I need to know if every big sister is triggered by Barbie shoes being “a choking hazard”... even when the possible gagging little sisters are now in their 40s 🤣
I was ecstatic to see that you decided to cover this! I feel like I may be wrong, but currently I am 33 turning 34 this year and I feel like my age group are maybe some of the last few that played with Barbie as much as we did. I feel like the doll isn’t played with in the same capacity or frequency as I remember growing up. I was obsessed and had probably like 40 dolls and so many of the collectible ones that stayed in their box. I hated that with time going by people turned the doll into a body image thing when it was more about “you could be anything you want to be”, as female empowerment.
I am so excited and was over the moon when they decided to make this movie! I think the cast is fantastic and I love all the different Barbies and Kens that they casted in such diversity to ring true to what the dolls have evolved to today. Listening to a clip of Margot, I love that she says how they are all Barbie, but they all have a different personality which is great because when you try to collide the dolls with real life, it makes total sense.
I have been watching all the outfits with great interest the last weeks, but I especially loved your interview with Tanya! For me Barbie was never about her body. I never once thought that I wanted to look just like her or was sad that I couldn't. Quite the opposite; I grew up when Kate Moss' bodytype was preferred, whereas mine is everything but like hers. That did way more damage than Barbie ever did. Because Barbie was awesome. She could be anything, be anyone. I loved playing with her and all the possibilities that she had, making so many clothes for her, which sparked my love of sewing clothes, which I still do. I never liked baby dolls, because they only offered one 'role' to play, which I didn't like. So I loved reading, that the original intent of Barbie was exploring all these possibilities and being about choice. That is how I always saw her.
Stepping into a screening now for the movie and this has only put my obsession with her press tour outfits into overdrive! Once again, you always deliver a fresh and exciting perspective to everything that you do! Thank you!
Absolutely fascinating. I look forward to seeing the movie. It is interesting to have so much trust in a director (Greta Gerwig) that you feel that you will like the movie just because you know her other movies. I saw her interviewed today on Good Morning America, and I recommend finding that interview. She also spoke about why she wanted Ryan Gosling for the part of Ken. Thank you, Elizabeth, for this insightful interview.
I just love a deep dive and look at the story behind the story of all the things. Had no idea about the history of this doll. I’d love to see a movie about that!!
This was such a great read and a fabulous interview, Elizabeth! I was already excited to see the movie this weekend, but even more so after reading this. I didn’t previously know this, but as someone who played with both growing up, it makes so. Much. Sense. that Barbie was created as a solution to the problem of easy tear, inefficient paper dolls. (I also have SMT about the difference between playing with a larger baby doll, and the imaginative role play Barbie provides).
Me too. I’m on a cruise now to Alaska and to match the Glaciers. I’m wearing blue and green. Going to a conference in October going to wear all pink. Also it’s breast care awareness month, my Mom is a survivor 15 years.
I loved Barbie as a child and well into my teens because she could be anything. Mine was a business woman with a great career and also a mom of two & wife. She was a badass in my young mind. She had the coolest outfits. My mom says she has fond memories of me using old cloth scraps to make my Barbie outfits.
Like others have said, I didn’t see her for her body image. Thrilled this movie was made and can’t wait to go see it!
Side note / fun fact: in Brazil (where I’m originally from), Barbie had Ken but also Bob, who was a brunette Ken. I think this is because most Brazilian men are brunettes.
Me now checking my barbie collection from the 80's to see how much they are worth. 🤣 My mom used to talk about her Barbie collection from the 60's all the time. It was a special thing indeed for her to get any of those dolls and her mom would use fabric scraps to make new clothes. My mom was the only girl in a family of 7 kids. My grandpa's rule was she didn't get anything extra simply because she was a girl. So my grandma would save a little off groceries to buy her a doll now and then. She shared collection with a family who had just immigrated from Vietnam after the war but a house fire took the dolls, but all the family made it out ok. Would have loved to seen or played with her collection.
I'm surprised Stone didn't mention Barbie's origins as a German 'pin up' doll for men (I believe Ruth Handler saw it at a German toy expo). It's been in most articles about Barbie I've read throughout the years. Presumably she does mention it in the book.
