I implore everyone to watch this documentary. I mentioned it as a 'best of' movie of 2010, but looking further into it, I found out that it will premier on HBO on the 19th, and also that it was made in 2009 (d'oh!).

Anyways, it's a great documentary because it takes a subject that otherwise seems uninteresting (black people's hair and weaves) and makes it very entertaining. It goes through the history, chemistry, ridiculous means of acquiring it (factories in India), hairdresser culture, and it's all centered around this ridiculous competition in Atlanta that seems to combine Cirue du Soleil, variety shows, and haircutting.

Here is the trailer:

[youtube]LINK ]

This post was edited on 12/9/10 at 10:43 am

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Posted by TexasTiger05

Member since Aug 2007

28326 posts

Posted on 12/9/10 at 10:40 am to Leauxgan

it's a great show for sure. I knew about black women getting perms and weaves, but i was completely ignorant about the damage of the chemicals and the time and cost involved.

i'll never complain about my salon costs again

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Posted by iggle

Member since Oct 2007

2649 posts

Posted on 12/9/10 at 12:48 pm to Leauxgan

it does look really good, funny at least. Ebert gave it a positive review, but he pointed out some mistakes and false claims. It was weird that Ebert would be in a position to do this considering he's as white as they come, but he's been married to a black woman for a loooong time so he's had the insider info on what goes on in black salons for a while.

I think one he pointed out was that the chemical that eats through the can in the trailer is not used anymore.

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Posted by PowerTool

The dark side of the road

Member since Dec 2009

22330 posts

Posted on 12/9/10 at 1:33 pm to Leauxgan

I had to read the Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley) in college, and the main thing I remember was the torture they put themselves through to get strait hair. Lye on the scalp! I think they called it "conking."

I remember as a kid seeing old black men with perfectly straight hair slicked over to one side, and just figured some black guys had straight hair and some had curly. They were usually wearing dapper suits and hanging out around the ballpark, fwiw.

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Posted by Michael J Cocks

Right Here

Member since Jun 2007

47155 posts

Posted on 12/9/10 at 1:36 pm to PowerTool

quote:
I had to read the Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley) in college, and the main thing I remember was the torture they put themselves through to get strait hair. Lye on the scalp! I think they called it "conking."

and Denzell played that part well in the movie too. I could feel that shite burning my scalp when he was acting that out.

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Posted by rutiger