4 Things We Learned From Watching Netflix’s Nappily Ever After Starring Sanaa Lathan

Netflix’s Nappily Ever After debuted Friday, September 21. The film stars Love and Basketball actress Sanaa Lathan (Violet) a woman who is obsessed with having the perfect life right down to her long and straight hair. We see Violet celebrating a birthday with family and friends in the beginning of the film. She anticipates her boyfriend of two-years Clint (Ricky Whittle) will finally propose, but instead, he gives her a charm necklace from Tiffany & Co. for the puppy he also bought her. Violet who has to come to terms with her not so perfect life, begins to question herself by making visible changes to her appearance with her hair. She goes from long and straight to wearing a weave (after a bad salon visit) to a chin length blonde bob. Eventually, she’s had enough and shaves it all off after a drunken night ends with a bad rebound date. If you haven’t done so already, check out Nappily Ever After on Netflix. In the meantime, we’re giving you four things we learned watching the film.

I Am Not My Hair

The song ‘I Am Not My Hair‘ by India Arie should be every black woman’s beauty anthem. Whether you wear it natural, straight, weave, braids, dyed or bald your hair is an enhancement and not a determinant of what society considers to be true beauty. We hope films like Nappily Ever After and Something New— another film that starred Sanaa Lathan will begin to change the narrative on how important it is for women to feel confident in their own skin. So the next time you question whether your natural hair is acceptable, be reminded who you really are is more than what is connected to your scalp. Knowing it is what’s in your heart that matters most.

Strive For Humility Rather Than Perfection

No matter how much we strive to have the perfect life it’s just not possible! There is no such thing as the perfect spouse, kids, car, house, job or anything for that matter. Lathan’s character (Violet) was so far removed from her true self because she hid behind the need to always be perfect. The beauty about life and all it’s twist and turns is that the lessons we learn help us to live life humbly rather than working to live life perfectly.

Ladies The Right Man Will Love You For You

In the film, Violet feels the need to always be perfect for her boyfriend. A notable moment, in the movie, is when she sets her alarm to get up early enough to fix her hair and face so it appears she wakes up beautiful every morning. Come on! We all know that rarely happens in real life. Right? If a man is not able to accept you for you then it’s time to reevaluate your relationship. NO ONE should make you feel insecure about the skin you were born with and that person does not deserve your time or heart. Ladies, when the right man comes along it will not matter the texture of your hair or the size of your physique. All that will matter is the size of your heart.

Happiness is a choice

Choose to be happy by choosing YOU first and what makes you feel comfortable in your own skin. It’s that simple! From Nappily Ever After to Happily Ever After the choice is yours.