Margot Robbie, the main character of the movie ‘Barbie,’ wears a Barbie doll costume as it is. Doll Barbies are becoming more diverse in terms of race, body type, and occupation. The photo below is the first Barbie doll from 1959. [사진 워너브러더스 코리아]
The movie ‘Barbie’ (director Greta Gerwig) kicked off a global box office hit. ‘Barbie’, which was released in North America on the 21st (local time), beat the competitor ‘Oppenheimer’ (director Christopher Nolan) and took first place at the box office. By the first weekend of release, sales exceeded 155 million dollars (approximately 198.7 billion Korean won). This is the highest opening score in North America this year. It also surpassed ‘Captain Marvel’ ($153.4 million). In Korea, since its release on the 19th, it has attracted 250,000 viewers.
Barbie, born in 1959 and sold over 1 billion units worldwide, was once a byword for nine-headed blond Western beauty and a fashion and cultural icon. Amid criticism that it promotes lookism, its status has fallen in the 2010s. The manufacturer, American toy company Mattel, accounts for a third of its annual sales of 5 billion dollars (approximately 6.445 trillion won). For Barbie’s comeback, Mattel sought a diversification strategy with dolls that transcend fixed appearances and gender roles, such as multi-racial, pregnant women, and disabled people. Recently, a Barbie that reflects the characteristics of Down Syndrome has also been released.
The first Barbie doll from 1959. [사진 바비 공식 홈페이지]
Thanks to these efforts, sales, which had been downhill, turned to recovery during the Corona 19 pandemic. This film, which is the first example of Mattel’s IP (intellectual property) strategy, is a testament to the fact that Barbie, who turned 64 this year, is still alive. Of course, it contains the clear theme of feminism.
1985 Barbie in a pink suit. [사진 워너브러더스 코리아]
The movie ‘Barbie’ is starring and produced by Margot Robbie, who is an actress of ‘Harley Quinn’, the villain of the DC hero series, and who has participated in the production of women’s films and dramas (‘I, Tonya’, ‘Quiet Hope’, etc.). The screenplay and directing were directed by Greta Gerwig of ‘Little Women’ (2020), which was nominated for six Academy Awards. Prior to its release, an American interior magazine (‘Architecture Digest’) reported that a certain paint company had run out of pink fluorescent paint to embody ‘Barbie Land’, the world of dolls in the movie.
1985 Barbie in a pink suit. [사진 바비 공식 홈페이지]
As soon as the film was released, the critical theme of the patriarchal world disguised as formal feminism is attracting attention. An American critic even jokingly commented, “If I had drank a glass of tequila every time the word ‘patriarchy’ came out while watching the movie, I would have died by the end of the movie.” The film emphasizes the theme that there is a long way to go for ultimate gender equality.
Margot Robbie said, “When I was young, I wasn’t close to Bobby. He played in the mud and carried a lizard in his pocket.” It is symbolic from the opening scene where he appears as a typical Barbie in a swimsuit 64 years ago and liberates the girls. Girls who were playing with dolls, which were almost like pre-parenting, throw away their baby dolls and are immediately fascinated by Barbie. In Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ (1968), a parody of the black stone pillar that enlightened primitive mankind to civilization, Barbie doll breaks the perception of wise mothers and wives that have suffocated girls’ perceptions.
The film also depicts how Ken, who was considered a meaningless existence without Barbie, came to the human world and woke up to patriarchy. Actor Ryan Gosling brought the character of Ken, who tries to take over Barbie Land when he fails to win the heart of his favorite Barbie, to fit the theme well with exaggerated acting. There is also a scene where she criticizes that there are no women in the executives of Mattel, which commercialized feminism through Barbie.
Barbies of different races. [사진 바비 공식 홈페이지]
At an event held in Korea on the 3rd, director Gerwig said, “Barbie is a brand known worldwide, so it took courage. Expectations and fears coexisted about how to approach Barbie, who was both ahead of and behind the times,” he said. “All women are Barbies and all Barbies are women. The idea started with the idea that Barbie’s identity represents everyone.”
The film features an old man named Ruth. American businesswoman Ruth Handler conceived her Barbie from her daughter Barbara’s adult role-playing with paper dolls. Her Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. She modeled after the German doll ‘Buld Lily’ in the form of an adult woman at a time when baby dolls were mainstream. The first Barbie with voluptuous breasts and narrow waist, promoted as a ‘teenage fashion model doll’, sold 350,000 units in the first year alone, making it a ‘big hit’.
Barbie in a wheelchair. [사진 바비 공식 홈페이지]
With the release of the movie, the Barbie doll market is also revitalized. Barbie marketing is also in full swing, from Barbie-themed hotel rooms to toothbrushes and clothes. As the times change, marketing targets have also expanded to men and women of all ages. Collectibles are also on the rise. Reuters reported that the 1959 Barbie played by Margot Robbie in the film sells for thousands of dollars.
Reporter Wonjeong Na [email protected]
