Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour

A fascinating documentary about the bizarre world of Barbie. It delves into the history of the Barbie doll, the ironies behind her conception, and her devout and truly odd fan base. A must see for anyone who has every owned, loved, or hated Barbie.

11/22/17. This is an interesting documentary about how a doll went on to be the role model for American women for generations. I suppose this is no different than all those super-hero action figures that boys play with. Impossible ideals encased within a plastic mold is a terrible way for imperfect humans to strive for. No wonder young kids have so many mental health issues these days.

Ruth Handler, the "mistressmind" of Barbie, would be a role model for young feminists -- a woman having it all -- if the doll Barbie hadn't taken on a life (or MANY lives) of her own. I was at the age to be ripe for a doll like Barbie when she was first introduced; later, young woman of my generation would come to see Barbie as a symbol of the unrealistic expectations confronting girls growing up. Ironically, what Handler relates is a story of wanting to make adolescent girls comfortable with their bodies and not make the doll TOO pretty. The market wanted her prettier. Barbie changed to reflect a widening of women's roles, but not as avant-garde. As one who has come to resent the cult of Barbie, I found this documentary challenging many of my assumptions.

I do know people who either love or hate Barbie. I grew up with the dolls(with other stuff like Ninja Turtles and My Little Pony), and I still enjoy most of the movies(except three or four of the newer ones), so naturally I did want to see this documentary. On the whole I found is fascinating, and much more interesting than I thought I'd find it. The talk of the rags-to-riches humble starts in life came across as very personal to me as well as in terms of their nature historical, and there were parts that I got a chuckle out of Barbie Nation:An Unauthorized Tour such as the S&M scene and the Trailer Trash edition. Barbie Nation:An Unauthorized Tour is filmed nicely, and has some interesting(some on the slightly weird side like the guy who stitches different types of hairs onto his dolls and the guy who reenacts through the dolls aspects of his life) interviews with the fans. The fandom conventions moments were entertaining also, some may already know how the fans behave, as someone who didn't know I was amused, bemused and altogether interested. The karaoke was rather painful on the ears though. All in all, a very good documentary, not something I usually watch but having just had a Barbie movie marathon just recently and hearing of this I thought it would be nice to go with the movie. And it was. 8/10 Bethany Cox