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Welcome to the Blade blog Culture Shock, a three-times-a-week riff by Pop Culture Editor Kirk Baird on pop culture news, events, and trends. The blog will appear Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings here, with the odd night or off-day posting if something is merited.

Let's get this out of the way: I'm a white male. The mug shot above should've been the big clue. What does my ethnicity and gender have to do with anything, other than census questions and government forms? Not much.

But it is important to note both in my review of Chris Rock's new documentary, Good Hair, which opens today in Toledo. The film is a funny and eye-opening examination of the importance of straight hair to black women and what lengths they'll go to to get it. I note the fact that I'm a white male only because I'm not exactly the film's target audience. But I should be.

If I made a documentary about the solar system, why would I only invite astronomers? They probably know the subject matter better than me anyway, so what would they get out of the movie? The mission of a good documentary should be to educate and entertain people about a subject they know little about. Case and point: me at a documentary about African-American hair.

I knew almost nothing about hair weaves, and chemical straightening processes —much less the importance many black women and even men place on those products — before I saw Good Hair at a screening last night in Birmingham. But now I do. And wow ... what I learned.

For instance, I had no idea that blacks, who make up 12 percent or so of the U.S. population, account for 80 percent of total sales of the hair care products purchased in this country.

I also had no idea that, of the companies that manufacture these hair care products, only four of them are black-owned.

These are just a few of the interesting tidbits thrown out by Rock, who executive produced, co-wrote, and narrates Good Hair. Rock, for the most part, keeps things moving along with a joke here and there. But it's the confessional tone of the female celebrities he interviews — Raven-Symoné, Eve, Sarah Jones, and Kerry Washington, among many others — that provides the most fascinating and revelatory moments of the film, as they dish on the importance of their hair, and what they're willing to sacrifice to get it: A good weave can cost a grand or more. While the chemical hair straightening process can blister the skin and cause serious damage to the hair and scalp.

Why black women subject themselves to these things, Rock never fully explores. Good Hair suggests that it's a white thing: a more Anglo hairstyle for blacks makes them more appealing to white culture. But there's never any proof of that —perhaps a noted psychologist or sociologist would've been a good source — other than conjecture on the part of interviewees. (Though comedian Paul Mooney, proudly sporting a 'fro that would've made '70s-era Dr. J jealous, does get in a good joke about it.)

Rock, however, takes the time to travel to India, the source of a majority of the human hair used in weaves. Turns out many of the Indian women who are willingly shorn of their locks in a religious ceremony have no idea that their hair is being put into weaves and sold for a $1,000 or more in upscale salons and beauty parlors across the United States.

It's a nice piece of investigative work you wouldn't expect to find in a documentary hosted by a comedian. Good Hair is full of such surprises.

Agree or disagree with a posting? Lemme know. Have a topic or suggestion? Lemme know that, too. Send an e-mail to kbaird@theblade.com or call 419-724-6734.

LINK: For all of Kirk Baird's Culture Shock riffs

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