“Good Hair,” Documentary by Comedian Chris Rock, Examines Black Hair Culture

When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the comic says he committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl’s head! The result, the documentary, “Good Hair” opens in theaters on Oct. 9th.

Director Jeff Stilson’s camera followed Rock, and the result is an entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture that received a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Festival this year.

In Good Hair, Rock visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people.

Celebrities including Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter’s question.