While the Barbie name has traveled far and wide, the success of the movie around the world remains to be seen in a few weeks. Some of the Barbie cast members have spoken about the efforts to represent the characters in a way that’s more relevant to today’s audiences. “This means that although the film is centered on a white, blonde Barbie (played by Margot Robbie), the film reinforces the idea that Barbie can be anything-including not just careers, but a range of races and ethnicities, as well.” “The new movie seems to be in dialogue with these relatively recent changes: Nearly all the characters in the film’s Barbie universe are named ‘Barbie’ and ‘Ken,’ regardless of their skin tone, hair color, and texture, and so on,” Rebecca Hains, professor of media and communication at Salem State University and author of The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through the Princess-Obsessed Years, told Fortune. The movie’s effort at inclusivity, the extent of which can be hard to gauge until its release, may be a nod to the brand’s efforts toward making the doll resonate with a wider audience. Since its launch in 1959, more than 1 billion dolls have been sold worldwide. They have also launched more inclusive versions of the dolls with different hair, skin, and body types and representing different professions.Īs the Barbie brand evolved, it continued to expand its footprint globally. Mattel has actively tried to boost its branding strategy by capitalizing on the strong suits of the doll’s franchise as an empowering figure for girls. She didn’t reflect the world that kids live in,” Barbie-maker Mattel’s president and COO, Richard Dickson, told Fortune last month. “Consumers didn’t think that she was relevant. When the conversation about inclusivity and diversity became more pressing, people began to question the relevance of the old-school Barbie that looked very different from some of the children who played with it, hurting the dolls’ sales. But for much of its history, there was only one type of Barbie-high-heeled and white. “But if you just like a good movie, you’re going to love it.”īarbie has been an international icon for decades. “If you love Barbie, you’re going to love it if you hate Barbie, you’re going to love it,” Margot Robbie, the actress with the title role, told the Guardian. (One of the famous “seven sisters” of American private higher education, Barnard has a partnership with the nearby Ivy League school Columbia and is a venerable home of highbrow learning.) The film also stars Kate McKinnon, a celebrated comedic actress famous for Saturday Night Live and several film roles, as well as a long connection to Gerwig that dates back to their undergraduate days together at Barnard College, in upper Manhattan. Gerwig’s partner Noah Baumbach is another indie film luminary and is joining her as cowriter of the script. The movie is directed by Greta Gerwig, who is known for strong female characters and celebrated art house fare such as Lady Bird and an adaptation of Little Women. We were able to cast people of different shapes, sizes, differently abled, to all participate in this dance-all under this message of, You don’t have to be blonde, white, or X, Y, Z in order to embody what it means to be a Barbie or a Ken,” Liu said at an event last year, according to Vanity Fair. “Greta was very, very conscientious about who she cast.
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