PERMISSION TO PLAY
WHY WE SO DESPERATELY WANTED (AND MAYBE ALSO NEEDED) BARBIE THE MOVIE
Why is everyone suddenly hopping on the Barbie® train?
The TCS team has had the honour of walking alongside Ms. Barbara Millicent Roberts for over four years now and I don’t think any of us have seen anything close to the kind of outright enthusiasm that is buoying Barbie The Movie. Certainly not anywhere close to this scale.
So what gives? What’s all the fuss about?
I think it’s timing.
And just a little bit of magic.
Let me explain.
When the 2001: A Space Odyssey Barbie teaser trailer dropped at the end of 2022, the murmurings began. But things really skyrocketed when the second one, featuring the Barbies (and Kens) in Barbieland, dropped in April.
The set? Incredible.
The cast? Stacked.
The dialogue? Hilarious.
And it only continued to balloon from there. It wasn’t long before fan theories were circulating and everyone was generating their own Barbie posters. It’s no surprise that the memes also just kept coming.
For as much as COVID has taken from us, I think it has given something in return. The collective trauma we share from living through a global pandemic, missing and losing loved ones, and feeling trapped and helpless has contributed to a larger desire to connect with and heal our inner children.
Many of us returned to old hobbies during lockdown. Some of us dabbled and discovered new ones. And almost everyone turned to social media - the one place we could get together to talk about it.
I don’t think it’s a mistake that the Barbie logo used in the film is that of classic Barbie - from the mid 70s to the early 90s. This is the Barbie logo that those of us in our 30s, 40s, and 50s will recognise from either drooling over the doll and her accessories or making fun of the kids who did. Either way, that curvy pink B snaps us straight back to the past and hits us right in the childhood.
So when we saw a bunch of fully grown adults - respected professionals at the top of their field - getting silly and having a great time engaging with that doll, it was hard not to get swept up in the excitement. It was harder still to resist that little voice that was saying “hey, I wanna play too!”
And play we did!
We played dress up, we played pretend, and we played along - inviting everyone around us to get in on the action. We celebrated those most committed to the bit and reveled in the frivolity of it all. There’s a certain lightness and freedom that comes with the feeling that everyone is as invested as you are. It’s the same reason convention people love cons and clubbing people love the club.
And while there were detractors (there always are) - there was also a much louder message of love, jubilance, and a willingness to embrace ourselves in all the ways we come.
What an experience.
What a spectacle.
What a gift.
