By Ricardo Lezama When it comes to an industry dependent on perception and imagination, like toys, movies and other media, Barbie is in a coveted position to tune itself into the 21st Century orthodoxy like no other entity.
Prior to the movie, the Barbie brand was playing catch-up. While on the defensive, Barbie has been attempting to keep up with modern ideals of representation by creating dolls customized to reflect a number of identities, including various skin tones, body types, and even disability.
Today, using Margot Robbie and Karol G, Mattel and its sidekick, Warner Bros, exploited multiple emerging (not the highest) US trends that most benefit its bottom line, like that of mixed racial families with limited Spanish fluency, corporatized and ambiguous (surely not Mexican) affiliated Latinas – those with hyper emasculated partners from outside their cultural group – and disaffected youth whose role in a complex economy appears elusive and diminishing at the same time.
There isn’t a plot to spoil (well, there is but the movie is worth enjoying so no need to spoil) in this post. Mostly, this movie has at its center young women, middle-aged women, older women, and as broad of a Hispanic crowd as possible. However, the movie itself is entertaining and worth watching even if you don’t buy lipstick in your spare time. The WB and Mattel want all these aforementioned demographics lining up for their products in a very explicit way if we interpret based on the character backgrounds on the movie. The Karol G complexion range is definitely being discussed in these boardrooms.
There is definitely no real Mexican reference and erasure is subtle (the film opens in California with a crowd from the East Coast) with the near desperate attempt to appeal to highly assimilated Latin folks being very clear. Ultimately, I thought it was well played.
In playing with the above themes in the movie, the more obvious point about Barbie ‘ ‘there is no way for any single product to encompass a wide variation of identities’ becomes moot. Barbie has stepped into culture dialogues without so much as a scratch on its core product. This is essentially the opposite of what happened to Bud Light. Without changing the core product of the brand, like the Nike Swoosh made in a sweatshop, Barbie expanded its brand overnight through a diversification of audience and outlets. The power of movies generally has been reaffirmed.
Personally, I felt like I was watching a Super Bowl commercial. And I enjoyed it.
The film had enough comedic value, musical range and pleasing aesthetics, that one did not care that the movie was a clear attempt to suck up all the summer oxygen with easy metaphors and social critique. “Why can’t we all just get along” never sounded so convincing or necessary in todays highly charged climate.
At this point, Barbie has sold in every major market and presented itself as a significant percentage of the population. Whether shrewd business or sincere embracement of other people, Barbie has succeeded in providing something in terms of representation for US based or US centric consumers.