Transgressing the Transgression: Black (M)others and Their Hair in Moonlight

This paper examines the possibility of seeking for a transgressive power in the hair of black (m)others of Moonlight (2016). By focusing on Chiron’s two (m)others, Paula and Teresa, I tease out the ways in which their controlling images are (un)fixed, and how this fits into the on-going dilemma of whether Paula and Teresa (re)circulate and/or continue the genealogy of negative stereotypes of black maternal figures. Consequently, I pay attention to black female hair and how it provides the transgressive means to unfix shortcut representations. Black female hair is a contradictory site whereby natural hair is considered as bad, and unnatural as good. A certain hair style and texture become associated with a specific type of controlling images. Unpacking the contradictory logic behind natural-bad versus unnatural-good hair, I argue that the transgressive aspect of natural black hair is what allows for Paula and Teresa’s controlling images, as the Crack Mother and Othermother, respectively, to be transgressed. The dismantling power of visually seeing the good Othermother in the same bad natural hair as the bad Crack Mother offers an alternative, counter-narrative site to redefine black female representation on screen.