Ava DuVernay Gets a Barbie!
Black female director extraordinaire Ava DuVernay and the first Black female director to have a film (Selma) nominated by the Academy Awards, was selected as one of the six “Shereos” by Mattel and received a Barbie designed in her likeness. The doll was announced by Mattel Friday April 24.
Designed with gorgeous braids similar to DuVernay’s locs, the doll sits pretty in a director’s chair and has an uncanny resemblance to Duvernay—unlike many celebrity dolls whose features take on a European look with brown paint made to look African American.
Oddly the doll isn’t available to the public for purchase yet. But that didn’t stop our girl from gushing about the incredible honor.
“I always played with Barbies w/ my sisters Jina + Tera,” DuVernay commented on Instagram. “For hours making stories + scenarios. So this is special. Thanks, @Mattel, for creating a doll that my sisters and I would have loved back then. Pretty cool.”