So as Iâm still salty about Addy most likely getting retired letâs talk about what American Girl is doing rn
Because I usually try to keep this blog positive but americangirlstar is p*ssed so letâs have a friggin discussion
Hereâs the thing with American Girl thus far:
They are focusing too much on their Contemporary Dolls
American Girl was created in the 1980s by Pleasant T Rowland. She was inspired by the history around her in Colonial Williamsburg and decided to write a line of books to teach History to girls through girls like them, accompanying them with âbeautifully crafted dolls and accessories that fed a girlâs imagination and taught history through the lives of its young heroines.â (American Girl Ultimate Visual Guide, page 10)Â
Now, remember that. American Girl was created to teach girls history through their dolls and their stories.
Which leads me two the fact that FOUR Contemporary Dolls were released this year.
[Pictured: 2017âČs Contemporary Characters, with Tenney Grant, Z Yang and Logan Everett on the top and Tenney Grant, Z Yang and Gabriela McBride on the bottom]
And while it is nice to have a Black Disabled GotY, a Korean Doll and the first boy doll, their stories donât really teach much except for the usual âbe yourselfâ stuff.Â
Also released this year were two BeForevers (half as much as the Contemporary), and one of which was a re-release with NO COLLECTION and the other of which hasnât been released yet.Â
[Pictured: Felicityâs Collection, including the doll, accessories, three books and undergarments; nothing else, which is much less than the other dolls]
Thatâs not all. Ignoring all the advertising Tenney has gotten with the BeForevers not getting much, what else shows AGâs shift in focus? The movies.
Originally, AG released movies exclusively for their Historical Characters. Samanthaâs came first, followed by Felicity and Molly. Kitâs was even released in theaters. (Which I remember, because I went to see it and brought by Nicki doll along too)
After that? Chrissa- the 2009 Girl of the Year- got a movie. Now, by this point, Girl of the Year was kinda a side thing. Yeah, they got cool stuff, but they werenât overhyped or anything. Chrissa changed this: she was extremely hyped, getting a huge collection, TWO gal pal best friend dolls and a movie. I remember seeing trailers for the Chrissa movie before the doll was even announced to the public: They called it âThe Girl of the Year Movieâ and it was a big deal.Â
After Chrissa, it started to die down a little with Lanie and Kanani, but when McKenna rolled around, for some reason she was also given a movie and big collection. Well, ok, thatâs fine, until Saige came out the next year, also with a huge collection and movie. Then Isabelle, and by this point we all kinda realized that American Girl cared WAY more about the GotYs than the Historical Characters. The next BeForever movie didnât come until 2016, with Melody and Maryellen, both of which were Amazon Prime Exclusive.
Which I guess makes sense from a business standpoint- according to page 14 of the Ultimate Visual Guide, it takes only two years to make a Girl of the Year and three to make a BeForever, since they have to make sure everything is Historically Accurate.
But hereâs the thing: itâs not just that the focus is now on hyping up the Girls of the Year. Let me repeat what I said earlier:
Rowland was inspired by the history around her in Colonial Williamsburg and decided to write a line of books to teach History to girls through girls like them, accompanying them with âbeautifully crafted dolls and accessories that fed a girlâs imagination and taught history through the lives of its young heroines.â
The way this is stated expresses that the books came first, dolls second. Which brings me toâŠ
American Girl seems to be more focused on playing it safe than creating interesting stories⊠and thatâs a problem.
I donât know about you guys, but I didnât ask for American Girl Dolls every Christmas as a kid because I liked the dolls (though they are beautiful!). I wanted them because I remember the stories. I beggede for Josefina and Kaya because I loved their stories. My sister asked for Kirsten and Addy for the same reason, my little sister canât talk about the dolls without bringing up how great Felicityâs books are. The reason American Girl has lasted this long is because the stories draw us to the characters, and we relate to the girls.Â
I donât think American Girl understands this.
According to rumors, Samantha and Addy are going to be retired this year. Letâs look at what happens in their stories:
Samantha lives in the 1904 Suffragette Period, learning about the Womenâs Rights movement, and helps her friend escape poverty and abuse. She learns about Child Labor and speaks out against it.
Addy lives in 1864, during the end of the Civil War. She is born a slave, and in the first book she watches her father and brother sold and then escapes with her Mama to the North, where she learns about freedom and tries to bring her family back together.
I could literally write an essay on how important the Addy Doll is (but this post is already to long so tl;dr Iâm upset that AG thinks itâs a good idea to retire her). These two arenât exclusive in their mature storylines: Kirstenâs best friend died on her way to America, Kaya also escapes slavery, Josefina and her family are dealing with grief from her motherâs death, Kitâs books deal with the homeless situation in the Great Depression, etc.Â
The thing is these storylines work because theyâre not sugarcoated. We want to see a character struggle so we can cheer when they finally succeed. These were also realistic things that would happen to these girls: the girls feel real because real things happen to them.
But hereâs the thing. I think American Girl is trying to get away from that, to write âsaferâ storylines. Look at a newer historical character: Maryellen, from 1954. What happens in her story? Well⊠she talks about how she had polio once- before the story, and it doesnât really affect anything until she later tries to get people to vaccinate their kids. Her sister gets married. She wants it to snow on Christmas.
And⊠thatâs about it.
And thatâs a reason why the re-focus on the Contemporaries isnât that great: the Contemporary Dolls have nowhere near as complex storylines. Just looking at the newer ones, Gabrielaâs main focus is Poetry and Student Council, Z just likes to make movies, and Tenney gets a freaking record deal at the age of 12-13! How many little girls can relate to getting a record deal? Probably the darkest storyline would be Chrissa getting bullied, which is NOTHING compared to Addy having to escape slavery.
It seems that the refocus is less because the Contemporary Dolls make more money (though they might), and more because their stories are safe. You canât have soccer moms yelling at you for a GotY who just likes gymnastics and doesnât have to face racism in the 1860âČs. You donât have to deal with the problems of the past if you can just market to girls who like doll clothes and expensive doll furniture.Â
Which is why retiring two of their most significant Historical Dolls seems like a big misstep to me; Samantha tells girls about Womenâs Suffrage and Child Labor, Addy tells them about finding freedom and dealing with racism in a crappy society. Retiring them makes it seem like AGâs trying to sweep all that âdark stuffâ under the rug. And they can probably argue âWell, we have Felicity to talk about feminism and Melody to talk about anti-segregation.â Well, Felicity is a cool doll with a great storyline, but she doesnât live in a period of change for womenâs right and childrenâs rights. Melody is a great doll, but her storyline is more focused on her singing- she does experience racism in her life, but she lives in a town that is not segregated: she learns about segregation from her cousin, kind of passively experiences changes instead of taking part in the activity around her. While Addy and Melody are both interesting characters, Addy faces more difficulties and has a much different story than Melody.Â
I think I got a bit off track? But my point is basically that American Girl has forgotten that their main draw is their storylines. Thatâs why a lot of older girls still collect the dolls; we love the stories around them and the characters the dolls represent. But AG is trying much too hard to play the stories safe, and thus the company doesnât seem as good now.
Seriously, ask a girl who likes AG to tell you about Mia St. Clair. Chances are they wonât tell you much. Ask them who Felicity is, and theyâll get way more into the topic. Because sheâs far more interesting!
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