Diversity Through Animation
A Review of Matthew Cherry’s Film Hair Love
Hair Love, the Oscar-winning short animated film by Matthew A. Cherry, is an endearing story about a young African American girl, Zuri, and her father, Stephen, learning how to style her hair together. Messages of perseverance and familial love are packed into a brief but beautifully animated six minutes, as Zuri’s curly hair is transformed from a dilemma to a sense of pride and accomplishment. But beyond simply being cute, well-executed, and, as one viewer described it, “resplendent,” Hair Love has been praised by many for its positive representations of a Black family, and its attempt to counter problematic Eurocentric beauty standards.
In an interview with NPR, Cherry outlined his vision for the film, emphasizing the importance working towards diversity in the animation industry: “There wasn’t a lot of representation in animated projects. You know, oftentimes they would cast actors of color but […] they’d be playing inanimate objects or animals.” Cherry also explained that he wanted a chance to create a film that presented a positive representation of an African American father, because this archetype is the one which tends to get the most negative representation in the media. The film started with a Kickstarter campaign to fund the film as well as the accompanying picture book. The overwhelming success of the campaign is evidence of people’s support for the project.
One striking aspect of the project is the theme of never giving up, even in the case of something that may seem as mundane as hair styling. Hair Love speaks to how even if patience and perseverance aren’t always easy, they are worth it in the end. As one viewer commentd, “this movie means how life is tough but still you are loving what you are doing now [and] fighting for it.“The final scene in which Zuri and Stephen visit her mother in the hospital is a cumulative, heartwarming way to finish the short. There is a tender moment when Zuri’s mother admires her hair. As she admires her daughtor’s hairstyle, her approval and pride feels like the moment that the film has been building towards. Up until this point it’s unclear what Zuri and Stephen have been getting ready for. Learning that they are going to visit her mother in the hospital because she has cancer is a revelation which is as heartwrenching as it is beautiful. There is a melancholy symmetry to Zuri’s hair styling misadventures when viewers realize the mother has lost all her hair, presumably from chemotherapy. But as some have commented, the fact that her hair starts regrowing in the credits contributes to the film’s overall message of hope.
Hair Love demonstrates how addressing issues of diversity and representation can come in many forms. Tackling issues like institutionalized oppression and racialized violence with direct and honest depictions of these realities is important. But representing the smaller life-style details, important things like love, representation, and something as silly as a bad hair day, can be just as effective and critical aspects of empowerment. As one viewer put it, “I like how this isn’t about oppression. I feel like that’s all Hollywood does for black actors and it’s nice to see normal average stories. I can relate to that.“What’s so powerful about this film is that it is for kids, and is able to convey a very serious message in an unassuming and cheerful way.
Perhaps the hopefulness of the film is to i ndicate on a larger scale, an optimism that these positive representations of an African American family can be continued, as an antidote to the exclusionary and harmful representations that tend to dominate mainstream media. Even when these representations are out there, unfortunately they often miss mainstream attention. People were pleased that this film won best animated short, in light of the movement #oscarssowhite. One viewer expressed “the Academy has made some questionable choices over the years, but this film absolutely deserved an Oscar fair and square.“As Cherry put it in his interview with NPR, “Media is so powerful. And when you grow up and see magazine covers and TV shows and movies and you don’t see yourself represented, but you see every other type of hairstyle represented, you know, that can really affect your self-confidence.” The fact that Cherry ’s short has been recognized is indeed hopeful. As viewers, it’s up to us to dig below perpetuated mainstream ideals and uplift these voices and stories, and most importantly, listen to them.
This film is powerful because it is for kids, and yet still able to convey a very serious message in an unassuming and cheerful way.