I first started dyeing my hair blue after watching that Pacific Rim movie. It is a very silly and completely illogical movie, as far as movies go–or should I say implausible? Ok, whatever. But anyway, it was full of action and of course, people in giant robots killing monsters, which was what the 80s and 90s were all about.
What I loved, of course, was the character Mako Mori, and even though so many of my friends have pointed out that the Asian girl with cool hair is a trite trope in cinema, I still liked her hair.
I liked it then, and I like it now. I like it when people colour their hair or style their hair any way they liked because it showed who they were. I liked that Mako chose to wear her hair this way, and I wanted to wear mine like that.
So I did. I paid a bucket of money and sat in the hairdresser’s chair the whole day while my hairdresser painstakingly bleached it a few times before letting the colour take it. But I came out with blue hair. I would continue to do this over a period of time and I would have it on a semi-regular basis. The fact that I had to teach bothered me a little and I wondered if parents would take me seriously. Back when I was working in the media, I could have whatever colour I wanted because there was the excuse of creatives doing random, impulsive things.
For a period of a few months, and partly because I was one of the bridesmaids for a close friend’s wedding, I did not dye my hair blue or any colour for that matter. It was black. I liked having my hair its natural colour but I was always tempting to dye it blue again. I cannot explain my affinity for this colour or this look. Sure, it was Pacific Rim inspired at first, but now I just liked it because it felt more like me.
It was nice to go back to the salon and to do it. My hairdressers had a field day. So did I. To look in the mirror and to see that this colour was back again, thrilled me. I looked more like myself.
My hair is blue, my hair is blue, my hair is blue.
It feels most like me and that is true.