Continued Research

To follow up on my interest in Chris Rock's Good Hair documentary, I decided to look up Tyra Banks' opinion on the matter-- I vaguely remember her having a natural hair day where she and others took off their wigs. Anyway, she had an entire show on the subject, semi-inspired by Chris Rock's documentary and it was SUPER enlightening. I didn't realize how intense hair was for black women. It's SUPER sad because the chemicals burn. And little girls have terrible self-esteem-- other kids made fun of them. One five-year-old was obsessed with a Hannah Montana wig, not because she loved Hannah Montana, but because she thought it made her look pretty. One woman went back to her natural hair and her mom won't introduce her to people as her daughter because she just "doesn't look like my daughter anymore." One lady was relaxing her THREE-year-old daughter's hair-- and that shit is super painful and TERRIBLE for your hair! Plus, they spend like, a JILLION dollars on all of the stuff! And the extensions! And it's so time consuming!

On Tyra, they said that historically, women with looser hair were way more likely to be freed and have better jobs and stuff because it was a sign of being the offspring of the slave owner, and the trend stayed.

I just really didn't realize any of this. I kind of feel like a douche because I always feel so sorry for myself and other women because of how much maintenance is required, even for the most low maintenance girls, just so that we don't look like complete monsters-- whereas, someone is going to be attracted to a guy no matter how little he does to himself. I just didn't know that black women had SO MUCH more pressure than we do. I don't do SHIT to my hair. Plus, I learned in health care sociology that black women are WAY more likely to give birth to a baby with low birth weight and black men AND women have a lower life expectancy, regardless of education or wealth (which is usually the determining factor), just because of the constant pressures of racism-- the stress releases chemicals into your body, and because it doesn't stop, it takes a huge toll on their health.

Anyway, if you want to watch the special, here is the link to the first part.

In other news, I have so much to do this week, and I didn't even realize it. I think it'll be okay, because it's mostly not academic-- it's just about finding time.

I watched Donnie Darko for the second time on Halloween. The first time I watched it was with Pat, and we were painting and chatting at the time (which I hardly ever do during a movie I haven't seen) and so I attributed my lack of understanding to that. Turns out, it's straight up confusing. I guess I'm going to have to watch it again, and I shall as I both own it, and think Jake Gyllenhaal is super attractive.

Also, I am currently rediscovering the miracle of The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys. I always consider it to be my least favorite of a trio of movies, the other two being Imaginary Heroes and Igby Goes Down (which, to be clear, is not widely considered to be a trio). But now I see that I really can't rate them in terms of favorites. The movie really is the shit! They all are! Plus, Jena Malone-- she might not be my FAVORITE actress ever, but there is something to be said for the fact that she's in the BEST MOVIES EVER! Seriously. Into the Wild, Saved!, The United States of Leland, The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys... plus Stepmom, which is pretty good, Life as a House, which isn't GREAT but has HUUUGE merits (of which Jena Malone takes huge part), Donnie Darko, which... is still up in the air for me, and I can't forget Pride and Prejudice, the Knightley version, which... in comparison with the 6-hour BBC version is INCREDIBLY all-encompassing of the story without being too rushed... a miracle that I don't fully understand.

But seriously, The Secret Lives of Alter Boys-- I need to remember to not underestimate this movie again.

That is all.

Update: All of the Malone talk made me need to see an interview (except let's be honest-- this is going to turn into a JILLION interviews) and I would TOTALLY want to be her friend! She seems like the fucking SHIT! Which shouldn't surprise me, given her aforementioned movie choices.