The Scope: Bad Hair
Show Discipline Black Films
Happy Spring my Scopians, and welcome back to The Scopes monthly movie review. This month, I am reviewing a Hulu Original: “Bad Hair” written and directed by Justin Simien. Bad hair was also written and starred by a few very known faces such as Kelly Rowland, Vanessa Williams, Blair Underwood, and a few more.
Bad hair is a satirical horror film about a woman named Anna Bludso (Elle Lorraine) whose weave is haunting her. Hilarious right? I know! The movie starts off with young Anna (Played by Zaria Kelley) getting a perm for the 1st time. She complains about how her scalp burns and she’s ready to get it washed out. A feeling I remember all too well and do not miss whatsoever. Upon getting the perm washed out, she receives a huge burn in the back of her head. Thus, never receiving a perm again, and having a permanent scar on the back of her head to remind her of the traumatic experience.
Fast forward to her adult life, it’s the summer of 1989 in Los Angeles, California. Anna is an aspiring video journalist, who is constantly turned away from receiving her dream job due to her natural hair (and lack of confidence if you ask me). I really felt for her at the beginning of the film. She does, however, work for a music TV network called “Culture” as the assistant to the head of the network, Edna (Judith Scott). Anna had been doing her very best to work her way to the top and was so close to having her promotion. That was until Edna stepped down, and they received a new leader, Zora (Vanessa Williams). Zora then sees Anna’s ambition, encourages Anna to get a weave to make “life easier” and refers her to Virgie’s hair salon to get a sew-in from Virgie (Laverne Cox).
The scene where Anna gets her sew-in made me squirm. This was not a regular sew-in. First of all, Elle Loraine is a great actress and did an amazing job during this scene. Because it was implied that her cornrows were being braided too tight and I could feel it in my scalp from her facial expressions to the way she was squirming in that chair. But what almost took me out was when the sew-in started. You’ll have to see it for yourself.
The moment Elle has her new hair you see an amazing transformation in her attitude, her confidence, the way others were treating her, and etc. Things started to seem like they were finally going her way. Until it wasn’t. The movie takes a weird turn when the hair begins taking on a mind of its own. I don’t want to spoil it much- so I won’t.
I was surprised by the amount of well-known actors who starred in this movie because Bad Hair was honestly a ridiculously dumb movie, but it clearly was meant to be. It’s supposed to make you laugh and say “what the fuck” rather than scare you. But as a woman who wears a weave, I was a little creeped out considering I had a brand new wig waiting for me at home (LOL). Had me looking at my new hair sideways! Considering how ridiculous the movie was, but also the fact that it was supposed to be dumb, i’m giving “Bad Hair” a 5/10.
