Line #57 Main/FirstGrayHair


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5	[[quoteright:349:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_6a5c48a0_deac_4370_b27e_929f797c0245.png]]]]
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7	->''A few months ago, I was having my semiannual haircut, and I had the strangest revelation. ''[Cut to Willy Wonka having his hair cut by an Oompa-Loompa. He looks in a mirror, sees a strand of gray hair on his shoulder, and picks it up]'' In that one silver hair, I saw reflected my life's work, my factory, my beloved Oompa-Loompas. Who would watch over them when I was gone? I realized in that moment, "I must find an heir."''
8	-->-- '''Willy Wonka''', ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' (2005 version)
9
10	A character angsting about how they're getting old is a great source of drama. But how do we kick off this drama? What are some cultural signs of getting old? A {{milestone birthday\|angst}}? Nope. How would we iron out the birthday business to get to the development of the character's angst? Besides, we might ruin the appeal of the character's VagueAge. Bodily malfunctions like creaky joints? That might imply ''too'' old an age. Gray hair? People of all ages get those. But it's mainly associated with middle age. And it doesn't have any lasting impact, as long as they're removed or dyed over. And if it's only ''one'' strand, it's not immediately visible to the naked eye. Besides, it's just hair color and doesn't really impact anything else, other than the angst and freaking out about getting old that it is often the source of. Hence we have the First Gray Hair, which automatically equals age. A character is looking in the mirror (or at their hair itself, if it's long enough for that) and suddenly sees a glint of something different from their usual hair color. (S)He gives in to curiosity and inspects more closely to find that it's...GRAY HAIR! And on their own head, too! And thus the angsting about getting old begins.
11
12	Some may wonder whether it is worth it to have a character making a big deal over finding that one or more strands of his hair have changed color (even if it is to gray or white). Then again, Administrivia/TropesAreTools, and the First Gray Hair is often used for AnAesop about how growing older is a natural process and not necessarily a bad thing once the character has overcome his angst on his own or [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan by force]]. It's also a harbinger: while the ''First'' Gray Hair is harmless by itself, there are more to come, one by one, until it's ''all'' gray, or even gone; also, it's tangible proof that they're leaving youth behind. Unfortunately, though, this way of dealing with having found the First Gray Hair seems to be limited to men who find them. Women who have found this tend to have more prolonged angst and are additionally shown removing or dyeing over their grays, and yes, the topic almost invites jokes about the first grey ''pubic'' hair, basically one way this trope can be PlayedForLaughs.
13
14	Compare MaamShock, MilestoneBirthdayAngst. May lead to {{Midlife Crisis Car}} if {{played for laughs}}, or to FeelingTheirAge. For certain men, however, [[SilverFox it may just be the first step on the road to attractiveness.]] [[DoubleStandard A woman]], particularly in older works, may become an ElderlyBlueHairedLady.
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Advertising]]
21	* Old Clairol ad: "Does she or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure!" The implication is that if she is (using a Clairol product), it's to cover up the grey and, of course, that it's just the right product to start using once a woman has had this happen to her.
22	* Grecian Formula had commercials for men's version and women's version to help them cover up that grey. Their ads usually started with a man looking in a mirror and visibly unhappy about having this, and the woman being mistaken for her husband's mother rather than his wife. They're happier once they use the product and their grays have vanished.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* In one episode of ''Anime/CrayonShinChan'', Misae panics after Shinnosuke finds a single grey hair on her head, and attempts to paint it with a marker.
27	* Mis Mishtal from the anime ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'' went into hysterics after finding a single gray hair.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Comedy]]
31	* Creator/WhoopiGoldberg had an entire monologue built around realizing she's getting old. Part of it mentioned grey hairs showing up in her pubic region.
32	* Creator/BillyConnolly also said while grey hair on his head was bad, one of the worst shocks of aging was finding his first grey pubic hair. "In a certain light, my willy looks rather distinguished."
