Lagueria Davis takes an informative and personal deep dive into the creation of a groundbreaking, but often overlooked children’s toy in Black Barbie: A Documentary.
For as long as children’s toys have existed, there has always been an ongoing discussion to be had about lack of visible representation. Thanks to largely white focus groups and advertising campaigns, black dolls (as well as those featuring other people of colour) have been a rarity. Director Davis examines her own feelings towards her childhood playthings via her aunt, Beulah Mae Mitchell, a longtime employee of Mattel that was instrumental in creating the first black Barbie doll.
Davis has a lot of deep and varied topics to cover with Black Barbie: A Documentary, and not just the titular doll’s impact on children and popular culture as a whole. There’s an entire of legacy of black dolls that hasn’t been told in this great of detail, and it’s nice to see a section of the film devoted to talking about the contributions of the Shindana toy factory in California, the largest producer of such toys in the late 70s and early 80s. This focus on history and its value to our current understanding of the intersection of race and childhood development is where Davis’ work shines brightest.
But whenever making a film about a topic so iconic and controversial (even in its mainly white form), there’s plenty of opportunities for overstuffing. There’s a constant push and pull throughout Black Barbie: A Documentary where it’s hard to tell if those involved are proud of the legacy of their creation, upset that it didn’t get more promotion, or are dismayed as to where the toy seems to be headed today. It’s complicated, and not always presented in the most authoritative of lights, but Davis’ framing of this film as a personal journey and not straight history lesson papers over some of the more wishy-washy passages.
Then there’s the matter of how even black Barbie helped to further the unrealistic beauty standards already set by the doll, and the impact this still tends to have on children. Black Barbie: A Documentary has a wonderful, if challengingly lengthy sequence where children talk about race and body image in relation to the doll, but it almost feels like a movie unto itself.
There’s a lot to unpack in Black Barbie: A Documentary, and while the film can seem scattered, Davis deserves a lot of praise for balancing the personal, psychological, and historical in as comprehensive a way as possible.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 – 3:30 pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Saturday, May 6, 2023 – 4:45 pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
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