Comedians and Documentaries

Comedians seem to be the supermodels of thelook at black women's quest for straight , long hair and
millennium. They are hosting radio shows, presentingthe internationally multi-billion dollar industry that supports
the news and even winning seats in congress.it. The movie will hit theaters in about a week but the
Recently, some comedians have even wandered intotrailer has already created a national discussion about
the realm of documentary production. And I don't meanAfrican-American hair. Perhaps Rock's appearance on
documentaries about themselves working asOprah had something to do with it. At any rate, the
comedians. They are producing documentaries tacklingsubject matter is both touchy and niche specific - two
serious subjects.adjectives that can often keep films from being made.
In 2008, Bill Maher produced Religulous, a documentaryRock's daughter motivated him to make the
starring himself travelling around the world askingdocumentary when she called a friend's hair "good."
people about their religious views in an effort toAs a black American with natural hair, I can only hope
understand why people believe in a higher power. HeRock's documentary is eye-opening and insightful and
clearly had an agenda: prove through comedy thatdoesn't just go for the cheap laugh.
people who believe in God are stupid. While the movieI hope more comedians make documentaries. It could
was funny and thought provoking, his obvious biasbe good for the genre. My thinking is, if the big name
was sometimes distracting. Michael Moore is also nostars bring people out to theaters to see one
fan of objective film-making. And while I enjoy hisdocumentary, perhaps those same people will come
movies as well, I don't always trust so-called factsback to see more. Perhaps they will watch different
presented in such a staunch one-sided view.types of documentaries.
Chris Rock's soon to be released Good Hair, takes a