33	* Stewart Francis talks about finding his first grey pubic hair. He was calm about it and didn't freak out... unlike everyone else who was in the elevator with him.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Comic Books]]
37	* One ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'' story involved Jimmy Five's father thinking of himself as old and weak after one of his five hairs apparently goes gray. [[spoiler:It was actually covered in flour; the story was about his birthday.]]
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
41	* ''ComicStrip/Blondie1930'': Dagwood discovers his first grey hair and carries on about it while his wife Blondie tells him to QuitYourWhining. He finally calms down, then notices that Blondie has a grey hair too. [[HypocriticalHumor She faints.]]
42	* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' had one strip where Garfield panics in front of the mirror as he notices a wrinkle, a gray hair, and then a [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs wrinkled gray hair.]]
43
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
47	* At the start of ''Film/VanillaSky'', David finds a grey hair and promptly yanks it out. It seems like an innocuous detail, but actually ties into the film's underlying theme.
48	* As quoted above, Willy Wonka tells Charlie that this happening to him is the reason why he started the Golden Ticket contest to find an heir in [[Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory the 2005 film version]] of ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''.
49	* Creator/{{Disney}}'s Sing Along Songs had one song about the stages of life, one of which involved the man finding his first gray hair and snipping it off with a sour look.
50	* ''Film/{{Poltergeist\|1982}}'' has [[spoiler:the mom]] acquire a skunk stripe [[spoiler:[[DiseaseBleach as a result of the stressful haunting she has undergone]]]]. [[spoiler:She]] considers dyeing it, but doesn't.
51	* Movie!Rogue from ''Film/XMen1'' gets her Skunk Stripe not from age, but [[LockedIntoStrangeness as a result of being used to power Magneto's machine]]. She is asked whether she's considered dyeing it, but replies that she actually thinks it looks kind of cool, and wears it like a battle scar.
52	* The movie ''Film/TheAgeOfAdaline'' focuses on a woman [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immune from the ravages of time]], so of course aging is a theme. [[spoiler: The final shot is Adeline finding her first gray hair, one year after her aging restarted. Unlike most other reactions, hers is positive.]]
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* Clarissa Stump has a moment like this in ''Literature/MurderOnTheLeviathan'', and it is implied to not be the first time. She rips it out but is immediately ashamed of herself being in denial about her age.
57	* This is what kicks off the plot in ''Literature/WhichWitch'' by Creator/EvaIbbotson. Arriman the Awful has been waiting around for his prophesied successor to show up; now that this one gray hair has shown up, he can't wait anymore, and his manservant suggests that the prophecy means his son. Of course, he isn't married, so this requires him to find a wife...
58	* Played with in ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye''. Sixteen-year-old Holden acknowledges having a great deal of grey hair, but does not seem concerned by it, except as a means to disguise his age in order to buy alcohol. Nevertheless, it is listed as being one of his 'adult-qualities', which is significant considering the themes of the novel...
59	* Literature/AmeliaPeabody started discovering her first gray hair, over and over, round about World War One. Every time she spots one, she dyes it from a little bottle that she keeps dead secret (or did until her brother-in-law needed to make an emergency disguise).
60	* A lone gray hair on Alobar's head kicked off the plot of Creator/TomRobbins's ''Literature/JitterbugPerfume'', due to his village's rules that they must have a [[KlingonPromotion young and strong king]].
61	* In his book ''Time Flies'', Creator/BillCosby said that he did not mind the hair on his ''head'' turning gray, because he thought it made him look more dignified. His first gray ''pubic'' hair, on the other hand...
62	* While working a spell that requires three hairs in ''Literature/WhiteAsSnow'', Arpazia vaguely notices one of them is gray. Subverted in that Arpazia doesn't really have any sense of how old she is anymore, and is so disconnected from reality that she believes she's still a young girl.
63	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': {{Inverted\|Trope}} with Nynaeve, who's [[ImprobableAge exceptionally young]] to be a village wise woman and member of the Aes Sedai MagicalSociety, and has to work twice as hard to be taken seriously as a result. When she realizes that she won't have the gravitas of grey hair for at least [[WizardsLiveLonger another century or two]], she's quite distraught.
64	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Cersei taunts her twin brother Jaime with the fact that he's getting some grey hairs in his famous golden hair, while willfully ignoring the signs that her own famed beauty is fading as well.
