Everything gets sorted out quite easily in director Dianne Houston’s Freedom Hair. Not that there isn’t any conflict, but nothing, including the big one during the climax, seems that threatening. That’s a failure on the director’s part, because the subject matter of the film is quite inspiring, and I’m pretty certain that the real-life Melony Armstrong had to go through quite the struggle. The film’s cookie-cutter approach says otherwise, though. I take it the director probably wanted to make a wholesome feminist film but the end result is very underwhelming, to say the least. It’s a feminist story, and there are wholesome moments, but at the end of the day, Freedom Hair suffers from a bland narrative that has zero flair except a cameo by a spirited Sophia Bush during the climax.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Film?
Hair has always been a huge deal for Melony. So much that getting scoffed at by a professor for writing a dissertation about her hair can’t dent her indomitable spirit. Well, the same thing sort of helps her find the greenest flag of a man, Kevin. If there’s one thing the movie has done right, then that would be unintentionally being the 101 of how to be the perfect husband. There’s literally not a single moment when Kevin is not amazing. The cynic in me finds it unreal, to be honest. The world wouldn’t have been this miserable if men like Kevin actually existed.
Anyway, post their marriage, Melony and Kevin move to his hometown in Mississippi. His mother and grandmother (whom we’re going to call G-mom, like how the film did) don’t quite warm up to Melony, but she does find a new BFF in her sister-in-law, Dee. Soon, Melony is shampooing the customers at Dee’s salon, and she couldn’t be happier with the work she’s doing. But the happiness is short-lived as G-mom decides to be salty about it and cuts the salon’s water supply just because it’s on her land. Her only condition for restoring it is Melony getting fired. Upon realizing there’s no other way to save Dee’s Salon, Melony quits and finds another job at a women’s shelter.
How Does Melony Get Into Hair Braiding?
It doesn’t take long for Melony to find friends at the shelter. And when her friends share their sad hair stories, Melony goes out of her way to give them one good hair day at Dee’s salon (of course, without the knowledge of G-mom). Hair has always been an integral part of Melony’s life, but her getting into Afro hair braiding happens very coincidentally when a pregnant Melony gets amazed by her doctor’s hairdo. She soon gets her own hair done and decides to make hair braiding her career choice. Quite naturally, she enrolls herself in a course, but it’s an advanced one where everyone is faster and more well-versed with the technique. But the teacher finds Melony’s enthusiasm fascinating and can’t praise her enough for doing it from the heart. It doesn’t take long for Melony to get better at it. But she faces a major roadblock when she finds out that to pursue hair braiding as a profession; she needs to have a license, and the state of Mississippi requires her to do a dermatology course and spend thirty thousand dollars, even though there’s no mention of braiding in the entire course. That does get solved through a loophole, which allows Melony to get the license by doing a cheaper wigology course, but even that has nothing to do with braiding. Finally, after much struggle, Melony opens “Naturally Speaking” (which will eventually become a world-famous brand). The salon is a gift from her ever-so-dependable husband Kevin, who bought the place after saving up a lot. Kevin also brings back Melony’s friends from the shelter, whom she hires at the salon.
Does Melony Win Her Battle Against the State of Mississippi?
The central theme of Freedom Hair has been very clear from the beginning—it’s this one headstrong woman fighting for what’s right. Of course, it was always supposed to be Melony versus the patriarchy, and we finally get to see that in the third act. Melony’s battle against the state of Mississippi starts when the state asks her to close down the salon, as her employees aren’t licensed to do the work and her own license doesn’t allow her to be a teacher. It’s not hard to understand that this is an age-old state ploy of money-making that has been going on for years. It also violates the constitutional right of a woman trying to make an honest living. The film wouldn’t have happened had Melony not decided to step up and take things to the court, with the help of Dana Berliner from the Institute of Justice (Sophia Bush is in fine form here).
With the narrative getting into courtroom drama, Freedom Hair had an opportunity to do something great here and finish on a high. Instead, the film pretty much squanders that by remaining as stale as ever. There’s not a single moment that makes you feel something. Even the rousing speech by Melony in the courtroom in front of the judges seems over-animated and fails to create much impact. However, it’s enough to win her the case. As the film has relied on convenience from the get-go, there’s a white judge who’s fair and listens to the plea with a lot of attention. Of course, from the side of the state, we do see a token lawyer character who keeps blabbering about how Melony is making a big deal out of nothing until he gets rightfully shut up by the good judge. He still goes on by coming up with irrelevant things like Melony being a college dropout and so on. This time around, the judge has to insult him in order to stop the idiot. Meanwhile, Sophia Bush pretty much does a Brooke Davis here, which doesn’t quite fit this narrative, but the “One Tree Hill” fan in me has no complaints.
Freedom Hair ends on a happy note, as it was supposed to. Everything has worked out well for Melony; even G-mom has come around. Nothing wrong with that, but I wish the writer had put some effort into making Melony’s journey look interesting on the screen. Surely, the real Melony Armstrong deserves better than this.
