly learns that ‘good hair’ can be ‘bad hair.’ 

The movie opens with a young Anna getting a perm. Her older cousin Linda mocks her for having ‘nappy hair’ as Anna practices to be a radio personality. Anna mentions that the perm is burning her scalp, and the two rush to the bathroom to wash it off. As Linda washes her younger cousin’s hair it begins to fall out. Linda cries out that she followed the instructions on the label. Anna screams as her scalp burns leaving a permanent scar. There’s a transition to a farm where hair is being bundled up and packed in a truck written 'Madison & Co.'

We are then taken to 1989 where Anna goes for an interview. The panel consists of two white men who tell Anna that she's not what they are looking for. As she leaves the interview, there's a line of different black women with different hair textures. 

Grant Madison (James Van Der Beek) is the face of white capitalism. The system that governs not only corporate America, but the world at large.

Zora (Vanessa Williams) is the face of the ideal black person. The one who fits the aesthetics of what's comfortable to the corporates. She also knows how to play the game, even though she gets lost herself.

Sandra played by the lovely Kelly Rowland is a Janet Jackson-esque pop star. Anna envies Sandra. She believes that if she could be like Sandra, she would be successful. Brooklyn, Sista Souljah and Julius are the faces of Culture.

I'm not sure what scared me the most about this film. It's either the politics of racism, colourism and texturism that remain the narrative of the black woman's experience. Or the weave coming to life and killing what seems threatening to the one who dons it? 

Watching a satire horror about people of colour remains refreshing to me. It's not cliché. It evokes both emotion and consciousness. Especially to the nightmares of our society. This movie is timely in the continuous conversations about the state of the black nation. 

'Bad Hair' isn't just an African American story; it's the story of every black woman in the world whose struggled with hair acceptance. As I mentioned previously that in 2020, I had to dig deep about my own hair. I haven't had the best of relationships with my mane. My perception of self and my natural hair is in a state of questioning my very own identity. Not my blackness, but who am I in this world. More so the perception of self in becoming. 

Linda's comments at the beginning of the movie about hair texture spoke volumes. A black woman's consciousness of her hair begins in childhood. Whatever the immediate family and society say about her hair will impact her perceptions later in life. While we notice that due to the trauma, Anna wearing her natural hair, she's not the most confident. When she visits her family, Anna's reaction to her aunt's attempt to touch her hair further indicates the insecurity. 

The introduction of the racially ambiguous Zora, shows what is deemed as 'black beauty's. In contrast, Zora replaces Edna, though light skinned, Edna rocks locks and believes in the black owned ideology. Zora sets the standard that you can only be successful when you have the right 'look' - in short, straight, flowy hair. In addition the endorsement by Grant Madison, a white man for Zora to be the head of Culture-cum-Cult, is further evidence of 'acceptable' blackness.

I believe a number of women can relate to Sista Souljah's frustration with the network. Her self awareness is questioned as her content is deemed not palatable. She cries at the realisation that as a black woman she's not enough. Anna is somewhat like the 'assimilation' puppet used to convince Sista Souljah to also get a weave to get ahead.

Looking at Sista Souljah's initial comments about weaves, I remember my own grandmother. She states,"Why anybody would want someone else's dead energy on their head beats me." My maternal grandmother believes that hair is sacred. She's always said to me protect your head. Don't let just anybody touch your hair. When you comb your hair, dispose of it with care. Evil people can use your hair to destroy you. I have had the same guy braiding my hair for the past six years. I'm particular about who touches my mane. And yes, I strongly believe that transference of spirits can happen during a hairdo. In a recent experience, a colleague of mine offered me her wig. Remembering my beliefs based on my grandmother's words, I declined. I could tell that she was offended. But I don't need to always explain myself. 

I also don't believe in the big chop. A woman must grow her hair for as long as it wants to. I'm not sure how I really feel about Indian, Brazilian and Peruvian weaves. They are luscious and feel good, but do I know where the hair is really coming from. As we discover at the end of the movie, network executive Grant Madison owns the farm that produces the killer weaves. All the dead women from the network are transported to the hair farm and placed by the 'Moss' tree. If that doesn't give you the shivers, I don't know what does.

Script my life, I am Anna with a bit of Sista Souljah. Like Anna, I do feel underappreciated and underrated despite the years of work that I have put in. And yes, I do believe that if my image changed I would probably be ahead in my career. Flip the coin, I'm all for black empowerment and changing the narrative. I fo believe that black people have always set the bar for not just mainstream culture but the world as we know it. Infrastructure, economies and strategy. It is our people, our ancestors and our children - who are, who did and who will change the world.

While I plan for my next hairdo, I think that I'm staying clear of weaves....

...for the moment!

Look inside yourself, understand your greatest fears....

...and until the next flick....

P.S.: Always write your own love story!

Ciao!

Lady E


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