We Need an Oscar for Hair
- par: Ted Gibson
- destinataire: The Academy of Arts and Sciences
Its time for hairdressers to be recognized in Hollywood. We Need an Oscar for Hair!
Hair can make or break the way a movie opens up; it can even give you the overall feeling of a character.
As a hairdresser I have seen how hair makes such a difference in people's lives. From the feeling of not belonging because you have curly hair in the 70s, to women relaxing their hair straight in the 50s. I am creating a movement that hairdressers should get an Oscar for what they create on ...the Big Screen. Just imagine the Oscars with no hair. If in every movie there was NO HAIR, but only clothes, you wouldn’t get a feeling at all from films. Hair creates an emotional feeling and adds value to every movie that you or I have seen. For example, when you watch the Tree of Life, there isn’t any dialogue for the first 20 minutes. And if everyone in the movie such as Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain were bald, it simply wouldn’t be the same.
I see it every week when I am on the show "What Not To Wear." I start working with the contributor on their 4th day at the show. When I change their haircolor and haircut is when the transformation really begins. That’s when they discover their Potential Beauty. They become emotional, happy, invigorated, forthcoming, refreshed and confident. Hair can make you feel on top of the world, or even as if you're the worst person ever. Its really simple: I never hear anyone ever say they have a bad skin day. But they do say "I'm having a bad hairday!" Why? Because HAIR IS EVERYTHING!!
We Need an Oscar for Hair.
We the undersigned believe that hairdressers should be recognized on a separate ballot for their contribution to film. We believe hair plays an essential role in the process of creating a character, adding further dimension to the part the actor plays. Just as makeup visually changes and transforms the actor into the character they are playing, so does the hair. Although hair is shared on the makeup ballot, hair contributes to the character in a way that is different from that of makeup.
A hairstyle adds another background story to who the character is - the way one styles their hair speaks volumes about the character’s confidence and their lifestyle. Charlize Theron’s disheveled, unkempt hair in Monster translated a message to the audience about who her character was, in the same way Audrey Hepburn’s iconic chignon signaled the glamour of her character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. To become Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor channeled royalty with gold beads at the end of her dark long bob. Hairstyles often stand as one of the strongest indicators of a decade or a certain period in time; Diana Ross’s hair in Mahogany still stands as a symbol of 70s style. All these characters launched trends and are classified as “iconic” looks. Bo Derek’s braided hair in 10 is constantly referred to as a source of inspiration from decade to decade.
The acknowledgement of hairdressers on a separate ballot from makeup would properly recognize and award the creative talent of hairdressers.
