By Christianne Salisbury
christianne@newsroom.byu.edu
Julia Roberts, Pippi Longstockings and Bette Midler have one thing in common - red hair.
A grass-roots study that started as a BYU student's senior project turned into a four hour documentary featuring redheads from Hollywood to Provo.
Kelly Loosli, an animation professor in the Department of Visual Arts, said the idea for the project came from a study by the University of Illinois stating that red headed males were the least attractive individuals of any race or gender.
Loosli, a redhead, said he intended the project to be a tongue-in-cheek look at minority status.
'I'm a 6-foot-1-inch, Caucasian male, red hair is the only minority group I belong to,' Loosli said.
The project focused on white males until redheaded women became angry, he said.
Now dealing with both sexes, Loosli said the documentary talks about societal attitudes dealing with prejudice.
'Its about how we need to be sensitive but how we also overdo it,' Loosli said.
He said his experience with 'the redheaded culture' included nicknames, easily sun burned skin, freckles and an aggressive temper.
'Everyone rubbed my hair for good luck, and the salon always commented on the color of my hair,' he said.
Loosli said he has spent close to $5,000 on the project.
The money was spent mainly on travel expenses and feeding celebrity redheads who participated in the documentary, he said.
Loosli is now busy finishing up the project so he can sell it to a major cable company.
Most redheads have had similar experiences, Loosli said. Whether it's the nicknames - carrot top, freckle face, fire top - or the stereotypes that accompany the hair.
'I hated having red hair when I was growing up,' said Sharon Kneib, 21, a redheaded senior from Owasso, Okla., majoring in elementary education.
'People would always tell me they'd rather be dead then red,' she said.
A lot of people think of redheads as unattractive and many redheads take this very seriously, Loosli said.
'People would always tell me you're good looking for a redhead,' Loosli said.
Hilery Garr, 20, a junior from Kansas City, Kan., majoring in international studies, said those interested in finding an attractive redhead male find it difficult.
Most people don't associate redheaded men with attractiveness because of the media, Garr said.
'Most actors aren't redheaded and the ones that are aren't cute.'
Redheaded women, on the other hand, are considered to be very attractive, said Josh Holt, 22, a junior from Debuque, Iowa, majoring in physics.
'I prefer redheads because they usually have light colored eyes, which gives a great color contrast,' he said.
Holt said redheads stand out so people notice and ask them out a lot.
Some say the 'red-temper' may not be a myth.
Women seeking the attractiveness of red haired men, run the risk of dealing with the fabled redheaded temper, said Jacob Ballentine, 22, a redheaded junior from Holmer, Alaska, majoring in elementary education.
'I had a horrendous temper, I would blow up very easily,' Ballentine said. 'I had to think about why I was mad and if it was worth getting mad about to control it.'
It is no curse to have red hair though, Ballentine said. In fact, he said it's a great attention-getting device.
'I love having red hair because it sets you apart from the rest of the world,' Ballentine said.
Redheads make up about 2 percent of the population and many people feel that they are a minority group, Loosli said.
Redheads from the deepest auburns to the lightest strawberry blondes can participate in the completion of this documentary by meeting in 267 BRWB on Friday, Oct. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Redheaded students will participate in interviews and have the opportunity to be on camera.