‘Black is beautiful,’ asserts the documentary about the first-ever Black Barbie, which tells the story of the three Black women who made a doll that was wholly theirs, and racial rights in the US
“I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world/Life in plastic, it’s fantastic/You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere/Imagination, life is your creation…” goes the chorus of the extremely hit song Barbie Girl sung by the Danish-Norwegian band Aqua. The song was an anthem for the late 1990s’ kids, especially young girls across the world. All the girls wanted to either be a ‘Barbie girl’ — the famous toy created by Mattel — or at least own one. The famous earworm track is just a small nod of acknowledgement to the global phenomena of Barbie.
The minute we say ‘Barbie,’ a singular image is conjured in most minds — a slender, perky blonde with bright blue eyes and a porcelain complexion. For decades, this seemingly innocuous doll has exerted an influence that surpasses even the most powerful monarchs of the world. But why was this all powerful doll white? And why were entire demographics forced to grow up with a toy that had nothing in common with them? And why did it take Mattel 20 years to create a ‘Black Barbie’ even when the white Barbie had surpassed all commercial expectations and projections.
It Takes a Village
Black Barbie (Netflix), a one-and-half-hour documentary directed by Lagueria Davis and produced by Shonda Rhimes, asks these above-mentioned questions and some more. The film is narrated through interviews and conversations with three women who played pivotal roles in creating the first-ever black Barbie that hit the shelves in 1980 — 21 years after the first ever Barbie was rolled out in 1959. We meet Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride-Irby, all employees of Mattel, all black women, who steered the course of history to create the first ever Black Barbie.
The film takes us through the processes and iterations of the Black Barbie, replete with an Afro and how eventually it was modelled a bit on RnB Diana Ross’s sartorial choices. It also highlights the fact that Mattel had created ‘black dolls’ before, but they were not Barbie. They were ‘companions’ of the famed doll — ‘Francie, Christie, Julia and Cara — all of them played second fiddle to the iconic toy.
The Power of Black
Black Barbie delves into the issues of racism, bigotry, and the systematic oppression and disenfranchisement faced by the Black community in the USA. It does this through the symbolic lens of dolls — especially Barbie — making an emotionally powerful statement about these deeply entrenched problems.
Throughout the film one hears candid confessions from many middle-aged women who were forced to play with a blonde Barbie, a toy they had nothing in common with. The problem wasn’t that Black girls were playing with a blonde doll, but how, subconsciously, an unrealistic benchmark of beauty and perfection was being set by these picture-perfect toys. A standard that is an impossible ideal for anyone to meet.
The film chronicles the stories of Black dolls, with a parallel track of the journey of racial rights in the USA. These parallel tracks mention the famous Clark Doll Test (1940), the integration of public schools (1954), the Watts Rebellion (1965), and Shindana Toys. This intricate tapestry underscores the message that a toy is never just a toy — the dolls could very well be at the forefront of the civil rights movement.
In Their Image
Unlike all other toys, dolls mirror the human form and body. For decades, Mattel’s Barbie wielded an unrealistic standard of beauty, becoming a global gold standard many were pressured to adhere to. This impact wasn’t just limited to the West. In India, like many countries, Barbie held immense sway. Traditionally, however, most cultures had their own dolls, crafted from wood or fabric, reflecting their unique aesthetics. Sadly, these dolls and toys have now been relegated to museums or curio shops. Black Barbie does acknowledge this issue and initiates a conversation around it, it for sure could have delved deeper into this fascinating contrast.
The first Black Barbie marked a watershed moment, and it needs to be celebrated. The film does that, in an engaging style. But it seems to hedge the issue that Mattel needs to step up for true progress on racial issues. The current absence of Black designers on the Barbie team at Mattel highlights this need.
The film features prominent celebrities, including producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes; Misty Copeland, the first-ever Black principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre and Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first-ever hijab-wearing Muslim Olympian member of the United States. All of them — and a horde of others, including Yara Shahidi, Tina Turner and Destiny’s Child — have had Barbies dedicated to them — and it could all be possible because of the first-ever Black Barbie.
Also it feels a bit strange that in 2024, the world has survived “Barbenheimer” — the pop cultural buzz that surrounded the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer last year — with both films dominating the award seasons. And yet the film and its mention is conspicuous by its absence in the documentary. Watch it if you are still running a Barbie fever. And even if you are not. It’s history at its very engaging best.
