Shonda Rhimes Set To Executive Produce Documentary About The Creation & Cultural Impact Of The Original Black Barbie From Mattel

Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes Set To Executive Produce Documentary About The Creation & Cultural Impact Of The Original Black Barbie From Mattel

A movie about the original Black Barbie is headed to Netflix.

According to reports, writer/producer Shonda Rhimes acquired the rights to a documentary about the Mattel doll and will be releasing it as part of her overall deal with the streaming platform.

Shonda Rhimes

Reportedly, the movie titled “Black Barbie” was written and directed by filmmaker Lagueria Davis, who debuted the project at SXSW earlier this year. A logline of the film reportedly describes it as a documentary examining “the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination”. The movie was reportedly met with widespread acclaim during the film festival.

Davis spoke about the excitement she had teaming up with Rhimes‘ production company Shondaland and Netflix to produce the film, stating:

“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,”

Lagueria Davis

Adding:

“We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.”

Reportedly, the history of the original Black Barbie doll is a story many haven’t heard. Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby are credited as champions of the toy, who were relentless in their pursuit of its creation while they worked at Mattel. It’s noted that the toy company took 31 years after the first ever Barbie made her debut to launch a Black version of the doll, which came in 1980. If it wasn’t for the work and dedication of those three Black women, it seems likely the toy’s inception may have been stalled even further.

The documentary comes on the heels of the billion-dollar “Barbie” blockbuster movie starring Margot Robbie as the famed toy, released earlier this year. At this time, it doesn’t seem that Rhimes has commented publicly about the project. However, her social media profile picture is currently a Barbie version of herself, which is seemingly to celebrate the coming movie.

There have been no details shared about when we can expect the film to be released at this time.

[VIA]

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