Black Barbie

Writer-director Lagueria Davis delivers a comprehensive look at the history of Black Barbie and her forerunners and poses poignant and timely questions about the importance of diversity in dolls.

[A]s elegant and enriching as the doll that inspired it.

The documentary is about what led to the 1980 release of Black Barbie, but the issues it explores run much deeper: the harm of lacking a “social mirror,” the slow pace of progress and the tensions around darkening a white fictional character.

Unfortunately, [Davis] and Rhimes have taken what is at times a fun and informative film, and made it self-indulgent, over-long and at times ridiculously po-faced.

Thankfully, it doesn’t drift away from actual conversations in the classroom and the real world, making the last half hour of “Black Barbie” the most fulfilling part.

A searing critique of what it means to be seen in mass media.

[An] expansive, informative, and thought-provoking documentary, which is part cultural anthropology, part corporate history, part sociological study, and part playful experimental art film

The documentary is a touching, personal look at the impact of the Black Barbie doll.

While the documentary isn't destined to be remembered, it fulfills its objective of dissemination and reflection on a facet that is not usually talked about. [Full review in Spanish]

But what begins as a statement of her true feelings quickly morphs into a celebration of the history of the Black doll Mattel released in 1979—20 years after the first (white) Barbie doll was launched...