‘Good Hair’ Bombs At the Box Office

As most of you already know, Chris Rock’s comedy/documentary on all things permed and weaved, “Good Hair” — bombed at the box office.

All the pre-hype and priceless guest appearances on mainstream talk shows didn’t help boost ticket sales as the movie came in at #14 with just under $1 million in receipts.

A-List magazine thinks the blame should fall on Rock himself.

According to A-List magazine, good ol’ word of mouth and lack of “social media” marketing killed Good Hair’s chances at the box office.

A thread on AOL Black Voices forums titled “who wants good hair to fail” summed up the feelings of black women everywhere who were offended by Chris Rock’s documentary and complained that he pandered to white women who, themselves wear weave and clips. The mag also makes the argument that Rock failed to highlight the “healthy hair” movement in black salons that push their clients away from the creamy crack (relaxers) and more toward healthier methods of hair styling.

One BV member hoped the movie would not do well:

I WAS WATCHING OPRAH TODAY AND SHE HAD CHRIS ON THE SHOW. SHE SHOWED A PICTURE OF HERSELF AS A CHILD WITH BRAIDS AND CHRIS ACTUALLY SAID OPRAH LOOKED LIKE A SLAVE.
THIS TELLS ME HE IS SICK. HE DEGRADED OPRAH ON HER SHOW. [link]

pinky2083

That’s what his azz gets.. I didn’t know he clowned Oprah on her show, that’s foul.
Charles

Lets get into rihannas new flop single where she tries to sing like a llama high on meth

=)

Maybe that was a bit too much
Krysi J

Thats good for him…for stealing that woman’s idea, who probably would have directed the film to be less degrading to black women as a woman herself. REAP!
ELove

Actually Oprah degrades herself (QUITE SUCCESSFULLY at that)
going on decades now… OH WELL

And (I’ve said this before) isn’t Chris Rock responsible for
POOTY TANG !!!
http://smokiesays.blogspot.com/ Smokie

Yeah, I usually like Chris Rock, but I didn’t like what he said to Oprah. And he kept on going. I mean dang, the picture of her in the pig tails was cute. But he went on and on about how she looked as a kid. And there he sat, ugly as ever. Boooo Chris Rock.
browni007

this hair thing runs deep, deep – I wore my hair natural for years and recently had a black friend tell me I need a more mature look “perm” – its about self esteem – and what Chris Rock did to Oprah is the reason some of us arent confident enough to wear our natural hair – right now I have
Anna

I don’t know any black ppl who saw the documentary or white. Most women were upset with Chris for giving away a black secret.
Anna

only*
http://twitter.com/LaydeeJustice LadyJustice =)

i wanted to watch this… but not work paying 20.00 to go see, just wait till it comes on dvd
missy

The movie was only in select cities so ………you can’t dub it a flop yet until it hit nation wide
MrsHawthorne77

I happen to like my creamy crack. And I could be wrong but the last time I checked Malaak was rockin the same pack of yakki #4 as Beyonce.
Daisy

That Oprah joke was FUNNY as HAIL I hollered when he said that he is a comedian I didn’t think he was degrading her. I saw him both times he was on the show.

As with most things I see both sides of the coin but that slave joke was funny to me that day
pointhimout

Elove, exactly. Chris Rock stole the other filmmakers idea and this is the end result. Instead of working with her, he took her short film idea and made his own. It sucks for him, considering Nia Long and the others dont work for cheap rates, indie, low budget or whatever.

Maybe he should stick to standup and leave producing movies to those who take that craft seriously.

