When I first saw the Barbie movie trailer, before watching the Mario movie with my then 8-year-old son, I thought how glad I was to be a boy mom. That I didn’t “have” to see Barbie the Movie and that even if were a kid now I still wouldn’t see it because I’m not at all a Barbie girl. Admittedly, I loved seeing Issa Rae, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, those pretty bubblegum pink satin heels adorned with marabou and glitter, the rest of the costumes, set design, hair and makeup.
But. The Barbie movie just wasn’t for me, I thought. My plan was to just let it pass me by, making no remarks on it. Because OK, no, I didn’t want to see it and I was never a Barbie girl. But I’m a firm believer in letting people enjoy things. If it brings you joy, it brings me joy too. Yay for the Barbie lovers!
Turns Out, I Had it All Wrong!
Now that Barbie the Movie is in theaters, it’s awesome to see my friends sharing their outfits and overall excitement for the movie! Simultaneously, I’m seeing so many people on those same social media timelines talking about how they don’t understand the hype of the Barbie movie and how they never liked Barbie anyway. Really not sure what their point is in yucking others’ yum, but it made me want to learn more about the Barbie movie and about Barbie overall.
Did you know the cast and crew of Barbie the Movie is actually incredibly gifted?! Did you know there are more than 100 Barbie movie brand partnerships?! Did you know that there’s a Barbie with Down syndrome, another with vitiligo, one who uses a wheelchair, etc?! I. Am. SOLD!
First, Barbie the Movie Brand Partnerships
Being a journalist for over a decade, my inbox is incessantly inundated with PR foolishness. “Hi Megan! Circling back to see if you’d like to interview the nation’s fifth-rated booger picker, Neauxs Goblinne, about his new book Digging for Gold: There’s Bats in That There Cave.” Things like that.
So it’s cool to see the Barbie movie PR team and all the merchandising folks working together to make the movie a success in the box office and in retail. And have you searched “Barbie movie” on Google yet? So cute! My favorite partnerships, in random order, are with OPI, Aldo, Zara, Gap, Unique Vintage, Crocs, BÉIS, Hot Topic, Ruggable, Glasshouse, Homesick and Nyx.
I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, “Wow Megan what about the poor parents and guardians who have to buy that for their kids?” Well, my babies, the movie is recommended for viewers 11 years old and up. It’s not Cocomelon Gone Wild or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Unplugged or anything like that. Most of the brand partnerships I’ve seen, aside from the obvious new Mattel toys, are for grownups. (I really want that President Barbie Issa Rae doll though!)
Second, the Barbie movie Cast and Crew
I guess I was thinking Barbie would just have a cast and crew full of airheads, because when I thought of Barbie I always thought of dingbats. (Spoiler: I no longer think that way.) Shockingly, these are actually really really talented people. Instead of trying to say all that myself, as a person who just rewatches her faves over and over and knows little about who’s who and what’s what in entertainment, I’ll just let the press release from Warner Bros. do the talking:
From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig (“Little Women,” “Lady Bird”) comes “Barbie,” starring Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie (“Bombshell,” “I, Tonya”) and Ryan Gosling (“La La Land,” “Half Nelson”) as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera (“End of Watch,” the “How to Train Your Dragon” films), Kate McKinnon (“Bombshell,” “Yesterday”), Michael Cera (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Juno”), Ariana Greenblatt (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “65”), Issa Rae (“The Photograph,” “Insecure”), Rhea Perlman (“I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Matilda”), and Will Ferrell (the “Anchorman” films, “Talladega Nights”). The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne (“Little Women”), Emma Mackey (“Emily,” “Sex Education”), Hari Nef (“Assassination Nation,” “Transparent”), Alexandra Shipp (the “X-Men” films), Kingsley Ben-Adir (“One Night in Miami,” “Peaky Blinders”), Simu Liu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), Ncuti Gatwa (“Sex Education”), Scott Evans (“Grace and Frankie”), Jamie Demetriou (“Cruella”), Connor Swindells (“Sex Education,” “Emma.”), Sharon Rooney (“Dumbo,” “Jerk”), Nicola Coughlan (“Bridgerton,” “Derry Girls”), Ritu Arya (“The Umbrella Academy”), Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren (“The Queen”).
Gerwig directed “Barbie” from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story,” “The Squid and the Whale”), based on Barbie by Mattel. The film’s producers are Oscar nominee David Heyman (“Marriage Story,” “Gravity”), Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, with Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Ynon Kreiz, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.
Gerwig’s creative team behind the camera included Oscar-nominated director of photography Rodrigo Prieto (“The Irishman,” “Silence,” “Brokeback Mountain”), six-time Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Anna Karenina”), editor Nick Houy (“Little Women,” “Lady Bird”), Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“Little Women,” “Anna Karenina”), visual effects supervisor Glen Pratt (“Paddington 2,” “Beauty and the Beast”), music supervisor George Drakoulias (“White Noise,” “Marriage Story”) and Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat (“The Shape of Water,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel”).
-Warner Bros.
Also Did You Know Barbie is Getting All Inclusive and Things?
Mattel worked with the National Down Syndrome Society to create a Barbie with Down syndrome, as part of their Fashionistas collection. The doll debuted in April 2023, and kids with Down syndrome and their families were chosen to get the first looks. My heart, y’all. The rest of the Barbie Fashionistas line includes dolls with prosthetics, vitiligo, wheelchairs, hearing aids, freckles, 4c hair, different body types, and more.
Am I, at my Big Age, Becoming a Barbie Girl?
When I was a kid, I avoided the Barbie aisle. I took so much pride in being “smart,” that the stereotypes associated with playing with Barbie dolls made me just look away. And real Barbies cost real money, especially if you wanted to do cool things with them. I was given a Black Barbie, but the hair was “contrary” compared to the hand-me-down white Barbies I got from my cousins. Was always more into the Barbie playsets, would fantasize about the Barbie Lamborghini and can still sing the commercial to you. Loved the peel-off Barbie nail polish and other cool Barbie cosmetics, but again the dolls seemed silly to me (except Totally Hair Barbie, she seemed cool). I had a subscription to Barbie Magazine, and in the back they would show all these girls with tons of Barbie dolls. Never appealed to me, but if they liked it I loved it.
One Could Say I’m Barbiecurious
Today, I’m not ashamed to say there are some Barbies I want. And I would love to visit the Malibu Barbie Cafe in Chicago or New York City, have used the Barbie Selfie Generator and plan on getting pink Rhino Shield on my house, if God says the same.
“To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.” Maybe I’m having that full-on existential crisis now, as a result of trying to be a perfect being in a perfect place since childhood. It feels like I’m supposed to be reclaiming that part of my childhood that was taken by worrying about how other people viewed me. Watching my Barbie-loving friends be unapologetically excited about this movie as adults, while others speak so negatively, inspires me to let young Megan be unapologetically her, finally. Thanks, Barbie.
