Black-ish once again hits it out of the park with an episode examining something many people haven’t considered and others have had to consider all too well. In this case, it’s the prevalence of white dolls and absence of any black dolls for little girls.
Dre begins with an excellent monologue about the importance of choices. Back in the day, he was content with a water gun or a ball, but now kids have a vast variety of choices for everything in their lives. These choices help them shape who they become. That’s why the lack of choices when it comes to black representation is so frustrating to both Bow and Dre. When the well-meaning but air-headed Janine gives Diane a white GirlStory doll for her birthday, they politely ask for the receipt. Diane deserves a doll that looks like her.
It’s not exactly subtle what GirlStory really is. I think anyone who was a girl in the 90s immediately made the connection. Yes, American Girl had one black doll, and yes, she was a runaway slave. I remember that among my classmates it was very important to have the doll that looked exactly like you. I was too young to realize that many didn’t have that choice.
Diane doesn’t have much of a choice either. As Patrice, the condescending store assistant (played by Casey Wilson) shows Diane and Bow, there’s only two black dolls in the collection. Diane can either have Sassy Sadie, who is a runaway slave, or Sassy Selma, who marched… at Selma… There wasn’t a lot of thought put into the dolls.
Bow is so outraged that she starts quoting Maya Angelou and gets dragged out of the store by a very embarrassed Diane. Diane just wants to let the whole thing slide, but Bow doesn’t want her daughter going through life thinking it’s better to just be quiet and not make a scene. So Bow decides to make a huge scene. After her complaints are once again ignored by store management, she stages a protest. Diane has a protest sign, but only to hide her face behind. Despite Bow’s excellent intentions, the execution leaves something to be desired. When she sets the dolls on fire, Patrice comes to their rescue and ends up with her pants on fire. It’s not good. She doesn’t have benefits.
Bow’s protesting spirit rubs off on Dre. Well, it doesn’t rub off so much as she orders him to stop whining about his problems and do something about them. At first, Dre was upset about the casting of a white family (and the most obvious stock photo ever) in his new campaign for Boxable. It earned him praise from his coworkers and got him off a mysterious probation, but Dre doesn’t feel good about it. His tagline shows that this smiling white family is the “Gold Standard.” Why can’t black people be the gold standard?
Dre is feeling pretty smug when he recasts the ad with a black family, until Charlie points out something peculiar. As his coworkers go through his ads, they all notice the same thing. Dre prefers casting light-skinned models. Dre is shaken by the revelation and recasts the ad once again. It gets him back on probation.
Bow and Dre commiserate about their failures and talk about what they were really trying to accomplish. Dre was trying to prove he wasn’t colorist, even if his caramel Frappuccino suggests otherwise. Bow wanted to stop Diane from internalizing a harmful message about beauty and importance. Both realize they need to tone it down, especially because Patrice filed a restraining order against Bow.
In the B-plot, Ruby needs a new Spades partner after her old one dies. She disqualifies Diane for being visually impaired, Zoey for not caring, and Jack for being Jack. All that’s left is Junior. During a marathon spades session where Zoey and Jack are forced to be their opponents, Ruby coaches Junior in trash-talking. The two make a powerful team in the tournament, insulting old people left and right.
Despite the slight twist that Zoey and Jack join the tournament to get revenge, there’s not much to the story. Ruby and Junior predictably win and Ruby scores a $50 giftcard for Forever 21.
Bow has a heart-to-heart with Diane and discovers that she isn’t upset about the doll. She knows that she can be anyone she wants to be because Bow shows her that every day. She’s also very impressed with Bow’s use of an accelerant in the fire. Bow shows that she knows her daughter very well by getting her one last gift – nun-chucks. Diane had previously asked for a sword or a bear trap, but she loves the nun-chucks just as much.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments!
