Afro Curls in Film and TV

In more and more series and films, a person of color plays the lead and wears their Afro curls naturally. A really beautiful development, we think. The media has a huge influence on what a society sees as beautiful. For way too long, the idea of attractiveness has been one-dimensional and narrow.

Thanks in part to the influence of social media, we're moving further and further away from a classic beauty ideal and common stereotypes.

This thought really hit me while watching the Netflix series "Summertime" (German title: "Drei Meter ueber dem Himmel"). It's set in summer in Italy. The lead actress is a person of color with a beautiful Afro. In a pool scene, I consciously noticed how rarely you see wet Afro hair in films.

Since I have Afro curls myself, seeing them wet is of course nothing "unusual" or new to me. But I really couldn't recall any other film or series where I'd seen wet Afro curls.

At first I was surprised, but the more I thought about it, the less unusual it felt. In film and TV, you rarely see people of color with a natural Afro mane. And that shapes what we expect to see.

Hollywood actress Kat Graham (known for "The Vampire Diaries," among other things) sums it up well in a YouTube video for Vogue ("Kat Graham's Natural Hair Beauty Routine"): for her roles, a certain "look" is required, as she calls it. Partly because of that, she has mostly worn wigs since she was 9 years old. The COVID quarantine pushed her to deal with her natural hair for the first time. Over the course of the video, Kat is moved to tears and you can feel how emotional this topic is for her. She hopes to play a role in the future where she can wear her hair naturally.

We want to see more of this too! From the brave lead walking across the screen with a glowing Afro and fireworks in the background ("Beasts of the Southern Wild") to the confident teen who stylishly pairs her Afro with bold pantsuits ("Little").

The growing presence of Afro curls in the media can help shift the perception of Afro curls away from being something "out there" and "exotic" that you rarely see. And maybe it'll also nudge a few people to embrace their own natural hair texture more and wear it with pride.

Even if there's still a lot more to do (think about colorism: leads with lighter skin and/or looser hair textures are often preferred), it's a good trend. We say yes to a world where beauty is recognized in many colors and forms. And curly heads of every kind - we celebrate them anyway!

Author: Nadine