Ava DuVernay is an award winning director. (Photo : Reuters)
Ave DuVernay was surprised to know that Mattel has agreed to create a limited-edition Barbie that replicates the look of the acclaimed film director with the hopes of promoting diversity, especially in Hollywood.
The 43-year-old film director who made the Oscar-nominated film titled "Selma" hopes that both boys and girls would appreciate the Barbie replica of a black female director.
When DuVernay was a child, she and her siblings would often customize the Barbie dolls whenever the film director's mother did not want the children to be outside, according to Vanity Fair.
From using Sharpies to turn the hair black and utilizing pens to turn the typical looks into those that would resemble the beautiful women in the neighborhood, the sisters always hoped to have a doll that would accurately represent Latinas.
Since Mattel has started to bring out a diverse array of Barbie dolls, perhaps children would be able to understand people who are representatives of different beliefs, races and groups. When kids start to play with the diversified dolls and create colorful stories, the children might learn to be accepting of others regardless of physical appearance early on.
Furthermore, DuVernay hopes that the limited-edition doll brings about talks about the small number of women directors in Hollywood compared to men and the factors that impede the access of aspiring women. However, the screenwriter also noted that a doll alone would not immediately get rid of the structural elements that have led to problems in representation.
Aside from DuVernay, Mattel also made Barbie replicas of American singer Emmy Rossum, actress Kristin Chenoweth, country singer Trisha Yearwood, Eva Chef and Sydney Keiser, who is actually a five-year-old fashion designer.
In other news, DuVernay criticized "Gods of Egypt" for failing to represent cultural diversity and style of the time period targeted by the upcoming film, according to Rolling Out. The film director accused the film of basically whitewashing the story by not hiring enough diverse actors that would have better represented the people of Egypt.
Surprisingly, "Gods of Egypt" director Alex Proyas apologized for the inability to show respect for diversity by making the right casting choices.
"Gods of Egypt" will be released on theaters on Feb. 26, 2016.
