Exploring Identity and Representation :: A Review of the Black Barbie Documentary
I recently watched the Black Barbie documentary on Netflix and I must say, it was brilliantly done. I will try not to give too much away so that I don’t ruin it for those who haven’t had a chance to watch it. Most of the world knows about Barbie dolls, even if you did not play with dolls yourself you are most likely aware of the existence of Barbie. What you may not know is that there was a 21 year gap between when the original white Barbie doll was introduced (1959) and when the first black Barbie doll hit the scene (1980).
You may be asking yourself: Why is this significant? Why are we making Barbie dolls about race? Great questions and the documentary does a great job of answering those questions but I’ll give you the short version. Children see themselves in what they watch and what they play with, i.e toys/dolls. When a child doesn’t see themselves represented it’s harder for them to dream and see themselves doing the great things their toys represent.
This is why it was such a monumental event when black dolls were introduced into the Barbie world of play.
The documentary points out how one question changed the course of doll making. The question was asked by a black woman to the owners of Mattel, “When are we going to get a black Barbie?” Up until then there were only white Barbie dolls. That one question started an entire movement. The owners of Mattel started to introduce black friends of Barbie, which eventually opened the door for black Barbie to make her entrance.
It took another black woman to see the importance and value in not only Barbie’s friends being black but Barbie herself being black. Y’all, if I had pearls I would have clutched them. The vision this woman saw and the points that she made were and still are priceless. She opened the company’s view to see that making Barbie’s friends black wasn’t enough. In making only Barbie’s friend’s black they were teaching children of color that they could never be the hero of their own story, they’d only ever be sidekicks. However, making the main character (Barbie) black, this was how to show kids of color they were the stars of their own show and the architects of their destiny.
The documentary continues on and showcases more black women who contributed to the success of black Barbie and her importance over time. The writers do highlight that there is more work to be done in the industry of toy making and inclusion. I was so inspired watching this documentary, learning a piece of history that is important to myself and my daughter (even if she doesn’t know it yet). History that I would have never known about had I not watched this documentary.
