*A Black lecturer at the University of Baltimore is refusing to take his daughter to watch the new Barbie movie because the trailer is “overwhelmed with whiteness.”
Dwight Watkins, Editor at large for Salon.com, penned a commentary recounting the moment his young daughter expressed her interest in seeing the new film, so he decided to watch the official trailer.
Watkins stated that he was overwhelmed by whiteness and refused to go see the movie.
As Daily Mail reports, in his article, Watkins wrote: “It’s wild that the first Barbie doll dropped in 1959, and even though Black people were everywhere, we didn’t get a Black version until two decades later.”
He continued: “But this is 2023, and the movie should be way more progressive than the company’s history, right? Wrong. I watched the trailer and was overwhelmed with whiteness.
Black University of Baltimore professor says he’s refused his daughter’s request to go and see Barbie movie because its trailer ‘overwhelmed him with WHITENESS’ https://t.co/LSPW1CTJfO pic.twitter.com/YBakTmxguj
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) July 29, 2023
“Barbie, which does have a few nonwhite cast members, including (Issa) Rae, America Ferrera, and Ncuti Gatwa, has one of the whitest trailers I ever saw in my life,” he continued.
“And no, I’m not that guy; I genuinely believe that artists and filmmakers can create whatever they want, but I must be cautious of what I expose my daughter to,” Watkins added.
“She’s too young to understand the complexities of gender, so how do you even begin to open the door to conversations about race and how movies and commercials in America act like white people have a monopoly on beauty?’
“Barbie” stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, and has pulled in nearly $800 million in box office sales worldwide. Issa Rae appears as President Barbie.
Watkins said he is not teaching his daughter “to only connect with Black art; it’s just that everything white is always available and at the forefront of everything,” he wrote.
“You don’t have to search for white content; it’s already in your face,” the concerned father added.
“The fact is, I can do everything in my power to keep my daughter away from the ‘white is always right’ ideology and still may not be able to protect her from that way of thinking because our country is so fixed on that message,” he added.
“But that doesn’t exempt me from religiously teaching her that Black is beautiful, even though Hollywood is only willing to show it in small doses. Avoiding films like ‘Barbie’ is a part of that teaching.”
READ MORE: Director Greta Gerwig Talks Possible ‘Barbie’ Sequel
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