‘Hair Love’ to heir love: An animated look at Black family

Some people say there’s no manual that teaches parents how to raise their children – that such a great responsibility requires on-the-job training. 

I wonder if Matthew Cherry, the author of “Hair Love,” which later became an Oscar-winning short film, knew he had created a legacy piece in the first few words of his initial father-daughter tale:

My name is Zuri, and I have hair that has a mind of its own.
It kinks, coils, and curls every which way.

Cherry’s depiction of a Black father styling his daughter’s hair has turned into a much deeper journey. “Young Love,” an animated series that debuted Sept. 21 on Max, maintains its focus on the immediate familial relationship between mother Angela Young, father Stephen Love, and precocious Zuri Young Love, while engaging generational and community dynamics. 

Self Love, Just Love, Work Love, and Charity Love aren’t just the names of the first four episodes. They are also opportunities to watch Angela, a cancer survivor, get back in her personal and professional groove. Stephen, a struggling musician, endures the weight of fatherhood and finances under duress from his father-in-law – and landlord. Zuri is at the center of it all, whether it’s a battle of the sexes between her grandparents or as the ringleader of in-school mischief.

The show is cute – and sometimes cursory, rough around the edges. So are we, unintentionally. We are doing the best we can, true?

As someone who works in the arts, I can’t help but empathize with the Black father who balances the gnashing of capitalism with pursuits far more intrinsic. His sense of parenting – a more modern approach – seems abstract and yet makes him remarkably relatable to young people. We describe people who approach life in this matter as “dancing to the beat of their own drum,” which fits Stephen, a music producer, to a T.

I hear the word “product,” and I don’t just think about a finished song or the work of one’s hands. I also think about the work that it takes to style my own children’s hair – and how much spritzing is required to manage their looks. Through my personal experience and this show, it becomes clear that “heir” and “hair” are more than near-homonyms. They are strands of a bigger fabric, helixes that make up the biology of our being.

Sometimes, detangling is required.

I know how that process goes at my house. When washing my oldest child’s hair, I am sure to not get soap or water in his eyes. There’s the scrubbing of the scalp and the meticulousness of getting all of the soap out of the hair. This follows with a gentle pulling apart of still-wet hair, getting to the roots of the matter. Finally, there’s the addition of detangler to heir – oh wait, hair – that has a mind of its own.

“Kinks, coils, and curls every which way” is a great way to describe the Black experience. “Young Love” offers a glimpse into that experience, and not in only superficial and commercial ways. The beauty shop dialogues are important, as is the unspoken struggle characterized in the two-toned, midsize, “old-school” car that Stephen and Angela share.

Where “Young Love” has the potential to be great is in the detangling of tradition. When Zuri’s grandparents switch roles as landlord and homemaker, we see empathy and appreciation. In a time where angst between men and women is a selling point, humanity prevails in the name of “Love.”

The show does its due diligence to push back on tradition, and we should do the same. Black folk are a deeply religious people, and that reminds me of how love can and should outweigh “law.” 

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law,” offers Romans 13:8. This idea covers a multitude of mishaps in families and communities.

Hair – and heirs – is a perfect way to describe how we should use love to manage traditions and expectations. The beautiful thing about styling a mass of hair is the near-infinite amount of options for a desirable presentation, and in my short time as a parent, I am learning to appreciate the fact that there’s no manual that teaches parents how to raise their children. 

In the award-winning short film, Zuri thought back to a time when her mother styled her hair exactly how she wanted it. The secret to success? “Just took a little bit of work, and a whole lot of love.”