#also sorry if this is wordy and a little messy im drinking rn LOl

[instafuck]

https://www.tumblr.com/instafuck/724188454580355072?source=share

Your tagsss 👀

okay so like i wanna clarify i do not hate the barbie movie, i saw it and i really enjoyed it and all personal opinions about plot points aside there was nothing wrong with it.

that being said,

this movie was not servicing anyone from a "barbie fan" standpoint. it had a lot of cute throwback stuff, and it had a lot of past barbie products. but what i heard from my friends and what i've seen is that no one truly got "nostalgia" from the barbie movie. people recognized toys, and the message those characters were used to convey was amazing. but barbie the brand, as it was, was not the focus.

(side note, i'm not trying to say all media with preexisting ip's are about nostalgia, but people definitely expected to see more specific callbacks to things they considered "iconic barbie")

in fact, as a "not a barbie kid" person, all i could see was revitalization. look at the toys on the shelves in the barbie displays now, they're all the toy sets you saw "throwbacks" to in the movie. look at ken's "kenough" sweater, barbie's adult clothes. on mattel's part, this was rejuvenation. this was, "we see that teens-young adults love a little edge and "surprisingly deep" plots in things they love". so of course they greenlit a movie that jabbed at mattel, because they know people will *appreciate* that and it'll pay off.

they know that if they say they know what's wrong with barbie conceptually, that we'll all go "yeah barbie feminism was a little outdated atp but the movie showed they care!" AND THATS NOT FALSE! but at the end of the day, what i see is a smart business move. that's not a bad thing, but it's what i personally was seeing on screen when i watched it. I was seeing barbie products targeted to adults selling like hot cakes, barbie makeup, barbie mirrors, barbie shirts and costumes.

before this movie, mattel might have had a harder time selling all-ages/adult products with barbie theming. now, those products will SELL.

and again, i'm not trying to trash the movie, i loved it and i can't wait to rewatch it when it's on streaming, and i genuinely believe we will all be talking about greta gerwig and this movie as one of the most important movies of our time thanks to its boldness, popularity, and the current social climate - but i couldn't stop thinking about the fact that truly, barbie as a brand and product wise, was being very carefully tailored to bring back timeless products to the top of toy sales, and to open the door for more widely appealing products with barbie on it - and i found that idea, contrast to the plot and message of the movie going on at the same time, pretty fascinating.

i just found it interesting from the perspective of strategy how carefully tailored the movie was to feature timeless, safe toy sets and create a new slate for a completely new aesthetic that simultaneously cashes in on the popularity of retro aesthetics, y2k aesthetics, and the rise we've seen of embracing childhood or fun media.

#LONG POST #instafuck #it's not a bad thing at all #but i think a lot of people especially 20 somethings and teenagers left with a sort of vague feeling that something was missing #and i think this is what they're feeling #when i said things like this to my friends that were barbie kids they agreed? so i think i understand what that feeling was a little #and it was just. genius marketing. absolute fucking slam dunk man #like the fact that you're going to see a lot of adults with barbie clothes and products and no one's really going to bat an eye? #that wouldn't have been the case before this! people would assume it was a toy or that you had a special interest #now? #it's gonna be everywhereeee #in fact i would love to see more of this #if you're gonna do something like this to revitalize a brand it better at least be good!!! #im excited for the other movies mattel is working on too #it was just overall a really brilliant move but it explains why you didn't see true callbacks to what a lot of the target audience consider #peak barbie media/toys #also sorry if this is wordy and a little messy im drinking rn LOl