Barbie's in our life
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Warning: Spoiler Alert on “Barbie” movie
Sometime back my wife and I watched the Barbie movie, a little late to the party than most though. Had to know what the hype was about. Especially one that made a billion dollars in a short time.
I was disappointed. The movie started off well, muddled through a storyline, lost itself in an extra-long musical portion that would not end, and finally brought to a close in a way that is correct in today’s politically correct ethical world.
Nett of it there will be a ton of new “average”, “normal” and non-stereotypical Barbies in stores for Christmas so that they can reboot Barbie sales for a few more billion dollars and run away to the bank with it.
The movie brought memories of our sojourn with Barbie during our children’s early lives in the nineties. It started with me buying some Indianized Barbie - that is Barbie wearing sarees to look ethnic. I would buy them during my travels to Bangalore - I am guessing from the guilt of traveling to work and used these purchases to pacify my guilt. This was in lieu of pulling my weight for taking care of them physically and emotionally, which was a burden on my wife and my extended family.
We added more Barbie’s in Singapore. And some of these moved with us in our move to the USA and subsequently to Canada. Along the way, the collection slowly slowed down by giving away including the associated home and kitchen kits. I am not sure but a couple could be still somewhere in a closet as souvenirs and memories of our journey.
Even after all these years, I personally don’t get what the Barbie was a symbol of. For us growing up in India and threw my lens it was an alien concept a symbol of a slim unrealistic non-reality white woman prototype that we bought for our children more due to peer pressure and the aspirational aspect of joining with the Joneses of sorts.
Anyway, it is neither good nor bad. A global cultural common or status symbol that meant different things to different generations and in diverse local contexts in various countries and their cohorts to whom these symbols were exposed.
I would have preferred to watch something serious like “Oppenheimer” instead.
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