I'd Like to use my Hair as Collateral

January 23, 2009 11:33 PM

Comedian Chris Rock has a new documentary at Sundance Film Festival all about Good Hair. Oddly enough, the same subjects of expense, safety, and hair-race relations were discussed on the blue at about the same time he began work on the film.

From the Salon Link

"It kind of blew my mind, the idea that in an African-American household you got this Porsche that nobody can see, these working-class and middle-class black women spending thousands of dollars, or their husbands and boyfriends spending thousands of dollars ... buying a Porche that nobody sees. There is a whole economic realm to this that I didn't know about at all."

posted by Glibpaxman (25 comments total)

Soul Glo commercial from "Coming to America"
posted by Poolio at 11:46 PM on January 23

Oh Metafilter, I have missed you.

*hugs everyone*
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 10:10 PM on January 24

It has certainly been a long Sunday, thanks guys.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 10:13 PM on January 24

What a long day. Hooray for everyone, MeFi's back!

Can't wait for MetaTalk to get back up.
posted by flatluigi at 10:14 PM on January 24

*pours glass of metafilter, knocks it back, pours another*
posted by cortex at 10:24 PM on January 24

Don't you ever leave me again, metafilter.
posted by Justinian at 10:32 PM on January 24

I feel like I'm sifting through the aftermath of an apartment building fire. Poking into neighbor apartments to see the carnage. Stuff is slowly rejuvenating, though. CRACK!
posted by carsonb at 10:32 PM on January 24

We're home! Finally home! and it's not a blasted nuclear waste!


Yet!
posted by The Whelk at 10:38 PM on January 24

If it weren't an obvious infringement of copyright, it woulda been awesome to display failbeans.
posted by signalnine at 10:40 PM on January 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yay! Great to see everybody!

Racialicious recently had a good discussion about Afr-Am women and hair: Nappily Ever After.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 10:42 PM on January 24 [3 favorites has favorites]

Well done!
posted by homunculus at 10:43 PM on January 24

I checked Metafilter twice today and both times it was getting a massage. In this economy, who can afford that? Damned elitist-ass website with its spa days. It probably lives in San Francisco, attends museum openings and the opera, shops at Whole Foods and wears organic cotton underwear.

/ envious

P. S. It's good to have you back, Mefi. Thanks to the admins et. al. for their hard work. You guys rock. :)
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 10:44 PM on January 24 [2 favorites has favorites]

Hmmm, I can't seem to post a new FPP. I get this when I hit preview:

Error Executing Database Query. [Macromedia][SQLServer JDBC Driver][SQLServer]Incorrect syntax near '+'.
The error occurred on line 289.

posted by homunculus at 10:46 PM on January 24

I'M ALIVE!!!!
posted by localhuman at 10:49 PM on January 24

God, I must have jacked off thirty times today without metafilter to keep me occupied. Welcome back?
posted by christhelongtimelurker at 10:52 PM on January 24

Wash your hands, son.
posted by cortex at 10:56 PM on January 24

Ah, there we go.
posted by homunculus at 11:13 PM on January 24

boyzone!
posted by telstar at 11:28 PM on January 24

ATTENTION INTERNET ARCHAEOLOGISTS: The comments above were among the first made after the Great Metafilter Collapse of 2009, in which vicious hack attacks brought down the entire site for a period of several hours. Upon its return the community was so overjoyed that they proceeded to celebrate in a giddy and off-topic fashion, and not one of them was reprimanded for it.

May this comment serve as a humble Rosetta Stone for future generations.
posted by Rhaomi at 2:30 AM on January 25 [5 favorites has favorites]

boyzone!

What, women don't masturbate now?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:35 AM on January 25

being able to be an american chick and have a hair cut that is completely devoid of political overtones is one of those "invisible knapsack" things.

i look at high profile non-entertainment african-american women (congresswomen, condi rice, michelle obama, etc) and there's a big potential minefield relating to hair. relaxers? natural? twa (teeny weeny afro)? something else? all of them have cultural significance and because of racial tensions and different viewpoints within the black community about natural vs more european looking hair... well... yeah, there's a lot there. and while this is the case for many african american women, the extra bonus drama of high profile national exposure, just ... wow.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:23 AM on January 25 [1 favorite has favorites]

I had no idea this was such an issue for African-American women.

The Nappily Ever After article was an interesting read, thanks.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:49 AM on January 25

Ta peau de bronze bleu de nuit bleue sous la lune,
ta peau couleur odeur d'huile de palme

Tu es mon bois sacré, mon temple tabernacle,
tu es mon pont de lianes mon palmier

Et à l'orient se lève l'aube de diamant
d'une ère nouvelle
Car tu es noire, et tu es belle.

From 'Élégie pour la reine de Saba'
by L.S. Senghor (éditions du Seuil)
posted by supermedusa at 1:21 PM on January 25

There was a really good comment on here that we lost. I can't remember her username, but it was a good comment.
posted by cashman at 3:09 PM on January 25

Thanks for the FPP and the Nappily Ever After article. Good stuff!
posted by anotherpanacea at 5:12 AM on January 26