65	* ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'': Stibbons (who's been basically running the University himself for years now because everyone keeps palming their work onto him) takes being called "young Stibbons" by one of the senior wizards particularly badly because he found a grey hair in his hairbrush that morning.
66	* In ''Literature/{{Sirena}}'', the titular mermaid has been taught how humans' hair changes color as they approach death. When her human husband Philoctetes grows his first gray hair, Sirena swims to Mother Dora's grotto and begs her to help Philoctetes become immortal. Mother Dora refuses because Hera hates Philoctetes and no god would risk offending her by helping him.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
70	* ''Series/Ana2020'': Ana goes to a spa so she can get "wink a hair cut" (code phrase for laser treatment for bikini hair removal). After the treatments, she has three gray hairs left behind because they are too light for the laser to pick up. She leaves the spa in a huff ''without bothering to put her trousers back on'' and goes to the spa next door to beg for a wax job. Freaking-out ensues when she is told "they don't do that here".
71	* In an episode of ''Series/{{Blackish}}'', Bow freaks out about a [[UnusualEuphemism single white female moving in downstairs.]]
72	* Buddy of ''Series/CharlesInCharge'' reacts disastrously to spotting a single grey hair.
73	* One episode of ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll'' sees Clarissa's mother panicking about getting older after discovering that she has a gray hair. Clarissa's dad, however, is quick to point out to her that she only ''had'' a gray hair, having just plucked it out before both characters entered the scene.
74	* Played with in ''Series/{{Dexter}}'':
75	-->'''Vince Masuka:''' What are you working on?\
76	'''Dexter:''' I, uh, found a gray hair. I was curious.\
77	'''Vince Masuka:''' Oh, dude, I've totally done that.\
78	'''Dexter:''' You're bald.\
79	'''Vince Masuka:''' ''[points below belt]''\
80	'''Dexter:''' Oh.
81	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Captain Jack Harkness is immortal and apparently unaging, but in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]] he mentions having found a grey hair, and theorizes that he is aging very, very slowly.
82	* John Crichton discovers one in the ''{{Series/Farscape}}'' episode "A Human Reaction". The episode moves on before he can really dwell on it but it's clear the prospect of growing old in space is unsettling to him.
83	* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. Natalie finds her first grey hair in an episode where the case of the week involved women taking vampire blood to keep themselves younger.
84	* In the final episode of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', [[spoiler:Richard]] finds one. Though rather than being a source of angst, he considers this a very good thing since it means [[spoiler:he's [[MortalityEnsues no longer immortal]].]]
85	* Dr Cox of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' goes a little nuts when he finds a gray hair in his happy trail.
86	* Likewise Samantha in ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', leading to a [[MyHairCameOutGreen horribly botched dye job]] when she tries using some drugstore hair color. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler: she solves the problem by shaving it all off]].
87	* Spoofed in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. The WickedWitch, Isobel, has [[GrandTheftMe taken over Lana's body]] and needs the hair of a virgin for a potion she's brewing. When ComicBook/LoisLane has her back turned, Isobel plucks one of Lois's hairs out, but frowns upon realizing that Lois isn't a virgin. Lois, who is unaware that Lana is being possessed by Isobel, angrily asks Isobel why she would pluck one of her hairs out. Isobel lies and says "It was gray," to which Lois insists "I don't have any gray hair." Isobel shrugs and looks innocent. Lois gets a nervous expression on her face and says "I'll...be in the bathroom using your mirror," and hurries off.
88	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E10NewGround New Ground]]" Helena Rozhenko notes the appearance of a few grey hairs in her adoptive son Worf's beard. She tells him not to worry, saying all Rozhenko men have beards of iron gray.
89	* ''Super Adventure Team'': When Buck notices his first grey hair, he freaks out about how old he is. When Talia says he's overreacting, he claims to be losing his hearing.
90	* ''Series/WillAndGrace'': A few days before his birthday Will tells Grace he's found a gray ''chest'' hair, which is worrying as he doesn't have that many of them to begin with. He later admits that he plucked it out of self-consciousness. Grace offers some perspective when he lets her see the hair.
