What is it about Women dyeing their hair in films?

Currently watching Salt with the liptastic Jolie, and the moment the going gets tough, of course Jolie whips out her handy dye for a little transformative styling. Is this warpaint for women, or is it perhaps the male directors fantasizing about and controlling their cast?

Salt starts off with Blond hair, but can you have a blond empowered heroine who kicks ass and who gets home in time for their anniversary dinner? Blonds have more fun, but brunettes get the job done!

I can't think of any male characters who have dyed their hair in films, although I'm sure there have been a few. The trope seems centred around females, which is, if you think about it more unlikely than men. How many female friends do you know who would be happy to splash cheap dye on their hair and shear half of it off? Now think of how nonplussed men are about haircuts and hair in general... the numbers don't add up.

So what do we have then? A directors desire to objectify and literally idolize his lead? A way to protect gender lines by de-sexing the woman, making them a masculine force? Or just a plot device and simply nothing more?

One last thought strikes me. Perhaps this is the directors way of emphasising how serious an undertaking a female character is about to undertake. We all know that women's value lies in their looks, or so pretty much every piece of modern media keeps trying to reinforce. What greater sacrifice can a woman make than dyeing and cutting off her beautiful hair so that she can ‘Become’ that demon, that Fury of purpose, unstoppable and totally terrible and fearful.

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Further addendum. Just getting to the climax of the film, I had absolutely no idea this would happen while writing the above, but, they've actually got Jolie to dress up and pretend to be a man. I kid you not. The transformation is complete!

Part of his legacy was a long, moving letter written by him in his final days, which his family kindly posted to his blog. Thankfully Makiko Itoh has translated the letter to English. It's painful to read, as it lays out bare the final months of a young man, aware that soon he will be making the final trip; However Satoshi Kon has a sense of pragmatism in his writing which shows a sense of acceptance of his situation which is touching and brave.

Sayonara (Goodbye)

How could I forget, May 18th of this year.

I received the following pronouncement from a cardiovascular doctor at Musashino Red Cross Hospital.

"It's the latter stages of pancreatic cancer. It's metastasized to several bones. You have at the most half a year left to live."

My wife and I listened together. It was a fate so unexpected and untenable, that the two of us together could barely take it.

I used to honestly think that "I can't help it if I die any day." Still, it was so sudden.

The full transcript can be read here.

If you haven't seen any of his work I'd suggest you go and check it out now. It's as beautiful as it is deep and mesmerizing, it's slightly strange, however this resonates with his departing letter. He states that he saw the world in a slightly different way, and this enabled him to create such unique and special anime.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.