I need to know if every big sister is triggered by Barbie shoes being “a choking hazard”... even when the possible gagging little sisters are now in their 40s 🤣
I was ecstatic to see that you decided to cover this! I feel like I may be wrong, but currently I am 33 turning 34 this year and I feel like my age group are maybe some of the last few that played with Barbie as much as we did. I feel like the doll isn’t played with in the same capacity or frequency as I remember growing up. I was obsessed and had probably like 40 dolls and so many of the collectible ones that stayed in their box. I hated that with time going by people turned the doll into a body image thing when it was more about “you could be anything you want to be”, as female empowerment.
I am so excited and was over the moon when they decided to make this movie! I think the cast is fantastic and I love all the different Barbies and Kens that they casted in such diversity to ring true to what the dolls have evolved to today. Listening to a clip of Margot, I love that she says how they are all Barbie, but they all have a different personality which is great because when you try to collide the dolls with real life, it makes total sense.
I have been watching all the outfits with great interest the last weeks, but I especially loved your interview with Tanya! For me Barbie was never about her body. I never once thought that I wanted to look just like her or was sad that I couldn't. Quite the opposite; I grew up when Kate Moss' bodytype was preferred, whereas mine is everything but like hers. That did way more damage than Barbie ever did. Because Barbie was awesome. She could be anything, be anyone. I loved playing with her and all the possibilities that she had, making so many clothes for her, which sparked my love of sewing clothes, which I still do. I never liked baby dolls, because they only offered one 'role' to play, which I didn't like. So I loved reading, that the original intent of Barbie was exploring all these possibilities and being about choice. That is how I always saw her.
Stepping into a screening now for the movie and this has only put my obsession with her press tour outfits into overdrive! Once again, you always deliver a fresh and exciting perspective to everything that you do! Thank you!
Absolutely fascinating. I look forward to seeing the movie. It is interesting to have so much trust in a director (Greta Gerwig) that you feel that you will like the movie just because you know her other movies. I saw her interviewed today on Good Morning America, and I recommend finding that interview. She also spoke about why she wanted Ryan Gosling for the part of Ken. Thank you, Elizabeth, for this insightful interview.
I just love a deep dive and look at the story behind the story of all the things. Had no idea about the history of this doll. I’d love to see a movie about that!!
This was such a great read and a fabulous interview, Elizabeth! I was already excited to see the movie this weekend, but even more so after reading this. I didn’t previously know this, but as someone who played with both growing up, it makes so. Much. Sense. that Barbie was created as a solution to the problem of easy tear, inefficient paper dolls. (I also have SMT about the difference between playing with a larger baby doll, and the imaginative role play Barbie provides).
Me too. I’m on a cruise now to Alaska and to match the Glaciers. I’m wearing blue and green. Going to a conference in October going to wear all pink. Also it’s breast care awareness month, my Mom is a survivor 15 years.
I loved Barbie as a child and well into my teens because she could be anything. Mine was a business woman with a great career and also a mom of two & wife. She was a badass in my young mind. She had the coolest outfits. My mom says she has fond memories of me using old cloth scraps to make my Barbie outfits.
Like others have said, I didn’t see her for her body image. Thrilled this movie was made and can’t wait to go see it!
Side note / fun fact: in Brazil (where I’m originally from), Barbie had Ken but also Bob, who was a brunette Ken. I think this is because most Brazilian men are brunettes.
Me now checking my barbie collection from the 80's to see how much they are worth. 🤣 My mom used to talk about her Barbie collection from the 60's all the time. It was a special thing indeed for her to get any of those dolls and her mom would use fabric scraps to make new clothes. My mom was the only girl in a family of 7 kids. My grandpa's rule was she didn't get anything extra simply because she was a girl. So my grandma would save a little off groceries to buy her a doll now and then. She shared collection with a family who had just immigrated from Vietnam after the war but a house fire took the dolls, but all the family made it out ok. Would have loved to seen or played with her collection.
I'm surprised Stone didn't mention Barbie's origins as a German 'pin up' doll for men (I believe Ruth Handler saw it at a German toy expo). It's been in most articles about Barbie I've read throughout the years. Presumably she does mention it in the book.