Barbie Movie Memes Are High Camp and We’re Here For It

Danny DeVito as “Ongo Gablogian the art collector” in a Barbie movie meme (all screenshots Valentina Di Liscia/Hyperallergic)

Warner Bros. has dropped the second trailer for director Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie. Set to release in July 2023, the film’s plot has been kept a secret from the public, increasing anticipation for the film. Coupled with the posters released on the movie’s Instagram account, featuring the cast of the movie on the ultra-recognizable, sun-shaped Mattel logo, fans are ready for what is expected to be a summer hit.

The movie’s marketing team has also created a selfie generator allowing everyone to join in on the fun and become a citizen of Barbie Land. The message is clear: There is more than enough room for this dinosaur, the cast of Puss in Boots 2, Harry Styles, the cast of Succession, Gerard Way from the emo band My Chemical Romance, Public Enemy hype man and rapper Flavor Flav, Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada, and Jobu Tupaki from Everything Everywhere All At Once all to exist in Barbie’s world.

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Left: Artsy Barbie meme by Hyperallergic Marketing Coordinator Shari Flores; right: Barbie meme inspired by Everything Everywhere All at Once, created by the A24 Film Group and shared by @borrowingtape

What can be gleaned thus far from the two trailers and stills suggests the new movie does not shy away from camp, fully embracing Barbie’s dream-world utopia. It’s an idyllic Malibu, California, where the sun shines without pause and the color pink fills every surface imaginable.

The iconic and nostalgic aesthetic will also feature in a pop-up dining experience set to open in New York and Chicago next month, and Bucket Listers will collaborate with Mattel to host a Malibu Barbie Café with Master Chef contestant Becky Brown in Elmhurst, New York. All the hype seems to bring out the unlikeliest of Barbie fans, including mobsters, the Scream series’ Ghostface, and superheroes

The cast is loaded with star power: Will Ferrell as the Mattel CEO; Robbie, Issa Rae, and Kate McKinnon as three of several Barbies; and Ryan Gosling as one of a handful of Kens. It’s part of the magic of Gerwig’s Barbie World. There are infinite types of Barbies that will appear in the movie; she can be everything and anything: president, surgeon, gymnast. As Euro-pop group Aqua said in their 1997 hit song, “Life in plastic, it’s fantastic.”

Memes by Twitter users @ghostfacetalks_ and @highendhomo

However, Ken is “just Ken,” as the posters point out. Gerwig and all the Kens understand the assignment and Ken’s place in Barbie lore. Speaking about his role, Gosling joked with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that “Ken was an accessory and not even one of the cool ones.”

Some have appreciated Gerwig’s attention to detail in the stills that some have torn apart analyzing. Many noticed Barbie’s extreme arch as Robbie walks on her toes in the trailer, echoing the unnatural shape of doll’s feet. And film critic Jillian Chilingerian picked out a Citizen Kane reference in a Barbie-as-president scene. 

Twitter user @Shai_Berry picked up on the extreme arch of Barbie’s feet.

Here are more ridiculous, campy, fabulous, and over-the-top Barbie memes and reactions to tide you over until the movie comes to theaters this summer. 

Source: Hyperallergic.com

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