The Deeper Meaning of Haircuts

In literature, film and television many characters undergo a symbolic rebirth. The symbol most associated rebirth is water. A character is dunked in a pool, takes a shower  or swims in the ocean only to emerge a completely changed person.

This is a perfectly fine metaphor. It relates to baptism where those being baptized are washed clean of their original sin. But the whole water aspect is a little overdone. It's old hat; cliche. Even the most remedial English student can see what it symbolizes from a mile away.

However, there is another symbol of rebirth and change that is less frequently used, and even less frequently used well: the haircut. It is a physical change on the outside that represents a greater change taking place inside.

I love this symbolic action because it's one I personally relate to. Each time I go and get a haircut I feel the potential to come out as an entirely new person. I like growing my hair out and then getting it cut really short. I like getting my haircut after I've had a series of bad things happen to me. It's like a snake shedding its skin. I get rid of the bad stuff and grow something new and hopefully better.

The problem is that this too is fairly obvious. Television is most guilty of relying too much on the haircut to show change in a character. They often depict over dramatic scenes where the character, in a bout of frustration, angrily takes a pair of scissors to their hair. Then they emerge from the bathroom with a wildly different attitude because their hair is different, get it?

Here's a great example from an episode of "Scrubs":

Film usually does a better job of actually building the haircut into the plot. It seems less like a rash decision and more like a gradual progression of the plot as it relates to the character. One of the most notable examples of this is when Richie Tenebaum cuts off his hair (SPOILER ALERT) before attempting suicide in "The Royal Tenebaums."

An even better example of this is a movie I watched today on Netflix, and recommend to anyone with 90 minutes to spare. The movie is called "Meet Dave" starring Aaron Eckhart, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Alba and a surprisingly well rounded supporting cast.

The movie has a fairly typical midlife crisis plot focused on Aaron Eckhart's Dave, but I liked the way it incorporated cutting hair to show the change in Dave over the course of the movie. One of the hobbies Dave takes up to work through his problems is swimming laps. This leads him to begin shaving his body hair, but he doesn't shave it all at once. It happens in stages as the movie progresses, with him finally cutting his hair in the last 10-15 minutes of the movie.

I can't think of any specific instances in literature where this happens, but I'm sure they're out there somewhere.

Hit the comments with your favorite scenes of rebirth.