Apart from the fact that the predecessor, the German Lili doll, had a lush and very party past, which was described in the comics published in Bild, it can be safely said that Mattel’s flagship product is the quintessence of a pop culture stereotype. Of course, a doll with such a feminine and sensual figure aroused controversy even before its mass production began, so marketers had to work hard to convince parents that it was a good idea for their daughters to play with it. It worked perfectly, but not every model was accepted on the market. And Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wove a few such scandals into their script. How?
What is “Barbie” about? It refers to the high-profile scandals surrounding the famous doll
In the latest film “Barbie”, the main character lives happily in Barbie Land, where perfect days pass in the company of her friends – Barbie President, Barbie Mailman, Barbie Mermaid, Barbie Writer with the Nobel Prize, Barbie Journalist, etc. In everyday meetings on the beach and parties at Barbie’s house, they are accompanied by Ken (in various editions) and his friend Allan (there is only one), but in Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s script, you can see that this perfectly pink , positive and perfectly kitschy world has a lot of cracks. It’s not just about the growing frustration of Ken ignored by Barbie.
Warning, there will be SPOILERS.
The film Barbie Land is made of buildings and accessories that have been released by Mattel over the years. Because as it turns out, there is a connection between this land and the real world, and what happens in one place is reflected on the other side. It is therefore obvious that in addition to dolls that have found a wide audience, in the world of Barbie there are also those models that did not do well on the market and were withdrawn from sale and production. The consequence is that the rest of these successful dolls shun them, sometimes making fun of them a bit.
“Failed” Barbies and Keny mostly live, or hide, in the house of Weird Barbie (played by the wonderful Kate McKinnon), who became Weird because her owner played with her too much. We’re talking about cropped hair, a face painted with colorful felt-tip pens, and eternal twine. Weird Barbie realizes that other Barbies behind her back are calling her weird. Well, sometimes they say it to her face. She is the doll who knows everything about her land and when a Barbie breaks down, she is the one who helps her “fix”. She also has a plastic dog running around her house, making plastic poop.
Eternal pregnancy? “Customers were concerned about her”
But you can’t fix someone who isn’t broken, just different and doesn’t fit in with the rest of the perfect group. Already in the first minutes of the film, the narrator in the person of Helen Mirren introduces the viewers to, for example, Barbie’s friend Midge (played by Emerald Fennel). Midge lives in the same neighborhood as the rest of the cool Barbies, but the group tends to ignore her. Why? Because she’s an eternally pregnant doll, and that’s “overkill”, as the voice off says.
Pregnant Midge went on sale in 2002 – she was part of the Happy Family set, which also included her husband Allan (Ken’s buddy Michael Cera plays in Gerwig) and their three-year-old son Ryan – reports Midge wore a wedding ring during pregnancy, and her pregnancy belly was magnetized, so she could also give birth quickly and painlessly. Wall-Mart, however, pulled the doll from sale because “customers were concerned about it.” One of them told a CND News reporter that the pregnant doll is “Bad idea. It promotes teenage pregnancy.” Meanwhile, Mattel advertised it as the perfect gadget for parents to play with children, especially when more babies are to appear in the family. In 2013, Midge returned but was no longer pregnant. Even the president of Mattel makes fun of Midge when he passes her. “I thought we had it on hold,” he mutters to himself.
It is also worth paying attention to Allan, who, unlike the Kens, is the only one and feels strange about it. At least he hangs out with the rest of the gang on the beach and goes to parties with them, while his friend Ken with the Magic Earring has to hide with Weird Barbie.
Earring? Only at Barbie
Ken with the Magic Earring caused an unforeseen scandal in the USA in 1993. Dressed in a purple mesh shirt and a purple leather vest, he was supposed to be just a trendy Ken with dyed blonde hair with highlights. Designers designed it after a survey of girls showed that Ken needed to look cooler. Observing what is fashionable in the mainstream world, they predicted not only an earring, Ken also had a necklace with a large silver disc – they did not know what they had done.
A right-wing columnist in 1993 announced in his column that the new Ken was firstly queer and secondly, he was wearing a sex toy around his neck. In his opinion, the silver medallion was supposed to be a erection ring. The representative of Mattel, of course, torpedoed this narrative. Interestingly, in Greta Gerwig’s film, Ken with the Magic Earring is friends with Suggar Daddy Ken.
Yes, someone had the idea to call Ken “Sugar Dadday”. An extremely unfortunate name for a kid’s toy model fun, considering that a “sugar daddy” in pop culture circulation is someone who sponsors young women in exchange for their company. And here we find out that poor Ken has a dog named Sugar and he’s her daddy.
There were a few other mishaps
Another bunkered character is Video Girl Barbie. In Greta Gerwig’s film, she herself says with considerable annoyance that it was a stupid idea to put a small video monitor on her back. It is worth knowing that the real doll had a small camera in its necklace that could record up to 30 seconds of video and then display it on the screen. Things got weird in 2010 when it turned out that the FBI decided to alert various government agencies to the potential danger that the Barbie Video could pose. Agents feared that the doll could be used by adults who would use it to obtain children’s recordings or produce pedophile material. This was picked up by the media and panic broke out. Fortunately, no such incident ever occurred, but the doll disappeared from the market.
However, if anyone thinks that Barbie with a screen on her back is strange, let’s mention another design that went on sale in 1975. At that time, Mattel tried to create a doll that would help girls go through puberty. That’s how Barbie’s sister, Ripening Skipper, appeared. What’s wrong with that? Well, the children could inflate Skipper’s breasts by twirling her left hand. The doll also grew, by the way, and on the box there was an inscription proclaiming that Skipper is changing from “cute little girl” to “tall curvy teenager”. The press highly criticized the doll, and interestingly, Mattel also released her friend, Growing up Ginger. They were withdrawn from production in 1977. And no Skipper we meet in the house of Strange Barbie – there is even a demonstration of the growing breasts.
In addition, the script also contains a lot of jokes referring to the sales results of individual Mattel projects and criticism of corporate culture. In fact, aside from making jokes about the toy company, the narrator and Ken joke about the Barbie movie and its potential cast. On the one hand, it’s good that such self-referential sketches appeared, on the other hand, it’s hard not to wonder what jokes didn’t pass the control of the label and producer Barbie.
Because you can see that not everything could be afforded. Greta Gerwig also features Barbie in a wheelchair, happily dancing in a large dance routine with the rest of the group. She is shown here in a positive light, but it is worth mentioning that the real Barbie in a wheelchair faced almost identical problems faced by disabled people.
The doll, introduced in 1997, was a great seller, but it turned out that the Barbie stroller did not fit through the door of the Barbie Dream House or its elevator. This made the game more difficult. Mattel, instead of modifying the design of the house, withdrew the doll from production. It wasn’t until 2019 that a new Barbie with a pram appeared, as well as a Barbie with a prosthesis.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
