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Movies about popular toys have been all the rage, and 2023 is no exception. Earlier this year, we got The Super Mario Bros. Movie, just last week Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hit theaters, and later this summer Warner Bros. Discovery will release Barbie. It turns out this was the future millennials wanted. Behind each toy is a story, especially Barbie, the most popular doll in the world. You all know her. She dates Ken, drives a pink convertible, and can never quite get down from her heels. But do you know her Afro-centric counterpart? No, I am not talking about Ballerina Cara, Sun Jewel Shani, or Beach Glam Nikki. I am talking about Black Barbie.
In today’s deadCenter 2023 interview, Black Barbie: A Documentary director/producer Lagueria Davis joins the show to discuss what makes Barbie such a powerful icon. She will also dive into how she unearthed the stories behind the history of Black Barbie through her incredible access to industry change makers like Kitty Black Perkins.
Tune in to the conversation with Lagueria to hear why this is a must-see documentary before this summer’s Barbie movie.
Special Guest
Lagueria Davis
Director/Producer of Black Barbie: A Documentary
About Black Barbie: A Documentary
According to the deadCenter website, Black Barbie: A Documentary is described as:
Love her or hate her, almost everyone has a Barbie story. For filmmaker Lagueria Davis, it all started with her 83-year-old Aunt Beulah Mae asking a seemingly simple question, “Why not make a Barbie that looks like me?”
Black Barbie is a personal exploration that tells a richly archival, thought-provoking story that voices the insights and experiences of Beulah Mae Mitchell, who spent 45 years working at Mattel. Discussing how the absence of Black images in the “social mirror” left Black girls with little other than White subjects for self-reflection and self-projection, Beulah Mae Mitchell and other Black women in the film talk about their own complex, varied experiences of not seeing themselves represented and how Black Barbie’s transformative arrival affected them personally.
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