With a new movie, the awful Barbie will likely surge in popularity

Photo: Adam Cuerden

When I was growing up, the hour-glass figure in women was idolized. When articles were written about beauty queens, they gave their measurements. The ideal was 36-inch bust, 24-inch waist, and 36-inch hips.

As a teen, I had the 24-inch waist, but not the other ones.

When Barbie dolls came along in the 1960s, I was appalled. Why teach girls that their bodies should look like Barbie’s? Why have her feet permanently shaped to fit into high heels? Why make her blond and blue-eyed?  

Almost all women don’t look like that.

When my daughters were born in the 1960s, I refused to buy them Barbie dolls.

However, I did buy them a doll that had long blond hair that you could pull her short hair and make it longer, then roll it back up to be short again. She didn’t have an hour-glass figure and she had regular feet.

Barbie was copied from a doll Ruth Handler, pictured above in 1961, found in Germany. Handler cofounded Mattel with her husband Elliott. The Bild Lilli doll was a risqué gag gift for men based upon a cartoon character featured in the West German newspaper Bild Zeitung. In the comics, Lilli was witty, irreverent, and sexually uninhibited. The doll was sold in tobacco shops and adult stores.

Jack Ryan, a designer who’s credited as the creator of the Barbie doll, said when the prototypes of Barbie kept coming from Japan, the dolls had nipples, according to an article on National Public Radio. His job was to take a fine Swiss file, which was used on watches, and file the nipples off.

Although the Barbie brand has had steady sales in recent years, for the first six months of 2023 the Barbie brand had a 23 percent decline from the same time period in 2022, according to the Insider website.

With the Barbie movie and all the hype, sales will probably increase.

I find all the Barbie hype really discouraging. It’s bad enough that millions of girls play with these dolls – that have a body shape that’s unrealistic – every day for years. Now, we all have to suffer with so many articles and ads about Barbie and the movie. Even two of my favorite newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, have had article after article on Barbie. It’s disappointing that even reputable newspapers are adding to the Barbie frenzy.

As for “Barbie,” the movie, some reviewers are talking about its feminist moments with Barbie, and Ken following along, going to the human world to try to understand herself and discover her true purpose.

I hope “Barbie” doesn’t get nominated for an Academy Award for set design or sound. That’s the only reason I’d see it. I write about the Academy Award movies each year, so if it’s nominated I’d watch it.

Update: As I predicted, “Barbie,” the movie, is making a lot of money for Mattel. I thought the increased revenue would be from selling more dolls. However, Mattel was part of the deal to get the movie made, joined with Warner for the production. The company is getting 5 percent of the box office revenue, as well as a percentage of eventual profits as a producer of the movie and additional payments as owner of the Barbie intellectual property rights, according to an article in The New York Times. At $2 billion in box office revenue, that a $100 million. In addition, there are sales of merchandise connected to the movie as well as an expected boost in sales of dolls.

Unfortunately, there will be more movies about Mattel toys such as Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels.

Comments

[Diane]

I'm afraid I've been rather left out of the hype.
I've never really been a Barbie fan!

[Rita]

Unfortunately, the Barbie movie set a new record for revenue.

[Lsurie Stone]

Must admit, I had a Barbie as a kid and loved her! I loved imagining the glamorous, fun world she came from. Having said that, I'm not keen to see the Barbie movie, but haven't decided. For some odd reason, my husband wants to go! Maybe I'll go with him.

[Rita]

It's a strange thing. The Barbie doll is such a negative toy for body image that includes girls developing Barbie Doll Syndrome. This syndrome is seen as a form of body dysmorphic disorder and results in various eating disorders as well as an obsession with cosmetic surgery. So then, a movie is made about this doll with feminist moments. It's ironic. It reminds me of a saying from my dad's era: Trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[Rebecca Olkowski]

I saw the movie and was also invited to "World Of Barbie" in Santa Monica. The movie isn't as bad as you think. It's actually on the progressive side and the men look mostly like buffoons. The adults are having more fun with it than the kids and dressing up in pink. Okay, I wore pink to the movie. I had Barbie dolls but preferred my Troll dolls. Weird Barbie, played by Kate McKinnon is a hoot. How many Barbies had their hair cut, dyed, faces painted, and their legs in constant splits?

[Rita]

It's hard to know what to say about the Barbie movie. I responded on Facebook to a friend who said I should see it. "It's like you've been standing near a pile of manure for decades, and someone hands you a candy bar."