Culture

If you haven’t seen the 92nd Academy Awards winner for Best Animated Short, you are missing out.

Written and co-directed by former NFL player, Matthew A. Cherry, Hair Love is an endearing story about an African-American father learning to style his daughter’s natural hair in his wife’s absence. Cherry comments that he wrote Hair Love, “because we wanted to normalise Black hair.”

The six-minute animated film has been applauded for breaking fatherhood stereotypes and raising conversations about the importance of hair and heritage in the black community.

Thank you. 💜 #HairLove #Oscars pic.twitter.com/8SAjV5elAK

— Sony Pictures Animation (@SonyAnimation) February 10, 2020

Adding on to the positive comments is how the animated short especially stood out in a year where the Oscars are, yet again, under fire for a lack of diversity. Apart from Cynthia Erivo of Harriet who was nominated for Best Actress and the stellar title that is Parasite – which won four Oscars, by the way – there is a visible lack of diversity in this year’s Oscar categories.

But above all, Hair Love is brilliant and deserves its win in the Oscars 2o2o. Have a watch below and judge for yourself: