Recoiled (2019)

An animated short created by students in Missouri State University's Electronic Arts Program. Produced by Shalom Simmons and Kersten Schatz. Directed and edited by Claire Grim. Story by Shalom Simmons and Claire Grim. Written by Kersten Schatz. Art direction by Shelby Corley. Techincal direction by Matthew Fuller. Sound design and score by Brandon Huddleston. Executive produced by Mark Biggs, Colby Jennings, and Andrew Twibell.

The work on this channel has been created by Electronic Arts students at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO.

[cupidisa]

Don’t change yourself for others. Love yourself for who you are.

[everafter]

I love how her hair moves and does things

[SonyaEsquire]

I felt so seen and literally cried watching it. My hair sometimes can be it’s own monster but it’s part of who I am. I love the manageability of straight hair and how society promotes it as elegant, chic, and easy. But nothing compares to my curls and coils! Nothing! My son feels seen when I rock my crown and I want him To know it’s okay to be who you are naturally. I didn’t have that growing up so this short film means the world. I showed him and he said “good for her”. It’s normal for him To see this now and that makes my heart happy.

[julian]

I had almost the exact experience in this film! It’s also a great illustration of what I always tell people who don’t have my kind of hair, “it has a mind of its own. I wanted to style it like xyz but it didn’t want to so I just let it do it wants.” As far as the rest of the short film, it was middle school when I straightened my hair so the kids would leave me alone and stop touching my hair. I recently saw this TikTok of this mom teaching her little black daughter a song about how to establish boundaries and personal space when someone is touching her hair without consent. It made me shed a tear because my parents didn’t teach me that. When a kid wanted to touch my hair (which were many of them, mostly if not all boys, and all of time), the only thing I could think to do was run. But they would chase me. As I got older, they stopped but all they did was change their methods from chasing to sneaking up behind me. I had to go all the way to a school counselor to tell them to stop, and for a painfully shy kid like myself, that was a hard thing to do but I had enough.

I had my hair straight until junior year of high school because I really missed my natural hair. I was naive to think that by this point the boys would have matured to understand personal space but I was wrong. They still snuck up on me, in the middle of class no less! It seriously wasn’t until COVID hit (and I’m an adult by this point) that people FINALLY stopped because they had to stay 6 ft away anyway. Despite this, it was all worth it because that painfully shy girl was gone almost instantly when I wore my curls again and let her be as big and wild as she wanted. I wanted to live as free as my hair did.


The fact that I still go through this with adults who should understand BASIC empathy and personal space to LEAVE ME ALONE is baffling. But at least I know how to stand up for myself and my hair now. Again, it has a mind of its own 😂 she has her own personality and feelings and I have to protect them!

[selamkassahun]

We absolutely need a Hero movie of a girl with power that comes from her hair.

[alllieens]

This film means a lot, reminds me when I used to wish I was white so much, I would straighten my hair and change myself completely just to appear likable to white people. It really messed me up searching for validation from all the wrong people. I’m still struggling to realize that I’m not a “slave” and they’re not the “master”, and I don’t need their validation, but I’m getting there.

It really does suck how society pushes us to believe we arent worthy, so many black girls go through the “I wish I were white phase”, I’m just glad I’m pretty much out of that. I love this film. ❤️🥺💕👏🏾✊🏾

[zehraali]

Unfortunate how ads and salons these days want us curlies to make our hair straight. I went last week to ask about something to make my curls less frizzy and the lady at the salon said yea you do this treatment to make your hair straight. I mean, Did i ask you that? Curly hair is very beautiful, it shouldn't be straightened

[jusele]

This is so it's basically teaching you to love your hair as it is and don't care about what others think because when u experiment you take the life out of it resulting in you regretting and possibly damaging it...JUST LET IT BE ‼️

[featherworksentertainmentc]

You guys really nailed the hair behavior and the look/ flow and texture of the straightened hair. Excellent work for students!!!

[andread]

This is amazing and speaks to me deeply I was almost 35 before I realized my hair was naturally curly/coily My mom started perming my hair in kindergarten because my texture was different from hers and she didn’t have time or the know how to manage it .. I’m still learning how to manage it myself after 10+ yrs natural... it has been a journey and sometimes I still find it hard to fully embrace my curls and undo the brainwashing of society and my mom thank you for this 💜💜💜💜🙏🏽

[Driii]

I like that her hair is coily we needed more coily representation 🥰🥰

Edit: seen a lot of people confused so I’ll clarify; Coily is a zig zag pattern while Curly is more of a spring pattern in the hair’s natural state (not after you brush or blow dry it) Coily hair can still have some curls but it’s mainly zig zag and a lot of people have multiple hair types on their head (I have 4c and in some spots 4b hair)

[carrieon]

My hair has always been “poker stick straight” but I’ve always wished I had curly hair since I was a kid because it’s so beautiful. Funny how people always seem to want what they don’t have

[extremelyviolentlyvioletpl]

3:00 "no hats" how about "NO harassing her and her hair"

[amoameera]

You just gave me a new perspective of looking at my hair and I love it.😊❤

[niagregory]

This actually had an emotional effect on me by the time she straightened her hair with the flat iron. I actually missed her natural hair.
Giving that natural hair life was a genius idea. 💡

[ojsoqjo]

The weird part is where the heck is the parents

[kc]

More young girls need to see this ! Awesome video. This made me tear up after 27 years I am just now accepting all of me all the way down to my curls and coils 🥰💪🏿

[bokuto]

Alright is everyone just gonna ignore the fact that they left the straightening iron on in the bathroom

[lauragood]

The plugged in hair straightener drove me bonkers. Unplug that thing! Cartoon got me. Nice story about accepting self.

[erikawright]

Yall the parents in the bed sleep, cooking in the kitchen, at work, something- use your imagination😂