Oprah's Great American Curl Murder! (With Photos)

[Astraea]

Okay, so I came across a link to Oprah's Great American Haircut featuring average women getting celebrity haircuts. Of course, being a 'dramatic makeover' show, a bunch of curly girls got blowouts... but knowing that didn't stop me from being pretty shocked by some of the transformations and the anti-curl rhetoric (curly = "unruly/needs to be tamed" while straight = "sleek/chic/soft").


"Cheryl's unruly curls were tamed into a short and sassy cut that's easy to maintain."


"Our stylists tamed Patty's curls into a smooth 'do that looks soft and sweet."


"Ahlam enters the salon with curly, highlighted locks—and leaves with a straight, rich brown, shoulder-length style."


"Janice has lots of blonde, curly hair. "It's beautiful," Harry says. "It's very Chaka Khan, but a modern version of it." ...Harry has an entirely different vision for Janice's hair [and] creates a very sexy look for Janice, giving her a gorgeous, straight, dark red mane."


"Virginia says she had the same long, curly hairstyle for years. "My hair has pretty much been the same length for most of my life, and it's always been pretty frizzy," she says. "It can go curly and I can never really get it nice and straight. So I was always hesitant to get it cut short because it might get crazy." Stylist Ted Gibson doesn't hesitate to make a big change—he gives her a sleek, straight, shoulder-length 'do. "


"When Kimberly is finished, Terri looks like a supermodel! Her richly colored hair is much longer thanks to hair extensions."


"Ted decides to give Janet a vibrant new look with a stylish, straight cut in a daring shade of bright red. "It's great," Janet says. "I feel sophisticated and chic.""

If you check out the site, there are a bunch more. These were just some of the most glaring examples to my eyes. To be fair, this didn't happen with all the curlies. For some of them the stylists tried to encourage their curl pattern but the majority wound up with straightened locks. Also, I was saddened to see how many black women were given long, straight extensions.

Overall, this just reminded me of how many curlies are still walking around with no idea how to take care of their hair or still disliking their natural texture. Maybe we should hand out business cards for naturallycurly.com...

[Riot Crrl]

OMG. This is the most boggling one to me:

"Janice has lots of blonde, curly hair. "It's beautiful," Harry says. "It's very Chaka Khan, but a modern version of it." ...Harry has an entirely different vision for Janice's hair [and] creates a very sexy look for Janice, giving her a gorgeous, straight, dark red mane."

It's beautiful huh? So let's change it around completely!

[Infraredhead]

Say it ain't so! OMG poor Cheryl. I loved her curls (along with the others) and that idiot (who obviously likes cough cough "different" shades of red) opened up a can of whoop a** and made them into homogenous versions of Peg Bundy. So sad.

[mariag002]

I watched it on TV and was hoping nobody on NC.com saw it LMAO I was horrified!

I would love to know how they look like now. If they had trouble with long curly hair good luck combing short curly hair That's what they get! I would've grabbed Oprah's wig and ran out of there!

[SJWaves]

Hmm. Janice's hair is the one that upsets me most. Her hair was nearly perfect. Many women would love to have natural blonde hair that beautiful and rich in color. Her curls were lovely. That color red does not suit her at all. She just needed some face framing layers so she could wear it down. What's worse is her hair was actually healthy, but now with it being straightened and colored she will have some damage. Ugh.

[xfoxelil1xx]

That is disgusting! everyone there has beautiful curls or has potential for beautiful curls. Janices hair is so pretty and looks really soft. all i can do is say eww to the after shot. I like Kimberly's hair too. The fact that they stuck a weave on her head to "fix" her short hair really bothered me and i think Virginia looks horrid with her hair thingy...

[alacurl]

Most of these women looked much better with curls. ... And as a redhead, I take particular offense to the awful red tones on a couple of these poor victims. They had beautiful hair colors to begin with.

The straight hair on a couple of these women simply looks BAD. Those should be the "before" shots! It's like buying clothes to be "fashionable" but ending up looking ridiculous because they are not suited for you.

[wild~hair]

Seen this before and it's still just as appalling.

They all look like anchorwomen in the 'afters.'

[lapushka]

Oh my god! Vision is one thing, totaly ruining people's hair is another. Make-overs are great as long as they take into account the natural texture of people's hair. That's when they are sensational to me! The kind of make-over that is life changing, one that makes it easier for you to maintain your hair. The first pictures... "easy to maintain"? What is easy to maintain about that blown out hair when you have curly hair? These styles are great for once but I cannot imagine that their hair will still look the same once they have to care for it. I think they're going for shock value more than anything else. To me this shocking also. These aren't the same women and I don't mean that in a positive way.

