by Gina Sestak
[I'm running into problems inserting photographs -- pretend that the big square, above, that will not show the photo or permit me to delete it isn't there. I'm putting the photos in as links, below, rather than stay up all night cussing.]
"Lies flat and in perfect alignment." Those words used to appear on the spiral notebooks I used in high school, but I came to apply them to the desired appearance of my hair. It was the 60s, after all, and most of us wanted our hair to be long and straight, like Peggy Lipton on Mod Squad. To my mother's despair, I was born with naturally straight hair. I could achieve that look without even having to iron it, as so many others did.
Perfect alignment seems to be a thing of the past, at least when applied to the hair of characters in movies. I was noticing that this weekend, while watching Bottle Shock. This is a beautifully photographed film; the opening scene of vineyards is worth the price of admission even if you don't particularly care about wine or international rivalries. Chris Pine's hair, though, is badly in need of a comb. In fact, another character asks him if he has a comb. That character, Steven Spurrier, is played by my favorite actor, Alan Rickman, who looks as if he could use a comb himself, and a razor. Maybe he's just gunshy after what happened to Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd.
Speaking of Sweeney Todd, the Oscar for messiest hair should definitely go to Helena Bonham Carter, both as Mrs. Lovett and as Bellatrix Lestrange.
What do you think? Should these rich and famous actors comb their hair?
