It's the early 1960's in the Cuthbert home. Caroline, age 6, while playing in the living room discovers static electricity and is ec-static about showing her discovery to her family by way of her hair. Until this moment, she did not realize that "wild hair" is not an option in her family and that the only acceptable hairstyle is essentially a lacquered helmet. At age 17, still wearing the same coiffed "do" that her mother forced on her that fateful day when she was 6, Caroline must find the courage to release herself (and her hair) from her family's control.