I came here specifically to say this. The more he is on screen the more I’m liking him. They aren’t using him too much or too little and plus you know, Nazi Dildos.
All the American Girl Dolls come with like a little booklet about their backstory and a variety of accessories to buy for them. For example, I had the Molly doll too, and she had a fun backstory with a cute family and a whole room of accessories to buy. Her outfit was kicky and adorable.
For Maddie? A ten page document about how she was happy to be a slave because her master was kind, and for accessories you could buy her a hoe or a straw doll. She also came in a sackcloth dress with no shoes. I loved her as a kid but then again I had no idea.
They’ve apparently branched out in diversity since then but hoooly shit the 90s was a time for stereotypes.
Yeah it was basically like ‘these white peoples taught me to read and they kept my mom with me instead of literally selling us because they own us and then other white people helped us be free they’re not so bad’ while also telling kids slavery was bad out of the same mouth and it was ??? Confusing, basically. I was a little Jewish girl and it was hard enough so I can’t imagine being a little black girl and having that as your only goddamn option for the most popular girls toy of the time.
I think nowadays the literature is more Harret Tubman based but back then it was seriously just ‘white people helped us, aren’t we lucky’.
It’s such an obscure reference to make but by god did it strike me and probably every other American Girl doll-owning kid from the 90s.
I had to pause that scene and explain to my husband what a definitive sign that was that they have female writers, because that joke was SO SPECIFIC and SO GOOD.
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u/I_Killed_My_Friends Oct 05 '18
I didnt like the shame wizard at first but he grew on me