More than just a doll. Black Barbie 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. Black Barbie premieres June 19, only on Netflix.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 If you've gone your whole life and you've never seen anything made in your own image,
00:04 there is damage done.
00:06 ♪ I'm a Barbie girl ♪
00:09 ♪ In a Barbie world ♪
00:11 When I think of Barbie, I see a little white doll with blue eyes in all pink.
00:17 That's what I think.
00:19 I just found Barbie to be a little light-skinned.
00:23 Years ago, there were no black dolls.
00:29 There were all white dolls.
00:31 Little white girls, they could see possibility in their Barbies.
00:35 And there was nothing that I could relate to.
00:39 This is me and the creator of Barbie.
00:42 At Mattel, I worked on the lines.
00:45 She would say, "Do you have any suggestions?"
00:48 I was able to say, "We want a black Barbie."
00:51 That was a little act of revolution.
00:55 Crowning this doll as Barbie was telling the world black is beautiful, too.
01:00 ♪ I'm a black magic girl ♪
01:02 I designed black Barbie to reflect the total look of a black woman.
01:07 She's black, she's beautiful, she's dynamite.
01:10 I thought black Barbie felt magical.
01:13 From a young age, children can learn about inclusiveness.
01:17 Really pretty, has locks, just like me.
01:20 Black Barbie has just taken me to a whole different world.
01:25 I knew black Barbie was different, but I never realized the magnitude.
01:30 When did you first fall in love with black Barbie?
01:40 When I first got one in my hand.
01:42 ♪ I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world ♪
01:46 [BARBIE WORLD]
01:49 [BARBIE WORLD]
01:51 [BARBIE WORLD]
01:54 [BARBIE WORLD]
01:56 [BARBIE WORLD]
01:58 [BARBIE WORLD]
02:00 [BARBIE WORLD]
02:02 [BARBIE WORLD]
02:04 [BARBIE WORLD]