Pelo Malo was made in 2013 by Mariana Rondon; the movie follows Junior on his journey of wanting to straighten his hair and his mother's reaction, Martha.
Junior is nine years old and wants to straighten his hair for his next school picture. His hair is very thick with tight curls so Junior tries many ways from oil to mayonnaise to get rid of curls. The movie shows other kids playing basketball, but none of them has curly hair like Junior. His hair also represents the racism between society towards the Afro-Venezuelan population and how he is different from others.
Since caring so much about one's hair appearance is normally a trait of women in almost every country, Marta becomes incredibly concerned that Junior is gay. However, all Junior wants is to straighten his hair and be a singer. His mother does not understand this and goes to the extreme of taking him to the doctor, forcing him to see her having sex with a man, and giving him the ultimatum of shaving his hair or moving in with his grandmother.
In my opinion, I don't think Junior is gay, but it's not my place to judge one another's sexuality. I hold this opinion due to Juniors reaction when his grandmother made the singers outfit as a dress and too much like a girl. Either way, I think Marta should have been more accepting of her son.
The first time I watched the movie, I thought Marta acted this way out of fear of how others in society would treat him if he were gay. The next time I decided she didn't do any of these things out of love. She did it because she was ashamed of him that he isn't manly enough in her eyes.
Even though there are a few awkward scenes and some actions don't make sense to me, I definitely recommend this movie to others. It gives a great look to the inequalities between women and men along with other social problems in Venezuela such as the opinions on homosexuality, racism, and poverty.
Junior is nine years old and wants to straighten his hair for his next school picture. His hair is very thick with tight curls so Junior tries many ways from oil to mayonnaise to get rid of curls. The movie shows other kids playing basketball, but none of them has curly hair like Junior. His hair also represents the racism between society towards the Afro-Venezuelan population and how he is different from others.
Since caring so much about one's hair appearance is normally a trait of women in almost every country, Marta becomes incredibly concerned that Junior is gay. However, all Junior wants is to straighten his hair and be a singer. His mother does not understand this and goes to the extreme of taking him to the doctor, forcing him to see her having sex with a man, and giving him the ultimatum of shaving his hair or moving in with his grandmother.
In my opinion, I don't think Junior is gay, but it's not my place to judge one another's sexuality. I hold this opinion due to Juniors reaction when his grandmother made the singers outfit as a dress and too much like a girl. Either way, I think Marta should have been more accepting of her son.
The first time I watched the movie, I thought Marta acted this way out of fear of how others in society would treat him if he were gay. The next time I decided she didn't do any of these things out of love. She did it because she was ashamed of him that he isn't manly enough in her eyes.
Even though there are a few awkward scenes and some actions don't make sense to me, I definitely recommend this movie to others. It gives a great look to the inequalities between women and men along with other social problems in Venezuela such as the opinions on homosexuality, racism, and poverty.