Third Wave Balk

Like Isaac, I saw Toy Story 3 this weekend, and loved it, particularly the fairly bleak final third. But what struck me the most was the heartwarming Barbie commercial that preceded it, at least at our theater. The ad itself is unavailable online, so I've posted above one of the ones aimed at kids that follows the same logic. For a closer measure of the ads' inspirational-nonprofit tone, though, check out the whole "I Can Be..." campaign at the Barbie website.

Let me begin by saying that few things make me crazier than the "what about the children" brand of pop culture analysis. This is particularly common among undergraduates who are trying to figure out their relationship with feminist critique: the gist of it is that today's "sexed-up tween culture" is hypersexualizing girls blah blah blah. So they make arguments for why girls' exposure to Bratz or Gossip Girl or that favorite whipping-post, Barbie, should be limited if not banned outright. The problem here is the implicit assumption that all consumers, especially children, are passive robots with a simple stimulus-response reaction. If my doll wears low-cut jeans, I'll want them; if Serena drinks underage and betrays her friends' trust, me too! There's no space within this critical structure for girls to read against the grain, to give their Barbies mohawks and make them have sex with each other.

So, good. All fairly standard third-wave stuff, right? We can use pop culture for devious, revolutionary means! But here's the thing--the bait-and-switch of the inspirational Barbie campaign caused some kind of short in the third-wave center in my brain. Watching the ad, I was totally sucked in--as I took in its gauzy, soft-focus shots of girls saying what they want to be when they grow up, I choked up, figuring it was part of some campaign for funding girls' schools in underdeveloped countries or some similar well-meaning feminist project (one with vaguely imperialist undertones, but I was affected nonetheless). The stinger comes after about two minutes of this, with the pink Mattell script of Barbie's name closing the ad--and that was the point when the theater burst out laughing. Barbie just couldn't bear the weight of her position as a feminist ideal (I'll refrain from making the obvious joke about how she can't bear much weight at all with boobs that big and permanent high-heeled feet--oops, too late!). As much as I love Buffy, burlesque, and all sorts of high femme shenanigans, I just can't buy Barbie as a role model.

(WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS  FOR TOY STORY 3 FOLLOW)

The movie itself features a similar feminist repurposing of Barbie as a kind of feminist heroine. She's immediately smitten with Ken, but leaves him when she realizes he's part of the corrupt machinery of Sunnyside Daycare, and outsmarts and even physically dominates him in order to help the other toys escape. At the risk of making the "what about the children?" mistake I describe above, I'm a little worried about the results of Barbie becoming a "better" role model--will girls still be motivated to repurpose her against the grain? The choices offered by the web site are maybe the best example of this problem. On the one hand, it seems great that there are so many choices (babysitter, golfer, rock star, pizza chef, dentist, vet, etc etc), but doesn't that bring us back to the illusion of choice? You can be which ever one of these skinny blonde girls you want? I mean--if there's already a Barbie rock star, why would I make my Barbie into the rock star I invented?

Ken's arc in the movie illustrates the problem of forced choice around gender and representation, I think--he's a dandy, and this effeminacy is never played as anything but a joke. The film's final joke, in fact, revolves around Ken's Nelly handwriting--all purple ink, curlicues, and little hearts to dot his i's. Barbie might be able to be a vet or even a golfer, but it's pretty clear here that she (and definitely HE) can't be queer.

Thoughts?

Comments

[Kristina A.]

Ok, is anyone else disturbed by the toilet-training going on in that commercial you posted? Or the "working" toilet? Why why WHY would that be a selling point? Also, it's strange/funny that the justification for that toilet is that Barbie is a babysitter -- not a mom. I guess because a babysitter gets paid?

The one and only feminist argument for Barbie that's ever worked for me is that Barbie was designed as a career woman -- that she differed from other dolls prior to her because she invited identification rather than caretaking. (Which makes the caretaking in the commercial you posted somewhat ironic.) Of course, I agree with you that this is an illusion of choice -- especially since career paths seem primarily to be about changing your clothes. And since the main point of Barbies is to make them have sex with each other and carry out elaborate soap-opera plots, the clothing is optional anyway. Or was that... just... me...?

I remember once when I was a kid, my grandmother caught me twirling my naked Barbie around by the hair. She scolded, "Don't treat your baby-doll like that!" My response (complete with eye-rolling)? "It's not a baby doll. It's Barbie."

[Ben Owen]

Anne suggested this off-blog, but I want to add it to the conversation because it's interesting: part of what's interesting about Ken in the movie is that it's his capacity for empathy--which goes hand in pink glove with his general sissiness--that turns him from a bad guy into a good guy. So even though his effeminacy is played consistently for laughs, which is depressing, it's also the thing that redeems him. And this contrasts with Stinky Pete from Toy Story 2, who was also kind of coded queer--in that he opposed the "natural" relationship between a kid and his toy, and had that slightly fruity Kelsey Grammar accent (go with me on this)--but was thoroughly villified for it. He wasn't effeminate so much as a sort of classic homo male villain. Ken's different, and while it is in a certain light sad that the movie heads of the possibility of his gayness, he can be seen a positive model of a sissified straight guy. That's not exactly radical, but it is something that I'd be thoroughly in support of.

Oh, and Kristina, thanks for pointing out the toilet thing. I hadn't even watched the video. That little pee yellow/sanitary blue flipping panel is really really disquieting.

[watch movies]

He He He Barbie washing hands and using the toilet ! well I always thought that Barbie never need to go to the toilets I don't remember me as a child taking her to do poo :) funny thing in did - and I kinda like how they build her character as a brave and independent woman