Should We Talk About Barbie?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So, should we talk about Barbie? Seems like we kind of have to. 

Like… What, though? Here are some random thoughts.

This is a photo I got from WIkipedia of Ruth Handler, the person who invented the doll we think of called Barbie. She reportedly did not keep any of the original dolls. And there's a whole lot more interesting stuff, including that Ruth's daughter was named Barbie, and so far, more than a billion Barbie dolls have sold.

The movie? I will never get my husband to go see this movie with me. Even if I frantically eagerly wanted to go, he would not go. And actually, I would not even ask him. 

Last year I bought an absolutely gorgeous hot pink blazer. It is beautiful, and I have worn it on book tour several times. However. Now, if I wear it, someone will point to it and say: "oh, a Barbie jacket." It is not a Barbie jacket. It is a pink jacket that I bought a year ago. But now it is unwearable. Likewise, my perfectly gorgeous ballerina pink kitten heels. Which I adore. Which are now off the rotation. 

This is a Barbie you can buy at Target right now. I was thinking about all the people who had Barbies. (I can’t remember if I had one. Clearly, if I did, it did not make an impression. I would have been 10 when they came out in 1959, so I  was the demo, theoretically.)  Anyway, it struck me this morning that all of the kids who had Barbies all  named them Barbie. They were just instantly Barbie. Like, Cabbage Patch kids probably had different names depending on who owned them. And other dolls probably were named by the people who played with them. But Barbie is/was always Barbie. That’s kind of weird.

I have heard that people cried at the Barbie movie. That is a  very complicated thing, and makes me want to see it even less. I guess it's triumph of the human/doll spirit, which is making me tear up just to think about it.

I am curious, though, and I don’t want to mislead you. I do kind of want to see it.  But I would not dress up like Barbie – – although I could wear my pink jacket ha ha – – to see the movie. Are people in your town dressing up in pink when they go to the movie? When was the last time you dressed up like something to go to a movie? 

I am constantly baffled and amused by the things that become national obsessions. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, truly, it’s just always so fascinating to see what becomes a thing.

What are your random thoughts about Barbie— whether movie, doll or experience?

RHYS BOWEN: I was too old for Barbie when she came out. Actually I would have loved one when I was eight or nine as I was quite into dolls and dressing them and doing their hair. I made a whole family of pipe cleaner dolls for the doll’s house and I had a doll put out by Girl Magazine that must have been a forerunner to Barbie because you could brush her hair and get patterns to make her clothes.

My girls loved Barbies and Ken and Midge and the whole tribe. We had Barbie’s dream car and dream kitchen and loads of clothes. My mother, the craft expert, made them gorgeous outfits, both sewn and knitted.

But I don’t intend to see the Barbie movie and I’d never wear pink to it. The only time recently we did dress up was for an Abba cover band. Most of the audience in sparkly things, some in bell bottoms and big shoulders and everyone standing up and singing. That was fun.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I want to see it! Rick will probably watch it (although maybe not GO to it) as he's a big fan of Margot Robbie. I think Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie are smart and creative and I want to see what they do with this.  I've never dressed up for a movie so not sure I'd go that far, however.

As for Barbie, I didn't play with dolls normally, but I can remember making up some pretty wacky stories involving Barbies with my cousins. My daughter had Barbies, but much preferred My Little Ponies for her invented adventures.

LUCY BURDETTE: Yes I want to see the movie! And yes, I had a Barbie doll. I played a lot with dolls and other creatures, especially my collection of stuffed animals (mostly cats.) However, I loved Barbie. I craved more Barbie paraphernalia, but there were four of us and the budget did not include the Barbie Dream House and convertible and Ken and Skipper etc. However, my cousin, who was an only child, had everything. When we went to their house for family events, I would disappear into her room by myself and play and play and play.

Hank, it’s such a good question about what phenomenon becomes a national obsession. I’m sure there are marketing people studying this, right? Meanwhile, I say to you, embrace the pink jacket and the pink shoes!

HALLIE EPHRON: I had a Betsy McCall doll, which was THE doll before Barbie. With her it was about the clothes. My kids had Barbies, and they never forgave us for getting their Barbies from yard sales. Major Faux Pas. What can I say, I’m cheap. To make up for things I have given my granddaughter Barbies and Little Mermaids and…

I’m sure I’ve shared this before, but my daughter Naomi and her friends Kate and Laura used to play Headless Barbie’s Clothing Store. All of their dolls had come apart and the store sold doll parts. Sounds gruesome but it was just sweet.

Oh gosh YES I’ll see the movie. (This is Greta Gerwig’s take on Barbie!!!) And nothing could stop me from wearing hot pink.

JENN McKINLAY: LOL! Hallie, I love Headless Barbie’s Clothing Store - it’s like something out of the Netflix show Wednesday. I didn’t have a Barbie. My mom was a hardcore feminist and Barbie was a big old hell no, which is why I’m fascinated to see the movie’s feminist take. So, yes, I will go see it. I was a big time tomboy and never asked for a Barbie so I didn’t feel the lack. I much preferred being rough and tumble outside than being inside with dolls. If I was inside, I was reading. Lest, you think I was deprived, I did have a Tuesday Taylor doll - very on point in the late 70’s. She was super cool because her scalp swiveled, so she could be blonde or brunette. Take that, Barbie! LOL. 

Also, I frequently wonder if there would be such a big hullabaloo about pink if we called it what it is – light red. Thoughts?

HANK: Hmm. Is pink really light red? Now I am thinking about this…

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I was the perfect age for the
original Barbie, and I actually had the first, rather immovable model, in the black and white striped bathing suit.

By Original uploaded by Barbieologin at Wikimedia Commons (Original uploaded at 2009-08-11 10:16) as File:Mattelno1br.jpg. Permission CC-BY-3.0; Released under the {{Cc-by-3.0}} license (Transferred by Crakkerjakk 12:05, 16 June 2012 (UTC)., CC BY 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36158228

Alas, as we relocated constantly from one military post to the other, my mom got rid of any toys we weren’t currently playing with, so I think that particular doll went into the yard sale box when I was seven, and had moved on to Barbies with bendable joints and “real” eyelashes. 

I don’t recall ever having the Dream House, but I had several cool boxes that fit one or the Barbies and their clothes and accessories. And did mine ever have clothes - my mom was an expert seamstress and sewed whole wardrobes as Christmas presents for me. 

Great Barbie moments I recall: there was the time I washed one of my doll’s hair and decided to dry it by sticking her head in my Easy Bake oven. That’s when little Julie learned plastic melts into horrific shapes. Then there was Growing Hair Barbie, with a button in her stomach that made a long fall sprout from the top of head. The most extraordinary was my sister’s Growing Up Skipper. You turned Skipper’s arm and she went through puberty, getting longer in the waist and developing, yes, breasts. I myself was going through the same process, and remember my mom and I laughing hysterically as we made Skipper’s chest go from flat to fluffy and back again. My sister got quite peeved.

Oh, and my sister, Barb? I’ll let you guess what she was called throughout her entire childhood.

HANK: Let me be clear–I adore the fun people are having with this! And I think the whole phenomenon is fascinating. But do you dare me to wear my pink jacket on book tour this week? I’ll be in Jacksonville FL on Wednesday, and Atlanta on Thursday and Friday. Should we predict how long before someone says Barbie? I could be…Gramma Barbie.

How about you, Reds and Readers?  Going to the movie? Seen it? Comments on the movie’s big speech? Headless Barbie? Wearing pink? Did you have a Barbie?