Chris
Rock
Unfazed And Unfiltered
Story by
DeWayne Rogers
Images by Maurice Evans for Steed Media Service
“So what was more meaningful to you: Barack Obama getting inaugurated or the Red Sox winning the World Series?”
The
question — asked in a roomful of white people in Park City, Utah — was
vintage Chris Rock. Though asked in jest, a profound truth was also
hidden not so subtly in the punch line. For Rock, the vivid imagery of
minorities weeping at the sight of Barack Obama being sworn in as the
nation’s 44th president seemed eerily reminiscent of the scene in 2004
when the Boston Red Sox ended their storied curse to win the World
Series. Only this time, the role of crier and confused onlooker was
reversed.
That’s just the way Chris Rock sees the world. A comedian so deftly
skilled at uncovering the funny in each moment, Rock has mastered the
art of observation. So when his daughter grew frustrated with her
“black hair,” Rock simply took the moment in and turned it into a forum
for dialogue in the black community, while garnering a few laughs along
the way. Enter Good Hair,
Rock’s smart, good-natured documentary on the world of “black” hair set
to be released by HBO Documentary Films. The film, which received
critical praise at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, is not likely to
break any box-office records. But in Rock’s mind, that’s perfectly fine
because he considers the project his finest on-screen moment to date.
“In a weird way this feels like my best movie,” the comedian reveals.
“It’s got [nonstop] laughs [and] a great topic. It gets deep and it’s
got a lot of emotion. It’s got a little something for everybody.”
The project even indulged some of Rock’s own curiosities. “I’ve been
wanting to do a movie about the Bronner Brothers Hair Show for about 10
years now,” he shares. “I just so happened to have been in Atlanta one
time while the hair show was going on, because I was doing stand-up. I
was at my hotel and all of these hairdressers were downstairs, and they
began to explain the whole process to me. So I went over to the
convention and saw what was going on. I felt that it would be a great
thing to do a movie about. But 12 years ago, no one was doing funny
documentaries. It was just an idea that was a little ahead of its time.
So cut to 10 years later, and I have two daughters that are really
dealing with hair issues. So that kind of sparked it up again. It just
made me see how I could do the movie. Half hair show, half hair
history.”
The Adult Approach
As the interview continued, an onlooker randomly asked Rock why he had
never considered getting cornrows since he loves hip-hop so much. Once
again, through the art of comedy, Rock skillfully laid out his position
on what, in his opinion, would be a preposterous idea.
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“I’m too old for that,” he scoffed. “Forty-two with cornrows? Come on,
what’s that? Why would I do that? I’m trying to be to a grown man here
— especially in the acting world. The good parts come when you’re
grown. In music, it’s all about being young, but when you’re an actor
there are no great parts when you’re in your 20s. The great parts come
in your 30s and mid-40s. When you think about Denzel, what was he doing
in his 20s? Or Harrison Ford? So yeah, you’re not going to get great
parts until you’re a man. So, I’m just trying to be a man.”
It’s not like Rock is entirely foreign to the grown man roles and
responsibilities that come along with being labeled the “It” guy by
Hollywood executives. His stint on “Saturday Night Live” and his
critically acclaimed run on a self-named late-night HBO show suggests
as much. While the pressure to produce in such high stakes
circumstances has caused some to notably crumble (Dave Chappelle
anyone?), Rock simply shrugs in the face of those demands …
particularly as it pertains to him excelling as a black man.
“I don’t think about the pressure,” he confesses. “There’s always
pressure — especially when you want to be good. I’m not crazy, though.
I know that if I’m bad, it will probably adversely affect other black
people … and I guess white guys don’t have that kind of thing hanging
over them. But there’s always pressure to stand out.”
For the Love of Money
So how does it feel to know that you can walk into any store, and buy whatever you want?
The question drew an instant laugh and a dismissive wave of the hand
from Rock. “The funny thing is that I’ve always had money,” he
matter-of-factly states. “It’s not like I came from money, I just
always worked harder than my friends. When I was a kid, and it was time
to sell newspapers, I sold more papers than everybody. When it would
snow, and I had to shovel snow, my boney a– would shovel more snow
than everybody else. So I always had a little more money than the guys
around me.”
But paperboy money is a little different than ‘Saturday Night Live’ and HBO money.
“True,”
he agrees, “But I’ve never really been addicted to things. When I got
on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ I bought a Corvette, and yes, that was a big
deal. But I’ve never been caught up in that stuff. Look at me — I have
no jewelry on right now. I have a watch, and I guess it’s expensive,
but it’s not like it has nuggets on it. I had two cars 20 years ago,
and I’ve got two cars right now. I’ve just never been one of those guys
where I felt like I had to buy all of this stuff. What’s funny is that
it’s not just black people that get caught up in material possessions.
The whole country is caught up in it. That’s why we’re in the
predicament that we are in now. That’s why all of these houses are
getting taken. They’re not taking them from people who are paying the
bills. People are just addicted to stuff. I’ve never really been into
stuff … plus, I learned early that if I [kept] my overhead low, I
[could] turn down bad movies and bad TV shows. Some people can’t afford
to do that, though. They have to say yes to everything. If you’ve got
three houses, eight cars, and jewelry, and you walk around with four
guys everywhere that you go, then every time they call you with a gig,
you’ve got to say yes.”
Rock’s fiscally conservative approach
to finances has allowed him to experiment and take on bold and daring
new projects. When Rock decided he wanted to do an international comedy
special where he performed stand-up on three different continents, the
naysayers were quick to call the move career suicide. Rock didn’t think
so.
“It [Rock’s ‘Kill the Messenger’ comedy special] was one of the best
experiences that I’ve ever had,” he says. “It was weird, because I was
told my whole career that comedy doesn’t translate. Then because I’m
black, it really
won’t translate. So to conquer that — even before any white comics did
it — is amazing, and it felt great. Hopefully it doesn’t take away the
edge, but it made me exhale a little bit.”
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Never
one to rest on his laurels, Rock is already setting his sights on his
next big coup. “So this year I took it around the world, and [for] the
next one, I think I’m going to collaborate with a reverend,’ he
reveals. “I just like speeches, so I’m always watching a lot of
sermons. A great sermon can be about one thing, and it can last for
like an hour. How dope is that? You are going to talk about one thing
for an hour. So I’m checking out some preachers now, and it’s something
that I really want to do. I want to collaborate with one of these guys,
and do a stand-up show about one uplifting thing. I want to see if I
can pull that off. I’m always thinking about what the next thing will
be with me.”
So what if this new idea fails?
“There’s
no failure in art,” Rock retorts. “The failure in art is to be safe and
not try something. I’ve got this hair movie, and people like it. But
the only failure would be to not do it. I mean, you can do stuff, and
people [may] not like it, but you just have to give it a shot. So
that’s what I’m going to do.”
