*Netflix has released the official trailer for Shonda Rhimes’ documentary about Mattel’s Black Barbie doll.
The protect, titled “Black Barbie” spotlights the popular doll that debuted in 1980, 31 years after the original Barbie. Directed by Lagueria Davis, we reported earlier that the doc features Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby, the three Black women who advocated for the toy while working at Mattel.
“Telling Black Barbie’s story has been such a personal journey and it warms my heart to celebrate the legacy of my aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby in our film,” Davis said in a statement. “We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.”
The documentary is executive produced by Shonda and Betsy Beers as part of their overall deal with Netflix. Watch the new trailer above.
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Per Netflix: “Through insider interviews and charismatic retellings of what went down at Mattel in the days leading up to Black Barbie’s debut, the documentary examines the importance of true representation — and how dolls aren’t just dolls, but childhood symbols that can be crucial to identity formation and imagination.”
In a statement, Shonda Rhimes said, “If you’ve gone your whole life and you’ve never seen anything made in your own image,” says Shonda Rhimes, perched in a striped chair at the start of the trailer for Black Barbie, “there is damage done.”
Producer Aaliyah Williams said the documentary is “really a love letter to Black women in this beautiful way, and women overall during this time.”
“Mattel released the first Black and Hispanic Barbie dolls, challenging the long-held perception that the doll represented a singular standard of beauty. The first Black Barbie doll wasn’t introduced in 1980, but in 1968”
The History of Barbie https://t.co/NauNhRCf1H pic.twitter.com/BB81oEz2Ap
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) June 12, 2023
“Collaborating with these talented filmmakers to introduce their passion project to our global Shondaland audience was an opportunity we could not pass up,” Rhimes tells Shondaland.
“Black Barbie provides the hallmarks of storytelling that make a Shondaland project great — it provides a window into another world and holds up a mirror to our childhood experiences,” she added. “We were so proud to contribute our Shondaland reach and access to help the filmmakers enhance Black Barbie with new content while keeping its brilliant original vision.”
“Black Barbie” will debut on Netflix on June 19.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Shonda Rhimes Developing Documentary on First Black Barbie Doll
