“Black Barbie”(2017) by Comfort Arthur
“Black Barbie” (2017) is a short animation film about the problems of beauty standard, especially, in skin bleaching. This film is produced by Comfort Arthur, a Ghanaian artist and award-winning Animator. She was the best Animator at the Golden Movie Awards 2016. Black Barbie has been screened at over 40 film festivals, including the We Are One Film Festival 2020.
Black Barbie departs from personal experience of Comfort Arthur on how a black young woman deals with the problem of beauty standard. She remembers her childhood when her mother gave her a black barbie. She didn’t like it at all. When she was 23 years old, she tried to use skin bleaching for the first time. The bleaching made her skin feel like it was burnt and caused an addiction. She decided to stop it. One day, she realized and questioned “What it means to be beautiful?” and “Will she accept herself as she is?”
Beauty standard in our society is shaped by family, peer group, and also media. Nowadays, social media has an important role to influence the perceptions of body image in young women. According to Richard M. Perloff –Professor of Communication at Cleveland State University, the interactive format of social media, such as the strong peer presence on comments columns, like/love button, and the exchange of visual image, can significantly influence the body image of users.
The internalization of beauty standards leads to the choice of self-perception, sexual behaviour, employment, or marital status. The dominant European standards of beauty can affect self-hatred not only on the life of black women but also other races.
Comfort Arthur told CGTN, at first, she makes this film to encourage her little cousin to stop using skin bleaching. She wants her film not only to entertain but also educate others. The impact of this film is wider than she expected, it also gives inspiration not just on black people but also on different races.
Black Barbie is inspiring, especially on opposing the dominance of white skin beauty standards. This film helps women to overcome beauty standard problems that are often cause body dissatisfaction and even eating disorders.
Interview with Comfort Arthur
