Good Hair

Chris Rock's daughter asks him a question one day: why is my hair not good hair. Rock goes looking for the answer. He visits salons, goes into factories, has chemicals tested in laboratories. They pour the substance in hair relaxer onto a drinks can and the can dissolves. Then he looks at the wig business; he investigates where the hair comes from and the trail leads to India. There is also a competition: a large hairdressing show held in Atlanta where four people are chasing first place. Jeff Stilson directs; Chris Rock presents and is among the producers. Maya Angelou, Nia Long, Vanessa Bell Calloway and many people from the industry speak in it. It is an American production. The documentary won a special jury prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The matter it treats is where a standard of beauty comes from; the film ties it to an economy. The documentary works with figures; the size of the hair products market and where that money goes are inside the narrative. The narrative does not drop the humour and opens heavy subjects with a joke. The section in India is its most uncomfortable part; how the hair is collected is shown. The film blames nobody and does not judge anyone's choices. The narrative looks at the part men play in this as well. Its limit is structure; the narrative is scattered, the competition line runs unnecessarily long, and the ending does not gather it. Who it is for: viewers who like social documentary and investigation with humour. Who it is not for: it is scattered, the subject narrow, and the ending open.