One of the more famous suppressed films of recent years is Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, an early work by writer/director Todd Haynes (Safe, Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven). Filmed in 1987, the short film -- which relates the rise and fall of Karen Carpenter with a cast of Barbie dolls -- barely got a year's worth of festival time in 1989 before the twin iron boots of A&M Records and Richard Carpenter came down on Haynes.* [more inside]
posted by Trurl
on Dec 31, 2011 -
29 comments
Some people have claimed that Barbie is really about giving girls the image of an empowered woman. There can be little doubt of empowerment when it comes to
Black Moses Barbie -
she fights for freedom and has all the coolest playsets and accessories.
posted by yeloson
on Apr 3, 2011 -
9 comments
Barbie Recalled. Mattel recalled one of their Barbie products today, a sweet little toy to teach kids responsibility called
Barbie and Tanner. But watching that commercial closely one must wonder, if those magnets are coming out of Tanner so easily, surely they won't stay in your kid. Perhaps the design flaw had nothing to do with magnets but rather such an ill-conceived product. So, after Tanner poops out the magnet, you do
what with it?
posted by Toekneesan
on Aug 14, 2007 -
75 comments
Barbarism begins with Barbie — the doll, that is. Research done at the University of Bath (UK) posits that prepubescents' pre-eminent plasticine plaything provokes disproportionate punishment. According to the study, which originally focused on the effects of branding on young consumers, the statuesque Mattel mini-miss seems to attract undue savagery. "The researchers had not intended to focus on Barbie, but they were taken aback by the rejection, hatred and violence she provoked when they asked the children about their feelings for the doll. Violence and torture against Barbie were repeatedly reported across age, school and gender. No other toy or brand name provoked such a negative response."
posted by rob511
on Dec 19, 2005 -
46 comments
Barbie Pr0n. On this fine Sunday evening, I present to the fine folks of Metafilter the utter tastelessness, but strangely amusing images of Barbies doing the nasty. (NSFW)
posted by amandaudoff
on Oct 17, 2004 -
26 comments
Sure,
Scarlett O'Hara Barbie is lovely, and yeah,
Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz Barbie is cute, but for my money, it's hard to beat
Marge Simpson Barbie,
Medusa Barbie, or
Dominatrix Barbie. The full collection, located
here, clearly owes a debt to
Todd Haynes, and the
Barbie Liberation Army, but is still worth a chuckle.
posted by jonson
on Jun 21, 2003 -
7 comments
Barbie and her friends now have blogs. Seeing this seriously made me consider hanging my hat and going home. They even have webcams, to do lists, and little photo galleries. The corporate giants are working hard to pull girls in to technology - which is a really good thing. Too bad the latest posts are about buying mini-skirts and things like that.
posted by christine_bpc
on Mar 15, 2003 -
14 comments
War Games? J.C. Penney,
eToys and
KB Toys all sell this scary "Military Forward Command Post with Two 12" Military Action Figures", despite the efforts of these
shocked consumers who call it an "atrocity". It does sort of look like GI Joes taking over Barbie's bombed-out Dream House... how real is
too real?
posted by sparky
on Oct 1, 2002 -
38 comments
Barbie creator, Mattel founder Handler dies More than one billion Barbies have been sold in 150 countries and has inspired love from girls everywhere and pure hatred from feminists everywhere.
"The impossibly well-endowed doll -- her original figure would be about 39-18-33 if she were human -- has infuriated feminists, inspired artists and intrigued academics around the world. Barbie even was placed in the official "America's Time Capsule" buried in 1976." Can you think of any other toy who has brought about as much ferver as Barbie???
posted by gloege
on Apr 29, 2002 -
30 comments
Multiethnic Barbie. (
picture) ""It would be really boring if there were all white people," says the fourth-grader, who also likes her dolls to portray people she knows - from her half-Asian cousins to classmates of all races." Of course, nobody she knows probably has Barbie's proportions...
posted by owillis
on Feb 19, 2002 -
31 comments
When Barbie meets ballet...? Mattel are shelling out £85,000 to sponsor the ENO's traditional Christmas run of the
Nutcracker, which coincidentally starts just as
Barbie in the Nutcracker hits the cinemas. A good way to "interest young girls in the ballet", or a head-on crash between two questionable influences on their body image? (more inside...)
posted by holgate
on Sep 9, 2001 -
4 comments
Ken, of Barbie and Ken has turned 40. To mark the occasion, Mattel is releasing a hot, young, 20 year old secretary, that Ken is having an affair with, and a Porsche 911.
(to complete the whole midlife crisis thing you see.)
posted by tiaka
on Mar 15, 2001 -
3 comments
Waah! I want my Barbie PC! (I don't quite understand this; can't someone just put their own decals on their computer? What, exactly was the market here? This one seems to go into the "unbelievably stupid product concept" file.)
posted by Steven Den Beste
on Dec 23, 2000 -
3 comments
Not that we need to give Mattel any more press, but I found
gothic Barbie and Ken, Addams gig or no, to be très étrange. (Oh Tish! That's French! You know that drives me to further acts of kitschy assimilation!)
posted by jason
on Jul 10, 2000 -
4 comments
I'd heard about these for a while now but it's good to see actual shots of them. Barbie and Hot Wheels branded PCs are on the way. This is another sign that computers are becoming ingrained into our daily lives, when I was a kid, all I remember wanting was a racecar-shaped bed.
posted by mathowie
on Aug 6, 1999 -
0 comments
