Written and Directed by Justin Simien
Starring Elle Lorraine, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Kelly Rowland, Laverne Cox, Chante Adams, James Van Der Beek, Usher Raymond IV, Blair Underwood and Vanessa Williams
USA
When there’s a shake up in management at an African American-centered MTV-esque cable channel (think late 80s/early 90s BET), a young assistant has to change her image in order to keep her job. First stop: a high priced salon to get her hair done. After a nasty childhood incident where she tried to straighten her hair, our heroine has opted to let it go natural. Now it’s either get a super pricey weave or her glamorous new boss, an ex top model, might get rid of her.
So, how’s this a horror movie, then? Well, without giving away too much, the narrative includes traditional African American folklore from a book of slave stories, including one about evil blood thirsty hair with a mind of its own. So, there’s a lot going on here – the movie’s funny because the “bad hair” premise is funny, but it has more going on than that. There’s so much about this woman’s self image, her struggle to follow her dreams but also fit in but also please her academic father, and then on top of all that the movie does not at all ignore the implications of racism in everything within this society, right down to how someone wears their hair and what lengths they have to go through in order to torture their hair into the shape others want it to be.
I’m probably not articulating it super well, but I will say writer/director Justin Simien (DEAR WHITE PEOPLE) definitely deals directly with all of the implications this premise brings up, and that makes this much more than what you assume a movie about killer hair might otherwise be. Plus, it’s shot on film, which is rare these days.
No comments:
Post a Comment