Bratz Doll Controversy or a Big Misunderstanding?

Have you ever wondered what happened to Carter Bryant, the creator of the Bratz dolls. He is probably laid up in the hospital somewhere recovering from a heart-attack over the mis characterization and representation of his Bratz dolls. There is Sasha: Black, Yasmin: Black, Jade: Asian, Cloe: White.“The only dolls with a passion for fashion,” dolls with attitudes, the Bratz were created as an alterative to the conventional westernized, standard Black dolls with a peculiar Eurocentric look. These dolls were over weight with thick, stringy hair, long but uncombable and often very dark skinned.

The ever popular Bratz dolls with their pretty and deeply enriched ethnic and Afrocentric look was created to inspire African American females, many of whom preferred to play with White dolls because Black dolls instilled in them a sense of inferiority due to the doll's humbling features, have undergone a massive change in appearance. The Black community thought they had a doll they could finally be take pride in. Now, these dolls, while still very pretty, are mainly White: Caucasian. Was this change an attempt to attract the popular consumer to buy what the commercial industry deemed a failed plan to promote the Black identity? Perhaps the commercial industry learned that White parents were not allowing their children to play with these dolls.

Or simply, White children were not playing with the dolls. Was this in fact a plan to boost commercial sales? Or, perhaps, was the change in the Bratz's identity simply Euro-American, mainstream reluctance on the part of the commercial industry not to accept or promote Black unity and identity through the creation of the dolls. Who knows; with the level of technology that we have in America this is the first time America has had dolls that captured the true nature of the African American identity. And now, the Bratz have a movie. So, how well are sales for these productive dolls? In 1981, MTV refused to air any music videos played, promoted, or preformed by African Americans.

 When Michael Jackson's Thriller video hit the airway in December 02, 1983, MTV lost music ratings. Warner Brothers and Marvel Comics are in a suit over copyrights to the X-men, a popular comic book strip. Warner Brothers has changed the identity of the cartoon character Storm, a female comic book heroin. She is originally a very dark skinned, dark hair African with the supernatural powers of the almighty Isis. Warner Brother now has her featured as a White woman with White hair, yet has the sexual endowment of a Black woman. Her true identity is never revealed. The same thing happened to a very young, 14-year-old Pocahanas. She was allowed to keep her ethnic identity but the very petite and slender Pocahanas was recently displayed with a very adult, voluptuous look. Today, she is endowed with an adult look.

What's next? Will she be made to look like a person of mixed descent, tomorrow, Caucasian even? This reminds me of how Hollywood discriminated against Bruce Lee when he played Cato, the loyal sidekick and chauffeur to the Green Hornet, one of Hollywood's crime fighting heros. They thought Bruce was too ethnic and “awfully oriental” so writers and producers never allowed him to uncover his mask while filming. Humm!

What's going on with the media? Is this overt (Blatant), covert (symbolic), or aversive (passive- aggressive) racism, commercialized and institutionalized, or a desperate attempt to save commercial sales and boost television ratings? Whatever problem may exist with the identity of the Bratz doll and Storm from Marvel comics' X-Men for that matter, new production of the dolls reflects racial undertones. Commercialized campaigns for the advertisement of the Bratz dolls' movie did not appear to promote the Black doll personalities Sasha and Yasmin. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe I am just out of touch with the promotion and sales of the Bratz doll television and movie industries; who knows? However, it appears to me that if we are to strive for true ethnic equality in this country then genuine changes in preceding analysis in the popular opinions and attitudes of Americans need to occur, and fast.