The creator and director of Dear White People, Justin Simien, brings to our screens Bad Hair, a comedy-horror about evil weaves this Halloween.
Elle Loraine makes her debut in the film set in 1989 as Anna, a TV executive whose new boss (Vanessa Williams) pays no heed to her because of her natural hairstyle and relegates her to work from behind the scenes.
She then goes to the hair salon to get a weave installed in order to be recognized and as a way of conforming to the European standard of beauty to get the job. Many have been made to believe through improper representation that having straight silky hair is what makes you look more corporate than wearing your kinks, little did she know the weave has a mind of its own.
Many Black women have had similar experiences and this film seeks to provoke and start conversations on this topic now more than ever when most Black women have jumped on to the natural hair movement. Ultimately, it took Black women a long time to fully love and accept their natural tresses in all its glory.
Bad Hair premiered at Sundance 2020 and its first trailer portrays the movie as straight horror, but the film has more depth than that. “It’s part camp comedy, part gory body horror, and heavily tinged with cultural commentary.”
The star-studded cast includes Kelly Rowland, Lena Waithe, Laverne Cox, Blair Underwood, Usher Raymond and Jay Pharoah and the film airs on Hulu on October 23.
