Following the gargantuan success of Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women)’s Barbie, Netflix and Shonda Rhimes‘ (Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy) Shondaland have landed Black Barbie: A Documentary. The film details Mattel’s introduction of a Black doll to its Barbie collection and the women responsible for making it happen.
“Black Barbie celebrates the momentous impact three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as we know it,” the streaming giant emphasised. “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.”
Directed by Lagueria Davis (1 in 3, To The Wonder) and produced alongside Aaliyah Williams (Really Love, The Young and Evil) with Rhimes as a secondary producer, a work-in-progress cut of the film premiered at SXSW 2023 in March 2023 to mixed reviews. Some, like The Hollywood Reporter, felt that the film’s primary focus on racism was not as impactful as it could have been.
“Topics of conversation include the Barbie vlogs on racism during the height of the 2020 protests and feeble attempts to give Black Barbie her own stories. Interesting as these subjects are, there’s a breathless quality to their unfolding here — an understandable effort to say as much as possible within a limited running time.”
However, other critics, such as Lisa Kennedy, felt the depth of the deep-rooted pain Black Barbie was trying to convey and commended Davis’ complex narrative as it explored the doll brand’s partnership with diversity and inclusion, drawing parallels to the larger society.
“With its deeply amusing re-creations of actual Barbie dolls sauntering into white spaces or sitting at the end of a conference room table (the only BIDOC — Black, indigenous doll of color, so to speak), the movie can be wryly playful. … But there is pain, here, too,” the film critic wrote in her Variety review.
Moving away from reviews and critics, Davis has opened up that Black Barbie strikes a personal chord with her and is grateful to both Netflix and Shondaland.
“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. We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.”
Sasha has been a lover of all things geek since before she could read, having driven her mother up the wall in providing geek material as fast as her daughter could get through them. While Fantasy has been her greatest love, Sasha won’t say no to anything Horror, Action-Packed, or Sci-Fi!
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