Pooty Tang
CB4
(that movie with regina king he did)
I think I love my wife (ok movie, but still)

and now this one. I’m not sure who greenlights his projects, but I see a trend here. Chris is better suited in a supporting role. He cant carry or produce a successful movie.
ELove

@point
I ALSO heard you stole that President-idea movie FROM Chris Tucker and put his out first… I think Tucker decided not to go through with his after that
ELove

I meant “He stole” as in Chris Rock
free

i haven’t seen it but was shocked when I went the matinee a few days ago and it was 7.50! I’m not paying 9.50 to see ANYTHING.

tyler perry’s movies are all about black families and nobody’s asking him to put white people issues in it.

and “healthy hair movement”???? hahhahahhahahhaahahahahaa!

i’m with you anna (#7).
Daisy

MrsHaw he said his wife wore weaves it wasn’t about putting blk women down IMO
Timika7

I seen it and let me just say, i was glad i didn’t pay!!!
pointhimout

“head of state” yeah E, he probably stole that one too.
The Divine Ms. K

I don’t want to say it bombed since it wasn’t released nationwide.

I still want to see it so if anyone knows where it’s showing in the Dallas area, let me know.
shannon04

Years ago, my chemistry teacher did comparisons with relaxers and Draino….let’s just say that was it for me having permed hair. Chris Rock is so NOT funny to me….he hasn’t been funny in a long time don’t know what it is but he just isn’t funny. Now I love “everybody hates Chris” but then again CW canceled that too, I watch the reruns on BET.
MrsHawthorne77

@Daisy

I haven’t seen the movie, and I agree that his sole purpose wasn’t to put black women down. From what I got he was trying to shed light on the fact that black women put a lot of money into hair products, yet we hardly own a percentage of that industry and that’s cool – I’m all for promoting black owned business. But his referring to relaxers as “creamy crack” is a bit much I think. What’s the difference between a black woman putting a relaxer in her hair to make it straight, than a white woman putting a “perm” in hers to make it curly?
Daisy

@mrs haw he discussed that on Oprah about white women getting color, perms, weaves etc. I have not seen the movie either my co workers said he addresses it in the movie as well. I dont have a dog in this fight BTW.
MrsHawthorne77

shannon04 Says:

Years ago, my chemistry teacher did comparisons with relaxers and Draino….let’s just say that was it for me having permed hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are right about that. I did a short stint in cosmetology and the amount of acid in the average “regular” relaxer is equal to the acidity of a car battery. That is why the neutralizer must properly saturate the hair shaft to stop the process of the relaxer. When we relax our hair, it actually takes each strand of hair 180 degrees from its normal state. But as with anything else as long as the hair is properly taken care of you can have a head full of beautiful hair.
The Divine Ms. K

As for promoting black businesses – if you are in the Dallas area, please check out 3 Sisters Beauty Supply!

They are black-owned by a really cool married couple and carry “traditional” beauty supply items AND stuff for naturals and those who deal with kinky/curly hair textures – stuff like Carol’s Daughter, Mixed Chicks, Kinky-Curly, etc….

I hope that didn’t violate any SR.com rules! If so, please forgive!
miamore73

I had no intention on spending my $15 to see this movie. I don’t need Chris rock to tell me what goes on with black women and our hair. I don’t need to hear about why we perm or weave. I’m black I know the answers to these questions. I don’t believe that I was the target audience that this movie was being marketed to. I think this movie was geared to other races so they can see what we do. Lord knows they’ve been copying errry damn thing we’ve done for generations now. They even have a perm that straightens their hair.

@MrsHawthorne I actually do believe that relaxers are a “creamy crack”. I’ve actually been calling my perm crack for years. I don’t do weaves my hair is just past my shoulders but thick as all get out. So I perm to bring to bring some of that thickness down just a bit. I’ve been perming since I was 13. I’m 35 now. If I wait to long for a retouch my ish straight starts shedding like it’s mad. Like it’s going through withdrawals. I do think there is something addicting to the hair shaft in the chemicals that are in the relaxers.
flyqtnvaAKAlilmissprissy

MUUUUhahahahaha.. thats what u get chris… maybe you should have putt your money behind my nappy roots
flyqtnvaAKAlilmissprissy

@pointhimout
Yup u said it!
MrsHawthorne77

miamore73 says:
I don’t need to hear about why we perm or weave. I’m black I know the answers to these questions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exactly.

