Name: Barbiemania.
Age: Barbie – full name Barbara Millicent Roberts – is a Mattel doll who was born in the US in 1959. The current mania is, well, current.
Because there’s a film, right? Made by Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
With Gosling as Ken? Correct. We’ll come to Ken.
What’s it about? Who knows? It’s Barbie: The Movie; that’s enough.
And people are looking forward it? Understatement of the year. You’ll be lucky to get a ticket. Since last summer, when photos emerged of Robbie in the role, Barbiemania has been getting bigger and louder – and it’s about to explode in a fabulous climax of pink.
Ew! Examples? How many do you want? Everyone’s wearing pink, for starters.
Who? Gigi Hadid, Sofia Richie, Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway. Royals, too: the Princess of Wales, Princess Marie of Denmark …
So it’s about pink clothes? Also makeup, nail polish, glitter, feathers, accessories. Marie Claire reported that sales of scrunchies (a Barbie signature) had jumped by – wait for it – 1,099%. Blond hair dye is up 47%; leotards are up 12%. High ponytails are back, too.
I’m a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, life in plastic, it’s fantastic … Well, yes, actually. Because it’s not just about fashion and clothes (a trend they’re calling Barbiecore); the Barbie world is the real world. Barbiemania extends to food: Burger King in Brazil has brought out a pink Barbie-themed meal. Also, Barbie is taking over home decor.
Not in my home. Architectural Digest magazine did a whole feature on the movie’s fuchsia sets. We are literally seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses. You may have noticed the homepage of a well-known search engine turn pink.
Because of Barbie? ’Fraid so. And it’s not just a visual thing; it’s influencing our behaviour, too.
Now you’re worrying me. I’m thinking about Barbenheimer.
Whoa, what’s that? Another big film is out on Friday: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy as the physicist who developed the atomic bomb.
Quite a different kind of film from Barbie, then. Exactly. Some people are planning on doing a Barbenheimer double-bill. But the Barbenheimer effect has become a thing in dating as well.
Is it going to see each film with someone else? No, it means seeking out partners who are completely different from you. Opposites attract.
Got it. Where would that leave Ken? Alone. Or with someone deep and thoughtful. Incidentally, Kencore – channelling your inner Ken – is a thing, too, just not as big a thing as Barbiemania. But then Ken was always just a sidekick.
Do say: “Pink is the new black.”
Don’t say: “No, just for Oppenheimer, please.”
