Since it's not my week to post, I'll focus on a smaller, albeit important, aspect of Ovalle's reading: hair color and style. I was fascinated to read that as Lopez assimilated into "white" culture, her hair went from dark and curly to light and straight. It was a transition I never even noticed. What this argument brought to head (ha ha, pun intended!) for me was the importance and significance of hair. We actually talked about this with Marilyn Monroe in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes." Monroe's blondeness highlights her energy and ditziness and is in contrast to Jane Russell's dark hair, marking her as more intelligent and seductive. It's interesting that this stereotype still exists - brunettes are often taken more seriously than blondes. But blondes definitely fit more into the all-American, play-girl stereotype. While blonde hair might epitomize sexiness, it is almost always dark hair on a woman (regardless of race) that is typically described as exotic. It's interesting that while this is a compliment, Latina actresses like Lopez have to disregard their exotic allure in order to better fit the mold.
On a side note, I've been fascinated with the straight-curly hair dichotomy since "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days." I'm usually somewhat aloof to cinematic symbolism, but in that movie it was crystal clear to me that Kate Hudson's hair was perfectly straight throughout the movie - until she finally let go and fell in love with Matthew McConaughey, and then it becomes effortlessly wavy and wild. This change always cracked me up as it just seemed so obvious that they were using her hair style to depict an internal shift. Seems that that wasn't so ridiculous after all! Thanks, Ovalle!
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This is kind of a random, though in a way related comment, but reading your entry reminded me of a part in the movie White Oleander where Alison Lohman is watching a horror movie that her potential adoptive mother, Renee Zelwegger's, starred in. Renee's character is an unsuccessful actress whose describing the auditioning process and there's a line of dialogue where she explains the different codes that casting directors use for categorizing actors. So, she explains, if they say a woman is "too exotic," it really means that she's brunette and not favorable. What I got from that scene upon first seeing it was how ridiculous the industry must be to differentiate so superficially upon an actor's audition by noting the color of their hair. Of course I do realize that film is a visual medium and that appearances are just as telling as performances, but to see the bluntness of the industry play out on screen with how hair color alone makes or breaks an actors' audition seems to confirm the statement that not only do blondes have more fun, but have more opportunities for gigs.
I always pay attention to curly/straight hair, and SO often the shift in films is from curly hair to straight for the sake of beauty (I don't know why but for some reason the only example I can think of is The Princess Diaries), which I find disheartening, having extremely curly hair myself.
I think it's definitely true that people judge character traits by hair style and color, and in the US straight blonde hair is the desired style that people with different looks feel that they need to imitate to fit in.
Although I have been noticing a lot more curly hair recently in magazines and fashion shows, which I find exciting. But I do wonder what's causing the shift. I feel like it might have something to do with "going green," and being "all natural?"
For me, the most telling example of the potential "power" seen in blonde hair is Lindsay Lohan. When Parent Trap and then later Freaky Friday and Mean Girls came out, she always stood out because of her naturally red hair, which would seem to be an asset by marking her uniqueness. Yet over the past few years, she's been blonde way more often than red or even brunette, even though it obviously looks terrible and makes no sense, and has repeatedly attributed the change as necessary for "roles." What roles these are, I don't know, but I guess it's hard to stand your ground and be different when you're surrounded by a sea of blondes in LA and when the industry you're working in demands you to conform in some way or another to its standards of beauty.
Wow, academic readings that focus on asses. Specifically, JLo’s. I should have read the Carman Miranda article before these two. I know we’re supposed to respond to “core” postings but I find Julie’s discussion about hair (style and color) way more interesting than JLo’s butt.
I don’t think I’ve noticed the details of hair in a movie—especially in what you pointed out in “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days.” I actually want to run out and not only watch this movie, but also watch the stack of netflix I have sitting next me just to check out hair.
The tension and assumptions that surround the characteristics prescribed to blondes vs. brunettes is frustrating. I’m so over it. We all probably know the common stereotypes so, I will leave it out.
I don’t know what else to say, other than I don’t think JLo is alone in assimilating into “white culture” via hair color and style.
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