But as far as your hair shedding when you wait too long for a retouch, it’s not the chemicals in the relaxer that do that. Once your hair gets pass a certain length, the follicles on your head automatically start to shed some the hair because the volume of the hair gets to be too much. But what you CAN do is go to your local CVS (some beauty supply stores carry it as well) and pick up a small bottle of glycerin. Massage a little through your scalp and it will soften up your new growth and make it more manageable.
Shauny

How many theaters was the movie released in? If it was in limited release and was only playing on say 500-600 then it isn’t a flop. Now if it was playing on about 2,000 then it was a flop.

I can’t comment on Chris’s Oprah comments, the movie, the stealing of the documentary because I haven’t seen or read up on all of it…well the last idea yeah I did on here BUT Chris Rock is a funny mf to me.
Timika7

I seen the trailer for nappy roots and that seems more like an enlightening film on black hair. Good hair i felt was a little direspectful and degrading to black women.
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

people funny speaking on a movie that never seen cracks me up but if anybody did any research into the matter you would see the movie only opened up in 5 markets the first weekend and less than 200 theaters actually 179 to be exact. the documentry was in good taste it was funny and informative at the same time. like them speaking on black hair and black hair products and how we the only race to have a 5 billion business and less than 15% of blacks have ownership in it
http://smokiesays.blogspot.com/ Smokie

@ Daisy, the slave joke WAS funny, but on national tv? On her show? I think he was out of line for that.
trynabeme

SR, I’m with everyone else who said it was only in limited theaters which does not equal flop…..

I try to support opening numbers when its OUR ppl & I want to see it….I was MAD confused as to what would be considered opening numbers…10/9 or 10/23…so SR since you know all the inner workings of the industry break that down for us. When a movie opens like Good Hair (select initially & everywhere later) how does that affect the outcome?
MrsHawthorne77

I think we place too much negativity on issues that don’t need it, hence, black women relaxing our hair. Blacks have less than 15% ownership in the auto industry, but no one is making a movie about that. Yet Diddy went out and purchased a $200,000 Bentley for Kim Porter. We could go on and on about what black people put our money into and the industries that we own a small percentage of but at the end of the day we still have a lot of serious issues in our community that need to be adddressed…….Like why Flavor Flav won’t take that damn clock off after all these years….and why Kim didn’t want to be the black girl in the alter-ego photo shoot….so many questions…
http://createspace.com/3393054 iscream

Did see the movie but I will continue to get my perms for as long as my pockets & free mind will allow. I don’t need anyone telling me that a perm is toxic. The shyt will turn your nails yellow if you apply it with no gloves… duh! And I still love it.
Daisy

@Smokie I was not offended at all lol I am not ashamed of slavery its part of our history they did nothing wrong I am proud of my hertiage so maybe thats why I thought it was funny. The next pic she put up he said she was FREE I HOLLERD some more lol
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

mrsH
its no movie about blacks in the auto industry because everybody drives cars. the black hair industry is only for blacks so when you not making money off money the one thing that is totally for you then its a problem and its not even close i could even deal with 50% of us not having ownership in the industry but its only 15% thats a problem. there is no other industry that big thats a niche product to speak and the people who its for dont control it
http://thechoklitfactory.wordpress.com/ ChokLitFactory

I agree with EastPointvet^^. I am going to see Good Hair tonight so we will see what I think about it. I recently decided to go natural this year after a horrific experience with a horrible stylist. So far, its been difficult and I have resorted to a lot of weaves thus far (lol), but I guess my hair is healthier…

I never saw Chris call Oprah a slave (gasp!) but I’m sure he was kidding..although I am not sure I would laugh…

A movie degrading Black women? What else is new??
jsquare

The film hasn’t even been released nationwide yet. I think it did pretty good considering it was in less than 200 theaters. Please give the whole story with all the facts.
Krysi J

like them speaking on black hair and black hair products and how we the only race to have a 5 billion business and less than 15% of blacks have ownership in it
—————————————————–

thats funny?
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

i didnt say that was funny i said the movie was funny and informative. do u read post to pick out something u dont like and comment on it lol
free

eastpointvet, no such thing as “black” hair industry!!

