Move over, Margot Robbie. It’s s time for Black Barbies to take centerstage!
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And that’s exactly what’ll happen once the new Netflix feature documenting how the first Black Barbie was introduced into Mattel and the group of Black women brave enough to make it happen.
Aptly titled Black Barbie, the forthcoming documentary celebrates the momentous impact three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as we know it. Through these charismatic insiders’ stories, the documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.
The film is set to be executive produced by Shonda Rhimes through Shondaland—which acquired the world-wide rights to the story on Tuesday—and directed by Lagueria Davis. A work-in-progress cut of the film premiered at this year’s SXSW and was met with rave acceptance and critical acclaim.
“Telling Black Barbie’s story has been such a personal journey and it warms my heart to celebrate the legacy of my aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby in our film,” Davis said in a statement. “We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.”
I don’t know about you but I, for one, am am glad to see Black barbies get the feature treatment—even if it is a documentary. We already saw how the world responded to the mere thought and sight of Barbie earlier this summer and how it subsequently reacted when the film’s true themes and messages were revealed. It’ll be great to see some of that further expounded upon given the added layer of race and gender with the introduction of the Black Barbie. Besides, seeing the sprinkle of Issa Rae and Alexandra Shipp in that film wasn’t enough by any means. Enough of the side storylines, it’s time to put Black Barbies and everything they meant front and center.
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