In the Netflix original film “Nappily Ever After”, main character Violet begins concluding the film by giving a sales pitch for a natural hair care line with the follow excerpt, “In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a huge cultural shift towards what’s natural and real. We’ve seen it in the growth of natural foods, the demand of eco friendly cars, to just about any product you can imagine.” This film not only address the obvious prejudice that women (often men as well) of black and brown hues face in various spaces regarding their kinky-curly texture. It delves into the emasculating of men due to their career paths, gender bias in the work place, and so may other relevant taboo topics, it was necessary that I selected it for this assignment.
This film was centered around main character Violet, played by world renowned actress Sanaa Lathan. Very early on in the film we are introduced to Violet’s mother who instilled ideals that if she didn’t complain, kept her hair straight, and was perfect she would find a man that would give her the world. An incident at the pool where Violet’s hair reverted to its natural kinky state, coupled by the taunting of her peers and ridicule of her mother established a breeding ground for insecurity and disoriented her perception of self. Expecting her boyfriend of two years to propose at her “surprise” birthday party but receiving a chihuahua as a gift versus a ring caused the couple to break up. Following the breakup Violet makes some drastic changes to her hair in attempts of finding a new identity, which ends with her inebriated, emotional, and with a pair of clippers. She’s now bald. Without any hair, she’s lost her self confidence and now feels practically invisible. All in all she’s found a true friend in a salon owner, who happens to be a single father and creator of a natural haircare line. The father-daughter duo love Violet back to life forcing her to be present in every moment and live a life less perfect.
The film is set in a metropolitan city, filled with the hustle and bustle of corporate America. I appreciate the visibility of a sustainable developments, such as the office building in which Violet worked in. Most of the light used for day to day operation is solar powered and enters the building through its windows cascading over the entire space. This gifts employees and consumers the opportunity to enjoy all the nature has to offer and not being secluded from the “outside” world. Although the film didn’t’ blatantly address many ecological issues, nature was very relevant. The writers included details about acid rain( it rained very often and the foliage was extremely green), humidity, Violet’s favorite flower (which of course were violets), and showed some ethics regarding the environment with yard men diligently raking leaves.
The cultural geography was beautifully executed, as it was ultimately the angle of the film. The film begins by showing a “rite of passage” that 98% of all African American women have endured no later than age ten, a press and curl. The press and curl use the infamous hot comb created by the late great Madame C.J. Walker. White supremacy and sexism are highlighted in the film in the work place when Violet is pitching a market strategy to her white male superior. Violet’s pitch was one that dismantled sexism and gender bias while her competitor’s pitch was the complete opposite. Her competition being a pair of white males and her superior a white male, it’s more than obvious that there was much bias and prejudice when her pitch was not selected despite its creative ingenuity. We saw early on materialism played a large role in the life of Violet’s mother and subsequently hers as well, creating the appetite for a ring a marriage and unappreciative of the dog. The writers and film makers did an outstanding job in vividly showing the intersectionality. Being a black woman with natural hair, people often assume that she’s unruly; any woman over 30 unmarried with no kids is assumed to be a closet lesbian or wrote off as unfit. Any male in the beauty industry outside of the barbershop is assumed to be homosexual, now let’s add him being a single father and now everyone’s confused.
Something that was addressed in the film, that I’ve failed to mention is the side eye that is given to a woman whom dates a man that is in a “less successful” industry or career as them. Although he was owner of the salon and creator of his natural hair care line, he wasn’t the man Violet needed (so says her mother.) Living in a society that shuns anything contrary to the norm, I appreciate the role that this naturalist and his beautiful daughter shared in this film. They walked with Violet every step of the way on her new bald journey to self-love; they forced her to find and embrace her true authentic self . Eloquent, yet humorous this film was necessary. It not only displays the evolution of African American hair care, from the hot comb-to the relaxer-to twenty-six inch extensions- to being bald and beautiful but it addresses injustices, socioeconomic and gender bias not only in the work place but in every space we enter in our day to day lives.
