I recently sat down for a round table interview with Chris Rock and Nia Long to discuss their upcoming documentary, "Good Hair." Here is part 2 of our exclusive interview.
In case you missed it, check out part 1 below.
My perceptions around good hair have changed since watching your documentary. After working on the film and seeing it, did anything change about your perspectives?
NIA: I kinda have this love hate thing with my weave. I love it because its so convenient, and I love it because I can go to the gym, go to the PTA meeting, go to a meeting and look fine by the end of the day. So, watching this actually made me go, "I really am going to give this up, I'm done." I really got to a point...I was already there with my weave, I wanted to take it out and do something different. Watching the film probably confirmed that for me. Just time for a change. I'm not saying that I'm not going to pull her back out of the drawer; but right now, I'm going to take a break.
CHRIS: The whole movie is just a celebration of the different types of black people there are in America. Forget the world, just in America there are so many. You've got your east coast, you've got your west coast, you've got your southern, you've got just, you know, you've got an interesting array. You've got your gays and straights. Just an interesting array of black people in this. In most projects, or in most movies anyway, just like, this is the east coast black people, this is the southern black people, like just one type of black people. Its nice to see all of us just mixed up.
Discussing weaves is often considered the black woman's "coming out of the closet" moment. So how much coaxing did you have to do to the actresses and the talking heads in the documentary? Was it easy getting the juice out of them?
CHRIS: We had wine.
NIA: I didn't have any wine. I did have wine before I got there. I had champagne actually.
CHRIS: Its like a date, you know?
NIA: People love talking about themselves too.
CHRIS: People love talking about themselves, yea. Its like a date, you have to assess your date. OK what does she do? what does she look like? What are the questions that are always asked of her? I have to avoid those questions or else she will go into autopilot. That is the key to any date. To get her off of autopilot and keep her in an interesting place. A place where she's open. Every interview was like a mini date and I got the information out.
NIA: So you basically seduced us all.
CHRIS: It wasn't seduction. And it helps that I'm kind of a celebrity too so I know what turns me off and makes me go into autopilot. So I really know how to avoid these things.
Read more below the video!!
Check out Chris on The Mo'Nique show:
During the Oprah interview, she seemed very aggressive in getting you to check her scalp. We want to know, if she really did have tracks, would you have told us? I mean, she is Oprah.
CHRIS: Yes!!! I'm a comedian I couldn't let that go by! So you think its a conspiracy?
We just didn't know if anyone would be brave enough to double cross Oprah!
Are you an advocate for women spending a thousand dollars on an Indian hair weave?
CHRIS: Not at all! I wouldn't advocate spending thirty dollars on a weave.
Chris whats the most money you ever spent on your hair?
CHRIS: The most money I ever spent? Um, its not even the money I spent on the hair its probably money I spent flying a barber in and putting them in a hotel. Its like I'm playing London or I'm playing Australia. Are you really going to try to find a black hairdresser, to cut your black hair in Australia? No.
Were you shocked to find out that most black products were not made by black people?
CHRIS: Oh not at all. Whats made by black people? Where? What business do we run? Where should I go and get a job besides the NBA and Tyler Perry? What business do we run?
It struck a cord with me as you were interviewing the parents of 2 and 3 year old girls who were getting their hair permed. How hard was it for you to be objective about asking them when and why they started relaxing their children's hair?
CHRIS: I mean, I'm not a cop. Yea, I thought it was wrong that these people were relaxing these kids' hair. But, you know I'm not Bill O'Reilly, like "You're Wrong!" Do they know they're wrong? I don't know that they know they're wrong. Who knows when they had relaxers. You know what I mean? Who knows? So I didn't know enough about these people to judge them. You can judge them in the body of the film, but at that moment I was just like, OK. This is what you believe your kid needs. But I didn't think it was my place to reprimand them.
GALLERY: How Not To Wear Your Weave
Did this film bring you closer to the women in your family?
CHRIS: I tell my daughters I love them all the time. All day all night. So I'm sure one day they're going to be into it. But its a competition. Its a competition with girlfriends. Its a competition with even their mother. Its just a competition. It has nothing to do with the love or the attention they're getting from a boy or the man in their life, which is me right now.
NIA: Its also like weaves are kind of trendy right now. Everyone's getting a weave. Its kind of the thing that everyone's doing. Not just black women, you know, so if you look back in the 80s, white women were getting curly perms because Madonna was wearing a curly perm. And in the 70s black women were wearing cornrows and then so was Bo Derek. Even though she did that in the 80s, it came from our look in the 70s. You can look at it on a deep level or you can look at it from vanity. Some of these issues are self esteem issues that have nothing to do with competition with girlfriends or looking good for a man.
CHRIS: Even competition can be a self esteem issue
Is there was on thing that you could give to your children that didn't cost anything what would it be?
NIA: Oh, Love.
CHRIS: I just want my kids to be good with dough. Not that they have to make it, even. Just like, self reliant. I don't care of they're a**holes to tell you the truth. If they're nice people and can't take care of themselves, whats the point?
NIA: You know, that's a good point for women. We do need to understand money and how it works, and how to prepare for the future whether your married or single. But especially if you're married you need to know where your husband put that cash under that rock. That's important. That's a great lesson for little girls because men are going to learn that, they have to.
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