Black Barbie, the new documentary from Netflix tells the story of three Black women at Mattel responsible for spearheading the evolution of the Barbie brand in 1980. The film also explores the importance of representation and diversity, and how dolls can be critical to the way children see themselves for years to come.
Directed by Lagueria Davis, Black Barbie follows Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride-Irby, and their involvement with the development of this groundbreaking project. The film itself materialized when Davis went to California as a young filmmaker to move in with Mitchell, her aunt. In seeing Mitchell’s doll collection–and her story about how they came to be–-Davis decided to examine the larger story of Black Barbie by creating a documentary for the world to see.
“I think that Black Barbie, having Barbies and tools of imagination where little girls and boys can see themselves, completely see themselves, and not have to try to find themselves in something that doesn’t look like them or a standard that’s been set that is not connected to who they are naturally—it’s very important,” Davis says.
Ahead of the film’s release on June 19, Davis and producer Aaliyah Williams sat down with ESSENCE to discuss Black Barbie, how the documentary got started, the doll’s impact on popular culture, and so much more.
ESSENCE: How did you fall into your role with this film? How did that process come about?
Aaliyah Williams: It is such an interesting moment of serendipity. So, I got an email from a good friend, an industry colleague we’ve worked with and developed projects together, and she sent out this email saying, “I love this filmmaker. She just got her financing for this movie and she needs a producer,” and she attached Lagueria’s pitch deck at the time….
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