More than scary, ‘Bad Hair’ is a thinker
Many Black women know that processing your hair with a relaxer can be painful.
Leaving the relaxer — a harsh chemical treatment that straightens hair — in your hair long enough to burn the scalp until your hair falls out is the stuff of nightmares.
“Bad Hair” opens with that exact nightmare, a relaxer gone wrong. It sets a tone: This is more than just a scary movie.
Written and directed by “Dear White People” filmmaker Justin Simien, “Bad Hair” is a horror-satire
about a killer weave. The film premiered on Hulu on Oct. 23, with a star-studded cast including Kelly Rowland, Usher Raymond, Jay Pharoah, Vanessa Williams, James Van Der Beek and Blair
‘Bad Hair’ says a lot about real-life horrors
The movie is creepy and realistically good, which says a lot about the real-life horrific things women go through to have “acceptable” hair, so much so that laws have been established to protect hair that’s been historically “unacceptable.” Here, Simien scratches the surface of cultural issues surrounding hair without getting tangled in unnecessary details.
Set in 1989, the thriller stars breakout actress Elle Lorraine as Anna, whose traumatic childhood relaxer experience made her swear the stuff off as an adult. Only now she’s beginning to question her self worth, because her hair is different.
To solve all her problems at work and in response to criticism from her family, Anna decides to get a sew-in, also known as a weave.
The weave costs $450 and it’s installed by stylist Virgie (Laverne Cox).
This is where things get creepy. Virgie is not your ordinary stylist.
In real life, the taut process of getting a weave can be as long and as painful as using a relaxer. With weaves, natural hair is braided down and tracks of hair are sewn onto the braids with a needle. The natural hair is concealed underneath.
In “Bad Hair,” the viewer is in the salon chair with Anna. The needle pierces her scalp causing it to bleed, thread pulls her braids tightly together and she cries out in pain.
Then everything changes.
This movie won’t scare you as much as it will make you think
A once reserved woman who’s worked at the same job for four years unnoticed, Anna is now adored by everyone who sees her because of her long silky new hair.
But the hair ... has a thirst for blood. “Bad Hair” is not going to scare you as much as it will make you think. This film highlights an issue that many Black women across the country are trying to rectify with the CROWN Act, a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination.
In September, the CROWN Act, or Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, and seven states have signed the bill into law.
It’s safe to say, if you were unaware of the issues Black women face regarding their hair, this film will inform you.
It excellently juxtaposes society’s view of Black women’s hair and the impact that has on them. Anna went unnoticed for years with her natural hair, but with the weave, she’s confident and gets what she wants while also losing herself to the monster the hair has made her.
In the end, she’s faced with the question: Is it worth dying for?