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Chris Rock Does Not Respect Black Women
I'll start this from a quote from the man himself:
Barack Obama has a black wife. And I don't think a black woman can be first lady of the United States. Barack has a handicap the other candidates don't have: Barack Obama has a black wife. And I don't think a black woman can be first lady of the United States. Yeah, I said it! A black woman can be president, no problem. First lady? Can't do it. You know why? Because a black woman cannot play the background of a relationship. Just imagine telling your black wife that you'e president? "Honey, I did it! I won! I'm the president." "No, we the president! And I want my girlfriends in the Cabinet! I want Kiki to be secretary of state! She can fight!"The comment pretty much speaks for itself. Here, Rock is making his sister, a woman who has more education than he will ever have, sound ignorant simply because she is a Black woman. Brava, Chris Rock.
Apparently, black women are stupid and self-absorbed, which is funny. So it makes sense to make a movie out of that. So hear we have a movie mocking black women spending so much time, effort, and money making our hair texture look like someone else's. We're even buying someone else's hair and installing it into our own, and it's...hilarious? Really? According to Chris Rock, this is all a joke. He doesn't address that a whole race of women wouldn't do this for so many decades for no reason. He does not discuss the "why." He does not about talk where this mentality comes from. (He avoids this topic completely because he doesn't want to make his white audience upset but rather amuse them.) There is obviously something seriously wrong if a whole race of people are ashamed of their hair texture. The A.V. Club made great points:
The film is filled with sadly telling moments, like a black beauty student telling Rock that she'd have a hard time taking a job applicant seriously if he had an afro, yet its tone is one of amusement rather than indignation. Rock is an entertainer, not a polemicist, and Good Hair will never be mistaken for a college course in African American Hair And Racial Identity, though it does stress the pain women will endure and the exorbitant prices they'll pay to keep up with follicular trends. To the film's subjects, paying thousands for a complicated, high-maintenance weave is less a luxury than a necessity, even for those low on the socio-economic scale.
In order for Chris Rock to make a movie mocking Black women's insecurities this way, he must have little respect for us. In addition, in order for him to think that it's hilarious that Blacks believe that wearing our natural hair is so unacceptable that we must change it, shows me that he has little respect for his own people. I started to realize this even more after he was on the Oprah show. He could not get his fingers out of her hair, and was practically worshiping it on stage. He then said that Stedman was a lucky man. To make matters worse, he calls Oprah's natural hair "slave hair." And he wonders why his daughter was crying? Give me a break! I remember seeing him have a similar reaction when having an interview with a white woman. He didn't touch her hair, but he stated how he would love to run his hands through it and was practically drooling. Chris Rock believes in "Good Hair" as much as any other Black person.
I also hate how he avoids the real issue behind this "good hair" sentiment among Blacks, and maintains this "It doesn't matter what hair style you have, as long as you like it " stance. If that is true, what was the point of laughing at all of these women for perming and weaving in this movie? The only thing that he did was state the obvious. Black people know what we do to our hair. This was only an eye-opener for the whites, and it was for their entertainment. Of course, they thought it was hilarious how all of these Negroes are changing themselves to look like them. That's was the point of this film, to amuse the white man at the black woman's expense.
7 comments:
Very astute analysis. I haven't seen Good Hair yet. I didn't have high hopes for it to be a decolonizing documentary because of the producer Chris Rock.
I recommend the films Daughters of the Dust and soon to be out Nappy Roots instead of Good Hair. Also, the book Hair Story is a decent overview of hair. bell hooks Black Looks & Representation dives deep into the hair issue.
@Aron Ranen,
I remember watching that film years ago. It uncovers how Black women are creating an industry for Korean business men.
@Vizionheiry,
Thanks for the recommendations. I'll be sure to check them out.
I refuse to support this film! And this is a very accurate assesment of it! I am constantly at an awe at Black men who PRETEND not to understand Black women's complaints about colorism and the hair issue! They instantly try to laugh it off (as he does in this film) as us being "bitchy". Look at rappers such as ja rule and snoop doggy dog, who are so colorist they put nothing but Hispanic women in their videos! Yet they have dark skinned ebony daughters who internalize this image of light is right. Silky hair is beautiful. They PRETEND not to see how demaging this is to our community as a whole! These "nappy headed black women" are going to grow up and have children one day too ! So why put these negative images in their head and complain about the failure of the black community?
I am so tired at the shit that black people throw at each other that it just makes no sense. Here it is your talking about what chris rock says about black women and black womens hair and i can say that i think upon him making this movie was just a means for him to make some money and put himself in the light ,not even knowing what he is talking about...But all in all i would like to say that all hair is good hair if and when it is healthy no matter what.I think we as black women have it sooo hard because we not only catch negativity from other races ,but we catch it from our own race as well.We have to be this way or that way to be accepted by society but yet are not accepted by each other.We are too big for the white man or too small for the black man.We are too dark for the black man and not light enough for the white man...We are to proper for the black race and too ghetto for the white race....Our noses are too big for the white man and you must be mixed if it is too small for the black man..Our hair is too nappy to be accepted as being beautiful and if it is too straight then we think that we are better than our black sisters or brothers.....Basically we as a black woman are not accepted by or in society unless we try and fit the beauty of that of a caucasian woman...But yet we now become unproud of our race,uncle toms and wanna be white people...we are just doomed as a people...If we dress a certain way we are considered as sluts,but when we cover up then now we go unnoticed.Well i am tired of this b.s and it all needs to stop.My black people speak about how others disrespect us and mistreat us and yet the same people turn around and abuse us too...So all i can say is until we as a people treat each other better and come together,well than it is whatever..we will be what they say we are.
black women are nasty, and you guys were born inferior in the looks department, including hair. chris rock aint do anyhting bad but show the world how stupid black women are. want to act like ya shit dont stink, but you go to dusgusting and extreme measures to look human. you nappy headed hoes. you are at the bottom of the food chain, when it concerns female beauty..ok
2 inch, your name speaks for itself as well as your negative comments about Black women. Whatever! Who cares about your biased opinions. Black Beauty Rocks! Black Hair Rocks!
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