OMG!

[Brooke789]

I don't think that red they used looks good on either of them.

Am I the only one who thought the first person was a man?

I like Ahlam's hair better straight. It really looks good & I love how thick it looks. Although I'm sure her curls had more potential than how they looked when she went in.

[Boomygrrl]

So sad. I noticed this the other day too. A better makeover would've been how to make their curly hair more tameable as curly hair.

[KookyCurl]

Ok...so personally I would kill for my curls to be defined like Cheryls! As for the red on everyone...red is the hot color for spring.

[curlylaura]

Originally Posted by wild~hair

Seen this before and it's still just as appalling.

They all look like anchorwomen in the 'afters.'

I've seen it before too and the one with the blonde curly hair, Janice, looks like she's wearing a wig.

Red may be the 'fashionable' colour for Spring but at least make suit the person and have it look real!

[rainshower]

"Cheryl's unruly curls were tamed into a short and sassy cut that's easy to maintain."


"Our stylists tamed Patty's curls into a smooth 'do that looks soft and sweet."


"Ahlam enters the salon with curly, highlighted locks—and leaves with a straight, rich brown, shoulder-length style."


"Janice has lots of blonde, curly hair. "It's beautiful," Harry says. "It's very Chaka Khan, but a modern version of it." ...Harry has an entirely different vision for Janice's hair [and] creates a very sexy look for Janice, giving her a gorgeous, straight, dark red mane."


"Virginia says she had the same long, curly hairstyle for years. "My hair has pretty much been the same length for most of my life, and it's always been pretty frizzy," she says. "It can go curly and I can never really get it nice and straight. So I was always hesitant to get it cut short because it might get crazy." Stylist Ted Gibson doesn't hesitate to make a big change—he gives her a sleek, straight, shoulder-length 'do. "


"When Kimberly is finished, Terri looks like a supermodel! Her richly colored hair is much longer thanks to hair extensions."



how shall i put this?

lady 1: the after looks like a bad wig.
lady 2: i actually like her after because she looks younger and her before looks like morning shampoo hair that hasn't quite dried and has no shape or style.
lady 3: i like her after better because her before looks like a bad perm with too-heavy products on it (sorry if that's your natural curly hair lady!).
lady 4: i hate the after hair. i actually think her before hair is pretty. i wish she'd have worn it down and smiled.
lady 5: i love her before hair. she looks so much younger in the first photo. the after photo looks like a soccer mom in a wig.
lady 6: her chunky, lush fro made her look youthful now she looks so . . . ordinary.
lady 7: i think she looks younger in the after, though i hate the color. i actually like her before hair, i just wish she had it styled with bangs or with layers that would fall over her forehead a little. i think it's the bangs in the after that makes her appear younger.

i'm done. straight and red seems to be their solution to curls.

[mydads curls]

Totally agree with you. They will never maintain these straight styles. I also love the way that they took off the glasses on a couple of them in their "after" picture and changed eyebrow shapes, added makeup, etc. They should have done that to them in their before and just refreshed and re-styled their curls some and then took the "after" shot.

[jeepcurlygurl]

I don't think I can even write any words here without cursing. So I'll just say I feel sorry for those women who ended up with short hair and bangs. When those bangs curl up they are going to be REALLY short! That whole attitude about curly hair (and undyed hair too!) makes me very sad (and mad). ?o#)@**!@k>@s!! : )

[hmkenny]

OMG, I am so mean.....I thought Cheryl was a man. So sorry, Cheryl.

The stylist obvsiously didn't know how to style a head of curls so he got rid of them. I'd like to see how they look now too. It is very hard to maintain straight hair when you're naturally curly. The only way I was able to do it was with frequently haircuts and tons of silicones. LOL!

[funkedisco]

I wish this show where a curl expert came on and gave these women makeovers. Some of them look as though their hair isn't so healthy. Some, like the blonde with those angelic ringlets, they just need a little shape.

Most likely the stylist didn't know what to do with their hair...so sad...and yet make me so appreciative of this website.

[ninja dog]

I hate to admit this,but I do think Virginia looks better. Her "before" hair looks dry and lifeless to me.

The Janice re-do is criminal.

[BugEyeZ]

they are just trying to make all women look like stepford wives in preparation for world domination. just take a happy pill, it will be alright....alright...alright...a..a..a...lrig...ht .....