I feel like I'm coming out of the closet when I say I love the early Barbie movies. But I banned Barbie movies after they got super commercial (ironic, no? Of course Barbie is commercial). When I saw Barbie had a hero movie (Princess Power), I couldn't resist, and I bought it. But I guess I'm too opinionated -- I didn't like their body type for girls. I quickly wrote this letter to Mattel, and it'd be nice if they got opinions from other people too. It's probably silly for me to have such a strong reaction to an animated series that's always been a bit exaggerated when it comes to female body representation, but I decided to write a letter anyway. Here it is:
Dear Mattel,
This is a comment on the Barbie movies. I loved Barbie Princess and the Pauper, but swore off Barbie movies after the Fairytale series was too blatantly commercial. Yesterday, I was excited to see a hero Barbie movie, and bought it for my 3yr old today. But I'm now completely horrified at how exactly she looks like an anorexic teen. I'm okay with adapting realistic proportions for artistic presentation, but the starvation figure of the current Barbie version is too much.
I have two daughters, one 8yrs old and one 4 yrs old. When my older was about 3, my brother suggested that Barbie movies were a good choice. I was horrified at the thought, but after watching the Princess and the Pauper, early Fairytopia movies, Nutcracker, and other early movies, I was a fan. Barbie was independent, intelligent, and resourceful, everything I wanted for my daughters.
The later movies started focusing more on shopping and fashion than on intelligence and resourcefulness. The first such I saw was the Fashion Fairy Tale; the wisest fairy in the world had magical portals to the best shopping places. Not libraries, not forests, not even sports arenas, but shopping. Other movies didn't help my opinion, and I banned Barbie.
I was so excited to see Barbie take a powerful role again that promised to showcase her capabilities as a thinking, powerful girl. But the improved storyline came with a highly exaggerated starvation body type, complete with sharp jawbone, extruding neck ligaments and nonexistent pectoral muscles in the armpits.
I don't know who's responsible for designing Barbie, but I'm hoping that you get feedback from other women that reflect my reaction, so maybe you'll try to make her either more doll-like or more human-like. The current accurate representation of a starvation body type is scary.
Sincerely,
Alisa
