Award-winning producer and Shondaland visionary Shonda Rhimes is bringing her latest project to The Westport Library on Monday, June 17, holding a special screening of her documentary, Black Barbie, in the Trefz Forum.
The event will run from 6 to 9 pm, with the film being shown first, followed by a conversation between Rhimes and Bernicestine McLeod Bailey of TEAM Westport.
The current allotment of tickets has been claimed, but there is an option to join the waitlist. There is no charge to attend the screening.
“We are delighted to partner with the Library in welcoming this wonderful gift from Shonda Rhimes to the residents of Westport and Fairfield County during our ‘Season of Juneteenth,’” TEAM Westport Chair Harold Bailey Jr. said. “The documentary makes evident the seminal role of equity in delivering a sense of belonging in a very concrete way. We also thank Ngassam Ngnoumen for her role in enabling the event.”
Black Barbie, which will debut on Netflix on Juneteenth, tells the story of the three Black women at Mattel who were determined to create a doll who looked like them, and the impact that had on the Barbie brand as we know it.
In doing so, the film explores the history of Black dolls, their impact on civil rights and Black entrepreneurship, and the significant role of imaginative play in shaping children’s identity. It also juxtaposes the legacy of these three trailblazing women with the stories of a select group of Black women memorialized by Barbie dolls made in their image — all while highlighting celebrity and fan reflections on the impact of the iconic doll.
“If you’ve gone your whole life and never seen anything made in your image, there is damage done,” Rhimes said in the film trailer, adding, “I thought Black Barbie was magical.”
Rhimes, a Westport resident, was the Library’s honoree at the 2022 BOOKED for the evening celebration. She is the CEO of Shondaland; the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the hit shows Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal, and Inventing Anna; and the producer of How to Get Away with Murder, Bridgerton, and many more.
The first woman to create three television dramas that have achieved the 100-episode milestone (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal), Rhimes has been inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. She has also received a Peabody Award and honors from the Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, and Director’s Guild of America, plus several AFI Awards for Television Program of the Year and NAACP Image Awards.
In addition to her screenwriting, Rhimes published her memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person, in 2015.