blacks are using relaxers. asians and whites are using perms. at least black and white are using weave and wigs for everyday wear. all superstars use them to protect their natural hair and/or add volume and/or create wear styles.

everybody is using shampoo, conditioners, gels, mousse, etc. the only thing we might use that nobody else uses is GREASE (meaning afro sheen and ultra sheen).

i think black people are more SERIOUS about their hair and hair products and we can do more with ours due to the type of hair we have.

signed, “hawaiian silky is my crack” lol!
free

black stylists make money (mega bucks) off of black women’s obsession with weave. white women now use black stylist to put in weave because we’re usually up to date on the latest techniques. black customers pay for the service like anything else.
https://sandrarose.com Sandra Rose

free Says:

…the only thing we might use that nobody else uses is GREASE (meaning afro sheen and ultra sheen).

*********************************************

Hence, the reason why we can’t grow hair. Did you know grease coats the hair shaft locking out moisture from getting inside? Grease is the #1 reason why our hair dries out and breaks so easily. Read the labels on your hair products, ladies! Avoid products that contain petrolatum, mineral oil and alcohol! The manufacturers don’t want you to know that.
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

@free
there is a such thing as a black hair industry thats like saying there is no urban clothing industry. there are products only blacks use or at least dominate to like 90%. sure there are whites that wear weaves but the numbers are nowhere near what blacks do. like in the movie he went to india to wear they get the real hair in the movies they said 94% of that is going to black women. how much of your nappy hair can you turn around and sale? its a black industry if you wanna accept it or not is a different story
MrsHawthorne77

free Says:

eastpointvet, no such thing as “black” hair industry!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you!

White women wore weaves and “extensions” as they like to call them, waaaaay before it hit the black community. Take a look at an old Sonny & Cher episode if you don’t believe me. Cher has been wearing the lace front for years and she was paying in excess of $5,000.00 per wig for hers. Society would love for black girls to believe that “we” invented the weave. SO NOT TRUE. It’s just like everything else that is placed on the market – once retailers realize that African American people were WILLING and ABLE to spend our dollars, they began MARKETING the products to us.

And let’s not forget that the first black woman to be a self made millionaire was Madame C.J. Walker and it was hair care products that she was selling.
MrsHawthorne77

@eastpointVet-

There is no “black” hair shampoo or “black” hair conditioner. All of those products contain the same cleaning agents and work the exact same way. When they talk statistics about how much ownership or involvement black society has in the “black haircare industry”, it pertains to material of the products. General Motors does not own a great percentage of the “material” that it takes to build a car, but they make a killing off of the production and sale of the car. This is the same thing as a black salon owner purchasing hair care products from a distributor and charging the client for the use of that product AND the labor it takes to put in the relaxer, and then style the hair.
https://sandrarose.com Sandra Rose

eastpointvet Says:
@free
there is a such thing as a black hair industry thats like saying there is no urban clothing industry.

**********************************************************

Black people can’t use the same products on our hair as white people because white people have oily hair and we don’t. That’s why they wash their hair daily and we can’t. Hair products that white people use tends to dry our hair out and cause breakage. That’s why we have to read the product labels before putting that stuff in our hair.

Again, avoid using products that contain Petrolatum, mineral oil and alcohol. Those chemicals are used on white hair to lock out moisture because their hair is oily. We NEED the moisture in our hair so we can’t use 98% of the products on the market today!
MrsHawthorne77

sure there are whites that wear weaves but the numbers are nowhere near what blacks do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please just quit while you’re ahead. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful manner so please don’t take it that way, but you have no idea how many white women wear weave. As previously stated, they just don’t call it weave…they call it “extensions”.
MrsHawthorne77

Dont be co-signing him SANDRA!!! LMAO!!!!

yes we DO NEED moisture in our hair, but hair gel is hair gel on a strand of hair whether it’s attached to a black head of hair or a white one. And who can’t wash their hair everyday??? I’m black and if I had the time, I could wash my hair everyday with no problem.

