Is Life in Plastic so Fantastic?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since Mattel launched Barbie into the world in 1959, the doll has been adored for her ability to show girls they can do anything and loathed for her abnormal body proportions. Now, in the first live action film featuring Barbie, she’s on center stage. In the film Barbie is forced to leave her home of ‘Barbieland’—prompting an adventure in the real world and discovering along the way that perfection is found within. Materialism, gender norms, beauty ideals, race, feminism and the patriarchy are all themes in director Greta Gerwig’s $145 million film. Are we all good with Barbie now? What’s the impact and legacy of Barbie on culture today? Guests: Rae Alexandra, staff writer, KQED Arts & Culture; creator and author, "Rebel Girls from Bay Area History" series Nadra Nittle, education reporter, The 19th Antonia Cereijido, executive producer, LAist Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, boated the number one wellness resort and spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine in 2024.
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0:43.1	From KQVD in San Francisco, this is Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:04.0	Since Toymaker Mattel launched Barbie into the world in 1959, the doll has been adored for telling girls they can do anything and loathed
1:12.6	for promoting unrealistic appearance standards. Now in the first live action film featuring Barbie
1:17.6	and starring Margot Robbie, director Greta Gerwig takes aim at the sexism, materialism, the
1:23.3	patriarchy, the shape Barbie. So does this mean we're all good with Barbie now?
1:28.0	Diamonds under my eyes. It's the best day ever. It is the best day ever. So is yesterday and so is
1:33.8	tomorrow and every day from now until forever. What do you think? Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:51.1	The Barbie movie Beat Out Oppenheimer with a $155 million opening weekend, giving it the biggest debut of 2023 and the biggest opening for a movie directed by a woman.
2:02.1	So what do you think is behind the film success and all those pink parties?
2:07.9	We're going to look at the legacy of Barbie and why the doll that Mattel launched in 1959
2:13.1	is sparking a cultural moment now. Did you join moviegoers in Pink
	...

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