Life in plastic, it’s fantastic: Barbie’s story

If you think Barbie wishes she had used her full name, Barbara Millicent Roberts, for her film, you’ve got your doll all wrong. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros.)

If you have always lamented the lack of a 70mm Barbie in your doll collection, fret no more. For a life-sized, Superstar Barbie is here! Described as a fantasy comedy, Barbie is director Greta Gerwig’s third outing after Lady Bird and Little Women. If one was the main character’s name for herself and the other about sisters from a treasured classic, this time the bald naming of the heroine emphasizes a zoom-in on one of the more iconic toys of the century.

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie as Ken and Barbie in Greta Gerwig's film Barbie. (Photo courtesy Warner Bros.)

India this month will see Barbie, a girlie extravaganza, go up against Oppenheimer, a biographical thriller on the father of the atomic bomb, a movie, among other things, about a man. If you think Barbie wishes she had used her full name, Barbara Millicent Roberts, for her film, you’ve got your doll all wrong.

The real Barbie, as opposed to the film heroine Barbie, is the series of dolls lying around in your home in a permanent state of undress, depending on your child’s current interest in her wardrobe. I was one of those moms who never bought a Barbie. With my anti-doll stance, especially against dolls that looked surprisingly adult, it was one doll against my two daughters. But somehow Barbie snuck into my house in medical coats, in party gowns, in royal gear – with a truckload of accessories – when I wasn’t looking.

She came in as birthday requests to guests, return gifts, and in exchange programmes with other doll owners. Suddenly I had amputee Barbie, impossibly acrobatic Barbie with her legs twisted around her neck, bald Barbie, headless Barbie and one whose face was always on backwards. But just when I thought my kids had outgrown the Mattel doll, Barbie is back!

Actress Margot Robbie plays Barbie, and from the promo pics alone one can’t tell the difference between the two. From the curly fringe to the hot pink car, Margot is in touch with her inner Barbie. Ken, who always seemed a bit of a sidekick, looks all set to come back into our lives in a more dynamic way. Played by actor Ryan Gosling with blond hair in a perfect blow-dry, he is one dapper dude. As he sings: ‘What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me?’ Ken is into Barbie more than we thought. Greta has been quoted as saying in an interview: ‘I didn’t expect Ryan to Ken so hard.’

For now, the world has turned many shades of pink. Even Google got the memo; search results for the film are rose-tinted. Is the film child-appropriate or more for adults? See for yourself. Until then, wear your pink sunglasses, slip on those pink beads and sip your tiny pink cocktail – it’s playtime!