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If you could trace your conscious decision to break social norms by growing long hair to one person, celebrity or otherwise, who was it? While I grew up idolizing bowl-headed characters like He-Man, I never really cared much about styles for men's hair until commercials for the movie Terminator II started running. I remember opening up a magazing and being astounded by how distinguished Edward Furlong (who played mankind's savior, John Connor) looked as a young teenager. Granted, the length of his hair by no means meets the ideal which I now envy, but I just couldn't get over how independent his hair made him look. There was more to it than just the length: I was transfixed to see the dynamic which parted hair added to his facial complexion. You see, my father restricted himself to "mushroom" bowl cuts and never let the length of his hair exceed that of the style's. Naturally, I was made to look just like my father, so the very idea of parting one's hair to achieve such a look was beyond me. My hair wasn't buzzed, yet it never got to the length that impressive results could be achieved from parting it. Parting my hair would've just added a 'crack' to the bowl-ish-ness of it. Yes, me being the mama's boy that I was, I was just THAT lame, aestheticly speaking. It always made me upset to hear all the compliments that my sister would receive for her looks when we went to visit relatives. Granted, girls are taught to be pretty at a young age, but I never liked how when they'd turn to greet me, they'd never comment on any perceivable changes, but instead would resolve on saluting me with a simple "Hi, how are you?". My greetings from others always felt compromised.
I can't say that anybody inspired me- I just never wanted to have my hair cut at any stage of my life (although I don't remember much before I was about 8 or 9 years old), and always regarded anybody who willingly cut their hair as insane or boring (I'm a little more tolerant nowadays). That's not to say that I wasn't jealous of people with hair longer than mine - I was!
Gabriel Batistuta (Argentinian soccer player)
http://www.hangoal.com/World/data/gabrielomarbatistuta.jpg
http://www.altosport.com/b/gabriel-batistuta/s-000005-mp-000001.jpg
I began growing my hair, right when World Cup started,
I just love the look and I always wanted to be a long hair
but because of school(very strick in dressing code) I could
never do it.
PLUS, I play football(eheh soccer) a lot.
Along with this man, Michael Sweet, being my favorite male vocalist of all time, he is also an inspiration in the hair catagory also. He currently still has it long, but layered, which I don't particularly care for, but here it is awesome don't ya' think?!
good question. i'm not sure i could pinpoint any one individual who inspired me- perhaps a combination of people and factors... some rebellion against those who would impose their values on me and appreciation for how good long hair might look on me- especially if i kept myself in good physical shape.
The guy who actually inspired me to have long hair is Modern Talking singer Thomas Anders, when he had long hair.
I remember being blown away when I saw his pictures with long hair.
hmmmmmm...let me see...
Okay, one winter's day when I was feeling down...
depressed, low...like 1-inch tall...small...(you get the point)...
and I was listening to this music...sort of daydreaming...
when this thought came out of nowhere...like a secret-coded message...
no words...just a thought...an idea...
grow...Grow...GROW your hair...
ODDly...my hairstylist called the next day and said she had to cancel my appointment...
because her kid was in a school play...
I said 'that's fine!' and never did reschedule another cut...
I was already growing my hair out at the time "Terminator II" was released in 1992, but Edward Furlong was also my inspiration for what kind of style to initially go for.
>snip<
I had a friend who had beautiful long hair. I really admired it, but didn't make the firm decision to grow it until I saw Brad Pitt in Interview With a Vampire. That's when it started. My wife wasn't real crazy about it, but she loves me unconditionally, so no problem. About a year later, she discovered Yanni, and has made the transition from indifference to enthusiastic support.
It's currently to the bottom of my shoulderblades, and I'm not sure if I'll ever get it trimmed again.
Scott
I have to admit that Tom Cruise's "look" in MI2 is what made me want to grow my hair long. I sorta resemble him physically, and I thought it was an awesome look.
I was inspired by Triple H (wrestler in WWE) to grow my hair long. I had wanted long hair all my life, but never had the courage or will-power to do it cause I was worried how it would look. Then I saw him with his long flowing blonde hair. It looked great, suited him well, I knew I had to have hair like that, so I started growing it. About 3 years after I started growing my hair I got an undercut (something else I had always wanted) which was inspired by Jeff Hardy (another WWE wrestler) :)
you would say Edge. :)
I've been very pleased with the responses that my inquiry has generated. Thanks, to all who took the time to share a bit of insight as to who inspired you.
Mind you, I never meant for this to come down difinitively to one specific person. Edward Furlong (John Connor character of Terminator II) was the example I chose to illustrate since he's probably the earliest inspiration that I can recall. There have been numerous sources since then, and while I still revert back to the whole Terminator nostalgia, another inspiration worth citing (if you'd care to hear me out) was the band Aerosmith (circa 1992). I actually had a friend who had a brother with EXCESSIVELY long hair; the funny thing was that no matter how confident in his own locks, he always kvetch about how Steven Tyler and Joe Perry ought to cut their hair to look decent. It was very unusual for HIM of all people to be making that kind of a criticism, seeing as how his hair's length probably amounted to that of half the band's (5 members), and I guess aside from the awesome music, I always admired the guys in Aerosmith for doing things their own way. Of course, now that's a bit of a different story (Smells like Metallica...? LOL), but atleast I'll always have my memories. My favourite picture to illustrate the hair Aerosmith had that I so admired can be seen in the inner sleve of the Big Ones album. The picture in the inner sleve of Get a Grip was mighty F.I.N.E. as well (I mean that without the added connotation, although that's not how I spelt it... Comic effect, don't you know).