C’mon Barbie let’s go party… because Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are set to play Barbie and Ken in an upcoming movie about the plastic doll with legs for days.
Gosling is still not 100% confirmed for the role yet, but is currently in final negotiations — according to Deadline. If all goes to plan, I think Gosling will honestly be a perfect Ken due to his strong ~himbo~ energy. Margot, who is already confirmed for the role, will obviously make a stunning Barbie. I mean she’s simply ethereal.
The Barbie movie is co-written by Little Women and Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach. Gerwig will also direct the film.
With Gerwig as director, I’m trusting that this film will be a feminist take on the popular doll, rather than adhere to the typical Barbie/Ken narrative.
I mean, there’s a reason why The Simpsons parodied Barbie with the ditzy Malibu Stacy doll.
Yes, as much as Barbie is a cultural icon and the OG movies take us back to our childhood, let’s also not forget the lack of body, racial and disability diversity in the dolls. As a little brown girl, I hated that Barbie looked nothing like me — which is why Bratz are the superior doll (sorry, not sorry).
Of course, the doll has come a long way since I was six and there is now Barbies in different body shapes and skin tones, as well as ones in a wheelchair. Let’s hope the kids of today feel a bit more represented in the toys they choose to play with, rather than my generation who had to play with an anatomically incorrect doll that if it was a real person would simply topple over due to its tiny legs and massive breasts.
Despite my love/hate relationship with Barbie, I have full trust in this cast as well as director Greta Gerwig. I can’t wait to see what they do with the film.
