In the 1989 surrealist satire Chameleon Street, two Black men engage in a conversation about preferences for women with light skin and “good hair.” The dialogue is later sampled by the rap duo Black Star in their song “Brown Skin Lady,” which challenges these biases and celebrates the beauty of dark skin and kinkier hair. Cocoa butter, a popular ingredient in hair and beauty products for Black women, plays a significant role in the Hulu series The Other Black Girl, based on Zakiya Dalila Harris’s novel. The story follows Nella Rogers, a Black assistant in a predominantly white New York publishing house, who discovers a sinister secret hidden beneath her new Black colleague Hazel’s head wraps. Hazel belongs to a group of professional Black women who use a magical hair grease to cope with corporate racism. Their ultimate goal is to recruit Nella as a book editor.
Artistic works, specifically horror and speculative fiction, have long served as a platform for Black writers and filmmakers to explore the dark chapters of American history. These genres allow creators to reimagine and comment on social issues by using fear as a tool. Black hair, with its complex history in the United States, offers inspiration for these stories. From legal restrictions to painful experiences with chemical relaxers and tight braids, the journey to tame Black hair can be haunting. The Other Black Girl and similar productions use elements of horror and speculative fiction to depict the challenges faced by Black individuals in managing their hair, particularly in the workplace. They Cloned Tyrone, a sci-fi mystery film, reveals a hidden lab where Black people are subjected to behavioral experiments through mind-controlling substances added to relaxers. Bad Hair, a horror satire set in 1989, explores the consequences of conforming to Eurocentric beauty standards by getting a weave. Hair Wolf, a horror-comedy short, tells the story of a white influencer obsessed with Black culture who changes the appearance of salon stylists through her presence.
These works, while diverse in tone and execution, share a common foundation in historical reality. Black hair has been scrutinized, stigmatized, and even banned from public view throughout history. Laws like Louisiana’s tignon law in the 18th century forced Creole women of color to cover their hair, reinforcing the idea of inferiority. The fight for Black individuals to wear their natural hair without discrimination in the workplace has been ongoing, with progress made through the introduction of bills like the CROWN Act.
The Other Black Girl immediately establishes hair as a source of unease for its characters. In the opening scene, a Black woman with mostly straight hair succumbs to panic and begins scratching her scalp, eventually drawing blood. This sets the stage for Nella, a young woman with an Afro and anxiety, as she enters the same work environment 35 years later. Hazel, the new Black colleague with faux dreadlocks, becomes an object of fascination and admiration for the predominantly white higher-ups at the publishing house. The series explores the dynamics between Nella and Hazel with humor, particularly through Nella’s friend Malaika, who questions both the eerie plot at Wagner Books and Nella’s willingness to try Hazel’s hair product without knowing its ingredients.
These humorous moments, reminiscent of the influences of Get Out and Scandal, add depth to the series and trust the viewers to understand the common journey of natural hair care. They provide a refreshing break from the exhausting conversations surrounding “good hair.” The Other Black Girl tackles the painful realities and anxieties associated with Black hair in a unique and captivating manner.
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