As part of their Ladies of the 80′s Barbie doll series, Mattel is making a miniature Alex Owens as played by Jennifer Beals from the iconic 1980′s movie Flashdance (1983).
The doll looks like this…
Basically that’s…
... this face...
… in that same pale skin tone too…
… wearing…
... this outfit...
(plus black singlet under the grey sweater and black leg warmers)
Today, Jennifer Beals looks like this…
Jennifer Beals
She is of both African and European heritage, that makes her a woman of colour… although looking at the doll, you’d be forgiven if you thought she was just of European descent.
Why couldn’t they use *this* skin tone if the Mackie face *had to be* used?
tanned barbie
… or maybe a darker beige at least?
in between?
And people still wonder why there are still complaints about the media whitewashing* everything – it was offensive the first time, the second time… the third time… all the way to the last time… the more it’s done does not make it any less offensive and misleading… hello Prince of Persia**? It seems that POC are seen as not good enough to play characters of colour… and now it also appears that dolls of colour aren’t good enough to represent *real* people of colour!
*racebending.com – “advocating just and equal opportunity in film and television”
**What’s Wrong With This Picture? @ Muslim Reverie (090725)
***dolls used
- doll #1 – Barbie doll as Christine from the Phantom of the Opera giftset, SKU# 20377 (1998)
- doll #2 – Barbie doll from Lilly Pulitzer giftset with Stacie doll, SKU# H0187 (2005)
- doll #3 – MAC Barbie doll, SKU# K7966 (2007)
dolls are for demonstration purposes only, not for sale.
Tags: african american, brown skin, erasure & exclusion, people of color, whitewashing, women of color
You know I do get that there is a tendancy to whitewash representations of people of color, but to be honest with you I don’t think this an example of that problem because honestly, even though Jennifer Beals is biracial I would never have known it if she hadn’t mentioned it ,so pretty much any shade of white except for alabaster would represent her more accurately than any darker shade would.
Going off topic a bit to make my point,but this is a lot like all the complaints there are that Ava Gardner got the role in Showboat that should have gone to Lena Horne ,I never agreed with that point of view .Since that character was supposed to be thought to be white for months, in a racist environment,while surrounded by white women in an era when none of them could have the slightest hint of a tan,the actress portraying the role had to be, for all intents and purposes ,white.A hint of exoticism like that of Gardner made her playing someone passing for white likely while still making the revelation of her true racial origins a credible surprise but light-skinned as she was,I never would have taken Lena Horne for a white woman nor understood how she could fool thousands of people observing her in the close quarters of a boat.Whereas I think Jennifer Beals could pull it off .
There is a world of difference between being light-skinned for a POC (as was Horne)and being a bit darker than the usual white person(as Beals seems) and I’m not sure a doll could be made in a shade that could convey the slight difference there is between Jennifer’s skintone and the one an ordinary Barbie has, so Mattel is making the right choice.
[Reply]
Therese Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 10:58 am
that’s why I’ve included a “white barbie” in a “tanned skin tone” as a better example of what they could use… being a POC is more than just skin shade, I myself am Asian and as of this moment… my skin tone is much closer to the pale barbie I’ve included above… except my features would never pass as white lol
yikes! forgot to add… thank you so much for adding your comment
[Reply]
Therese Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
I’ve added a pic of a doll with a possible “in between” skin shade… Jennifer Beals definitely is NOT pale… maybe not “dark” but not ivory either! Mattel has at least 2 beige skintones in between “almost white” to tanned beige… I hope the production doll will be darker than the prototype photo at least.
[Reply]
In my earlier commentI forgot to tell you how fun it is to read your blog ,I bought a Janay on ebay after reading your post about her.
I should mention that perhaps our difference in perceptions stems from the fact that I have seen Jennifer Beals in person ,her shade would be pretty much mid-way between the bride you have at the top and the Mackie tanned doll you have , so that’s why I don’t feel that Mattel is too far off the mark this time .I suppose they could just blend the two colors ,butI’ve noticed that whenever mainstream companies try to be too accurate they botch things up.
For example,they just aren’t able to recreate the ivory undertone under the golden beige that you see in a lot Chinese skins or the copper undertone in the neutral beige that many Native Americans have so when they try to make a “real“ethnic doll it ends up with this murky color that just looks dead .Which I guess is still an improvement on the unbelievable tan of those Barbies from the seventies and eighties that actually contains both red and orange in a taupe base!
It’s the same thing with cosmetics companies,I’ve been blending two shades of foundation ever since I’ve started wearing make-up because the colors they offer are always off somehow.
Since color matching isn’t rocket science I’ve come to think that they don’t get it right because it can’t be done on their usual industial scale,(for example,the relatively rarer Silkstones have more lifelike colours than ordinary Barbies of the same year) so I’d rather see a Flashdance doll that is a smidgen too light than one with a totally botched color.
I guess its being in Canada makes me more concerned about esthetics than politics.lol
[Reply]
Therese Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
well, I actually thought Jennifer Beals looked Spanish or darker French… South-West European or something… but I’m not surprised to hear that she’s multi-ethnic either… in other words, she looks like a human bah! I do very much hate using the word “race” as it is total junk scientifically but it is very real in terms of social interactions.
… and I hear ya about the make up… I generally wear the 2nd or 3rd lightest shade in a line – and mix the equivalent “warm” colour and “cool” colour because I have a “neutral” AND “yellow” undertone… yes, yellow can be neutral (lucky me, at least most make up companies make beige – I do realise that is much harder to get the very dark matching skin tones in regular make up lines) – as a designer, you can give me a thousand colours and I’d still not be able to find the “right” one I’m looking for LOL
As for politics, I’ve taught myself to be more aware – it is neither from the environment I live in nor part of the profession I have now chosen – I just believe it is important to understand the dynamics of privilege and oppression and the roles they play in this world.
[Reply]
I agree, Therese, with both the color issue – the doll should have been less pinkish and the head mold issue. Ms. Beals has a long, thin face – the Mackie head is shorter and more rounded.
Complexion subtles can be difficult in plastic/vinyl, but the doll could have been closer to the original if either of the two dolls you use in comparison were to have been used.
Eh. And it is the aesthetics that matter … getting the closest resemblance possible.
[Reply]
Mattel seems determined to only market to white Baby Boomers. I’m getting burned out on Barbie, because they’re all starting to blend together. Everyone doesn’t look like a Mackie.
[Reply]
I absolutely agree! As a light skinned woman of color with curly hair, Jennifer Beals was a role model. I was 8 when Flashdance came out and I knew she wasn’t white (not totally anyway). But sadly, it all comes down to money. You don’t see Grace Jones as one of their Ladies of the 80′s….
[Reply]
Therese Reply:
July 25th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Maybe it was a licensing issue? I would prefer Grace Jones to be done by Integrity Toys or some other company, she was so edgey and adventurous… and Mattel are too safe…
[Reply]
Therese, I think I just recovered from shock of the thought of Mattel doing a Grace Jones doll, LOL. I doubt it would happen. “Real” people can become edgy after Mattel has made their dolls but NOT before – thinking Lindsay Lohan, Rosie O’ Donnell, and Giovanni of Rebelde. Ha, ha!
[Reply]