Barbie, or Life in Plastic

"It’s about a fucking doll!" - Amy Taubin This week, the Marvelous! crew sets their sights on the hot pink pop cultural phenomenon that is Barbie, a billion-plus dollar (post-)feminist object/Mattel rebrand strategy grappling with the fraught, symbolic legacy of the world's most famous doll by giving her a kitschy existentialist crisis. We talk about how the film's priorities as an officially licensed commercial product limit its purportedly feminist politics, its 2016-internet conception of masculinity, how camp aesthetics and self-effacing humor disavow the specter of capitalism, and think a little too deeply about the metaphysical relationship between Barbie Land and the real world. Plus, Nicole gives a lesson on post-feminism, commodified Girl Power, and how Barbie signaled a consumerist end to Fourth Wave feminism as a meaningful political project. (This episode is dedicated to the life, memory, and herstory of famed Barbie-critic and CIA asset Gloria Steinem.) "After 'Barbie,' Mattel is Raiding its Entire Toybox" by Alex Barasch "This Barbie Has Melancholy Feminism: Framing Empowerment and Grievable Lives" by Scarlette Nhi Do "#Feminism: The Internet’s Facilitation of the Fourth Wave” by Nicole Veneto Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert Feeling Cynical About Barbie by Broey Deschanel An extra special thanks to our $10 Executive Producers: JetChiclete, GalaxyPeaBrain, squishward, JayJeffrey, Walt Lewellyn of The Black Casebook, Tropical Doves, jprestonpoole, Lohik, bernventers, and Owen2. If you can, please lend some support to these organizations: Gaza Funds PCRF (Palestinian Children's Relief Fund) MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) National Networks of Abortion Funds If you enjoy the show please consider: Subscribing to our Patreon, where you can enjoy exclusive episodes, commentary tracks, and more. Like, comment, rate, and review as the algorithm demands.