Barbie, except for the controversial plastic blonde

TO Barbie She was accused of perpetuating beauty stereotypes, but she was also applauded for empowering women. Her controversial figure has been questioned as much as it has been embraced, and now that her film has been released, it seems one thing is clear: she’s not just a doll.

Andrea was 4 years old when her parents gave her Barbie “Day to Night” from 1985. A version of the slender blonde doll who was a professional in the morning and a socialite who went out to have fun in the afternoon.

“She was a working Barbie and now her life is a bit like mine”recounts in an interview for EFE a 42-year-old woman a few moments before going to see the movie “Barbie” in the cinema in Beverly Hillswith a look inspired by dolls.

Thousands of followers and detractors of the plastic woman started meeting from Thursday to watch Greta Gerwig’s film on the big screen.

Following fashion “barbiecore”, Wearing their best pink outfits, viewers flocked to what they hope will be a fun and inclusive feminist comedy.

Ray (24) attended one of the first screenings of the film in the company of two friends. She believes that in her case it was “Barbie Swan Lake” that inspired her adolescence and strongly marked her personality.

“I grew up with Barbie. I like the cast in the movie and I’m excited that the tape looks a little gay, it’s pink and has dances, everything!” says the young woman.

For Sahira, 36, Barbie represents “pure happiness” and teaches that “you can dream big”, while drag queen Sage Zariah says she took her slogan as a “mantra”: “be what you want to be”.

“She teaches you that you can really be anything you want, like now when I’m dressed as a pop star Barbie. I know I can be any Barbie I want,” Zariah answered for EFE.

Two faces of the icon
Professor of communication at Vanderbilt University Claire Sisco considers a rosy world Barbie it was not always as friendly as it is starting to be today.

“Barbie was raised and continues to exist in a sexist society. I think one of the biggest questions she raises is that no matter how successful and professional you are, you have to be beautiful. As if beauty is as important as creative or intellectual pursuits.”comment.

However, she acknowledges that films like Gerwig’s and Mattel’s new line of dolls with different body types and physical conditions are helping to improve the representation and social inclusion of groups that have been marginalized for years.

“In the past there was no diversity, they occasionally made Barbies of different nationalities. Now they are doing really well. There are curvy dolls, many skin tones and even special needs,” said Tammy, a 54-year-old fan who collects African-American versions of the doll and her partner, Ken.

In the Appendix, psychologist Yalda T. Uhls, director and founder of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at the University of California (UCLA), reveals the importance of recognizing that toys are more than objects.

“We can’t say that Barbie is an ordinary doll. Toys teach children what the world is like, and especially for them they represent people with whom they practice how people relate,” he says.

A love-hate relationship
Lexi arrived at the cinema with a friend wearing t-shirts with her name on them Greta Gerwig to print. Her main motivation is not Barbie, because she has never had one, but to watch the latest movie of her favorite director.

“I think that by supporting this kind of film where there’s a great diversity of people in terms of size, gender and identity, we’re showing and suing the big corporations that this is the kind of content we want to see,” the 28-year-old believes.

The phenomenon the film created in terms of marketing and social media trends responds to the nostalgia radiated by the doll created by Ruth Handler in 1959 and to the game Gerwig sets up in her work by depicting the “love-hate” conflict that society has woven around her.

“The film shows these complexities and ambivalences that Barbie represents, and I think it uses the story of the doll to examine patriarchal norms about what a woman should be and what gender is,” says Sisco.

The film had a budget of 100 million dollars, and in the first weekend alone, it is expected to make between 95 and 110 million dollars.