91	-->'''Grace:''' Could be worse.\
92	'''Will:''' How? How could it be worse? (''Grace looks down towards his crotch'') Oh! Come on, Grace!
93
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Video Games]]
97	* In ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'', during the mission "Pop Goes the Boo Boo", you have to go in to see [[BrainyBaby Baby Rox]], but [[SmugSnake Simon Growl]] won't let you, and you try to trick him into leaving. One of the excuses is "you've got some grey hairs showing".
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Webcomics]]
101	* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': Twentysomething Marten [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3975 insists]] that he's not starting to go grey, he just has the occasional hair that [[DistinctionWithoutADifference doesn't have any pigment in it]].
102	-->'''Dora:''' That's... exactly what a grey hair ''is''. ...Oh my god, are you ''bothered'' by it?
103	* In one ''Webcomic/OzyAndMillie'' strip, Millie claims she's just noticed Ozy has a gray hair. Ozy, a ''gray fox'', just asks how long she's been waiting to use that one.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Web Original]]
107	* Mostly averted on ''[[http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/ Going Gray Looking Great]]'', though some members on the site share stories about experiences fitting this trope.
108	* Thoroughly averted on the [[http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=16951 Salt & Pepper Thread]] on the [[http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/ Long Hair Community forum]] in that those who regularly post in that thread don't mind and even celebrate what they feel is the beauty of their gray hair. Played straight in the accounts members share about feeling old upon finding their first gray hair(s), but subverted in that posts about finding gray in one's hair is considered a cause for celebration.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Western Animation]]
112	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' had Sam finding a gray hair on her head--this is definitely unusual, since she is only a teenager, but not necessarily impossible. This scares her into thinking that she's prematurely aging, which in turn worries her about how she'll do in an upcoming "Youth Spirit" contest.[[note]]It later turns out that the "gray hair" Sam found was apparently just some paint that Sam deduces must've gotten onto her head (somehow) when she was working on an art project using gray-colored paint.[[/note]] The {{Aesop}} of the episode, as delivered by [[CoolOldLady their school's elderly lunch lady]], [[DarkHorseVictory who ended up winning the contest]]: "It's not ''how'' old you are, it's how you are ''being'' old!"
113	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' plays this for laughs. Timmy's dad finds a gray hair in his nose and starts going on about how he's getting old. [[MidlifeCrisisCar It leads to him buying a car]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext and Timmy wishing to become it.]]
114	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': This happens to Marge Simpson when she finds one gray hair in her blue beehive. When she goes down to the beauty parlor to get rid of it, she (and the viewer) finds out that her hair is ''entirely gray'' already, but that the strong dye the parlor uses keeps knocking her out and causes short term memory loss. She decides to try going entirely grey for a while, but by the end of the episode, returns to using the dye.
115	** This is (possibly) a callback to a much earlier episode where Homer claims that Marge's hair actually started going gray all the way back in high school (when they were still only teenagers).
116	* ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' once painted a small portion of Dave's hair white to give them an excuse to treat him like he was treating his Uncle Willie (aka, Uncle Adventure). Namely, treating him like he couldn't do anything by himself.
117	* There's an entire ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' episode about this in season 4, where people at his gym suddenly start treating him like he's a decrepit old man, and Johnny discovers it's because he has his first grey hair. After several attempts at getting rid of the hair fails, Johnny gets a peptalk from Momma Bravo, and his refound confidence forces the hair back to its original color.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats2021'': In "The Big Diff," Stu freaks out when he discovers his first gray hair (at the age of 33).
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Real Life]]
122	* UsefulNotes/ElisabethOfAustria had famous long brown locks, and was so self-conscious of her gray hairs to the point where she tasked her hairdresser, Franziska "Fanny" Feifalik, with tweezing them.
123	* In some families, there's a hereditary trait of [[PrematurelyGreyHaired getting gray hairs at a younger-than-average age]]. Cue freaking out from teenagers that "I'm too young for this!"
124	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / FirstGrayHair