For instance, when Rock interviewed a chemist about the corrosive chemicals in a relaxer (which disintegrated a can of soda within hours, by the way), he explained that black women relax their hair to “look white.” Yet Rock never delved into the historical account of why black women would pursue such a futile feat or whether that attitude persists 40 years after the civil rights movement. Neither the actresses nor the regular sistas at the salon cited “looking white” as the basis for their beauty regimen.