And I’ma need you to list the 98% of products that we can’t use…….(please don’t ban me)
tbrown

The movie didn’t come to my town and I wasn’t trying to drive to Dallas to see it. He missed out on my 8 bucks. But I would’ve gone to see it had it come here.
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

i think dont white women running in droves to get lusters pink oil moisturizer. yes white women get extensions but its still a minority of them that get them because for the most part its not needed by them. the average white person in there lifetime has not had any type of extension can you say that for the average black women? there hair is naturally oily and moisturized which promotes hair growth which unless there is a problem lessens the need for them to have fuller hair. so unless you are blind there is a black hair industry which promotes to only black and blacks generally only use sure there can be an exception to any rule nobody stops a white person from buying a black hair product but dont be mistaken for who the target audience is.
Liberty

Oh wow. Folks trying to debate the fact that there is no black hair industry. If that was the case, then why do companies create products that are specifically designed for African hair? Trying to say there is no black hair industry is like saying there is no hair dye industry or styling tool industry. Yes they are ALL a part of the hair industry, but these are submarkets, and NONE of those markets can compete with the products marketed to African-American homes. Try looking up the consumer index of hair products for whites versus blacks. The numbers are atonishing.
MrsHawthorne77

the average white person in there lifetime has not had any type of extension can you say that for the average black women?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know PLENTY of women who have never had weaves!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! Now I will be the first to say that I have worn my fair share of weave in my teenage years for a combination of fact that: (A) I wasn’t focused on the quality of my hair, I was more focused on the current trendy style and (B) I just wanted a new look every week.

The most important thing you said is “there is a black hair industry which promotes to only black”. The key word is “PROMOTE” – You don’t HAVE to go out and buy Dark & Lovely shampoo to wash your hair…that same bottle of Suave for $1.19 will do the same thing. Marketing is a helluva drug. Just because some company slaps a label on a product and the label reads “for black haircare” people will buy it.
jsquare

@MrsHawthorne77 That was the whole point that eastpointvet was trying to make! The black hair care industry is made up of products that are promoted to black people. Plain and simple. Yes, we can go out and buy suave and be fine. But, you don’t see white people buying Pantene Relaxed and Natural or Dax or Pink Oil Moisturizer! Those are the products that are marketed to black people, thus making up the products that are in the black hair care industry. That’s the whole point everyone was trying to make and you totally missed it.
free

THANK YOU ms. hawthorne!

@eastpoint, white kids wear “urban wear” all day long. the only industry i know that is 90% black is the chitterling industry.
MIZZ.I_REP_ATL

Timika7 Says:”I seen it and let me just say, i was glad i didn’t pay!!!”

Same here, a friend of mine took me to see it and it he was blown away by this documentary. The only thing I dislike was that CR actually thought this movie was going to sell, when it reality it should have been premeried on TV instead. It was pretty interesting, but I guess Chris did it from a males prespective to understand y women endorse so much time into their hair. =)
Afro Goddess

As someone who actually saw GH, I’ll say that I liked it. It was humorous and educational. Only folks who recognize their fear of natural hair will hate this film. All films aren’t for everyone, so if you ain’t into seeing it, who cares? The reality is that perming your hair is unneccesary. And b/c Blk folks have a lot of beauty issue related to slavery, survival, self-hate, and trying to meet european standards of beauty (which is impossible), talking about our hair might seem like a betrayal of the race and like CR is airing dirty laundary. But it is dirty, right? Maybe it needs airing!
As for how it did, this film was only in a few cities. Its very much coming from that small film/documentary type of angle. How many people saw The September Issue? It only took in 1 mill.
I’m just sick of Black folks dogging other Black folks. If you don’t like it, maybe it ain’t for you. Go watch Soul Plane, why don’t you?