Mattel Police Officer Barbie [Toy]

Product Information

Like a college freshman taking an intro class on gender – or perhaps like a high-schooler seeing a mass-market blockbuster with a developed political streak for the first time – Barbie becomes abruptly aware of the untenable societal pressures heaped upon womankind, released in a cathartic monologue by normal-person surrogate America Ferrera.

The Barbie doll was created by Ruth Handler in 1959 and introduced to the globe at the American Toy Fair in New York City on March 9, 1959, marked as the Barbie’s official birthday.

Gerwig’s having a laugh at her own expense, conceding that all her subversions will be happily permitted so long as they agree with the profit margins. Even the trailers affirming that Barbie makes the interdimensional montage from her reality to ours with Ken in tow still conceal so much of the substance and atmosphere of a film with much more on its mind than the typical Hollywood product. In this land of rictus smiles and relentless sunshine, imperfection is a cardinal sin; Barbie’s existential crisis kicks into gear as she notices a small patch of cellulite on her thigh, and that her naturally high-heeled feet now stand flat on the ground. During an argument, Ken hurls Barbie’s wardrobe out through the missing fourth wall of her home, and each outfit momentarily flattens into a display-fold with logo and caption while suspended in the air. It’s a pretty anodyne statement, though it accompanies an ending that effectively reduces men to pets.

However, fans can make do with the Barbie Medium , which is somewhat similar, or the Barbie Font Family , which includes two fonts: Barbie and Barbie Font Beta.Being authority figures, they naturally assume the antagonist role as they race to get their star product back in her box, a literal display case binding her wrists and ankles positioned as metaphor for an attitude of silent compliance.