11 Female Characters Who Were So Traumatized They Needed A Haircut

    I have never known a woman to cut her hair for reasons other than serious trauma. Have you?!

    Ariane Lange
    by Ariane Lange

    BuzzFeed News Reporter

    Lionsgate

    If a woman on TV or in a movie gets a shorter haircut, you can tell she's probably suffered a recent trauma. Because everyone knows "I just thought it would look cute" wouldn't make any sense!

    1. Sarah Tobias, The Accused (1988)

    Paramount Pictures

    The change: Shoulder-length hair to a longish pixie

    Why get a haircut? Sarah (Jodie Foster) is gang-raped, and her rapists are sentenced not for rape, but for "reckless endangerment." The attorney prosecuting her case didn't think she would make a credible witness because, among other things, she had been drinking on the night of the attack. The rapists contended at trial that the sex was consensual.

    2. Claudia, Interview with the Vampire (1994)

    Warner Bros.

    The change: Shoulder-length curls to a mini-fro

    Why get a haircut? The two vampires who take care of Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) discover she's keeping a corpse in her bed, which forces a realization that she has no control over any aspect of her life.

    3. Susannah Fincannon-Ludlow, Legends of the Fall (1994)

    TriStar Pictures
    TriStar Pictures

    The change: At least two large chunks cut from the top of her boob-length hair

    Why get a haircut? Unable to be with her true love, Susannah (Julia Ormond) is about to shoot herself.

    4. Deb, Empire Records (1995)

    Warner Bros.
    Warner Bros.

    The change: Bob to bald

    Why get a haircut? Deb (Robin Tunney) tried to kill herself. "I was just really tired of being invisible," she says.

    5. Bernadine "Bernie" Harris, Waiting to Exhale (1995)

    The change: Upper-boob-length hair to two-inch-long hair

    Why get a haircut? Bernie's (Angela Bassett) scumbag husband let her devote her life to him, his business, and their children, only to leave her for his secretary.

    6. Felicity Porter, Felicity (1999)

    The WB / Via youtube.com

    The change: Long, collarbone-length curls to pixie

    Why get a haircut? Felicity (Keri Russell) opened her heart; a man broke it.

    7. Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002)

    The WB
    The WB

    The change: Nipple-length hair to shoulder-length hair

    Why get a haircut? Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) has sex with a vampire she kind of hates, and it's weird, and then that vampire calls her "Goldilocks."

    8. Fantine, Les Misérables (2012)

    Universal Pictures

    The change: Waist-length hair to inch-long hair

    Why get a haircut? Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is fired from her job and must sell her hair to support her illegitimate child.

    9. Det. Olivia Benson, Law & Order: SVU (2013)

    NBC

    The change: Took a few inches off her hair

    Why get a haircut? A serial rapist-murderer kidnapped the detective (Mariska Hargitay), held her hostage, and attempted to rape her. She escapes.

    10. Hannah Horvath, Girls (2013)

    HBO

    The change: Longer bob to mangled Joan of Arc bowl

    Why get a haircut? Hannah's (Lena Dunham) OCD symptoms are so terrible that she perforates her eardrum with some too-vigorous Q-tip action, and then she agrees to write a book in one day, which is not possible.

    11. Tris Prior, The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015)

    Lionsgate

    The change: Nipple-length hair to top of the ear–grazing hair

    Why get a haircut? Tris (Shailene Woodley) watched her mother die.

    Not that these aren't legitimate reasons for a haircut, but a getting shorter hair isn't always a female distress signal.