Hair and All That It Entails

I have liked Keri Russell since the last century. And over the last week and this weekend, I have watched seasons 1 and 2 of 'The Diplomat' again and finally caught up with season 3. The series is not a comedy, but there was a relatable comedic moment in there that made me laugh ... and made me feel good.

I spend very little time on my hair or my physical appearance in general, but I am going to focus on the hair for this instalment of the blog. Just to provide an impartial statement, I will quote my principal here: "My hair looks like yours today!". She said those words to me when she didn't have time to blow dry her hair and the humidity added to its unkemptness.

So, she notices my hair ... should I be flattered? No! She insulted me, I think!

On ‘The Diplomat’, Keri Russell’s character, Kate, doesn’t seem to care for her “visual (re)presentation” to the world. To exaggerate that characteristic, when Kate gets a body double or a decoy (I forget the actual term(s) used), that person wears a uniform-like nondescript outfit and has extremely unkempt hair. The comedic moment for me was when Kate tells this person that she washes and combs her hair, and perhaps this person could do the same!

For me, it brought back memories of the fuss that was made over Keri Russell’s character’s hair in ‘Felicity’ at the turn of the century/the millennium.

It is crazy that hair is of such significance sometimes. I guess I can get away with making my hair irrelevant as I am a teacher in a special needs’ classroom. The biggest concern around my hair is that of safety as it could get pulled by a student and hurt/injure me to some extent. I was sent for a “crisis prevention” training session to deal with just such a situation (amongst other possible situations).

So, hair can be beautiful and burdensome simultaneously. If anyone has been reading this blog, they would also be aware that I recently watched ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. In that series, the protagonist chops off her hair and thereby, shortens it considerably. That scene reminded me of a certain pop star shaving her head nearly 20 years ago. I believe she was going through some sort of crisis in her personal life. And in my opinion, getting rid of her hair made it one less thing to think about.

Such a weight we put on our heads!