Chris Rock Talks About "Good Hair"

One day, one of Chris Rock's daughters came to him crying and saying, "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" And that formed the basis of Rock's documentary "Good Hair" about African-Americans' obsession with straight hair.

"I instantly thought, 'Oh my God, there's a movie in this,' " Rock explained in a recent interview.

The idea had first struck Rock about 15 years ago when he attended a convention in Atlanta revolving around black hair fashions and the extreme lengths African-American women go to in order to obtain "good" or straight hair similar to that of white women.

In his quest for knowledge, Rock visited everyone from employees in beauty salons and barber shops to hair manufacturers and wig merchants. His aim was to explore how the preoccupation with so-called good hair has affected the image, self-esteem, and sexual relations of black people, particularly women.

The movie will not only explore this almost taboo subject, but will also provide Rock with an effective medium to showcase his comic prowess, which heretofore he has not really managed to do. "I hope people see that I can be funny in a movie," he jokes. He is encouraged by the response of preview audiences, which he has gauged through post-screening visits to the bathroom. "I've hid in stalls so I can hear what people say after the movie," he said, talking at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "I've been to men's and women's bathrooms. People seem to really like it."

Although the movie focuses solely on black people, Rock believes it can appeal to everyone. "This movie is like James Brown," he says, smiling. "You can't get much blacker than James Brown. There's not a crossover bone in his body, but he's for everybody. What's blacker than Snoop Dogg? But he's the biggest rapper in the world. This movie is really, really black, but it's for everyone."