The Curator: it's Barbie, b*tch
the total, complete commodification of a childhood icon. Books from Emily Ratajkowski and Allie Rowbottom.
Babe, it’s Barbie’s world and we are just CONSUMING IN IT.
If you haven’t heard about the new Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling then perhaps you haven’t watched TV, read the news, gone to a store, SHOPPED ANYWHERE ONLINE EVER.
Go ahead, right now, Google BARBIE.
Ok, I did it for you. The entire browser page turns PINK and while the movie is given a measly 30% of the page, the rest is a sales pitch for a variety of regular products turned special hot pink. Exhibit #1:
Here we’ve got every possible consumer product turned Barbiecore - makeup and candles, pillowcases, necklaces, shoes, clothing, rollerskates, pool floats, TOOTHBRUSHES, drinks, snacks, even fast food collabs with BARBIE plastered in varying degrees of bright, neon, bubbly pink. But my most favorite collab might just be the Beis Barbie hot pink suitcase collection that is actually used in the movie. Girl get that bag (literally!).
Most of the merch seems to be tongue-in-cheek retro nostalgia flavored, bringing us all back (once again) to the ‘90s when Barbie reigned queen and our baby selves were slaves to the TV commercial industry (also the Sears catalog, anyone?). So don’t get me wrong, I am loving the resurgence of pink girly shit everywhere. I absolutely bought me and my bestie movie tickets and I got my nails done Barbie pink for the occasion. We even had to talk each other off the merch ledge for tomorrow night’s screening.
BUT. Where does it end? At some point don’t the Barbie people look around at the discarded neon Burgerking wrappers and think, we’ve gone too far? At what point does licensing become so ubiquitous as to be completely meaningless? We know we are being marketed to, and we’re buying it (clearly) but man is it really necessary? (no because “necessary” is not a word capitalism knows).
[I’ve also done much thinking about the Barbie movie and what it means for beauty culture mostly because of Jessica over at The Unpublishable. I won’t go any deeper into this topic since this newsletter is long enough and any thoughts I have are probably best said by her anyways - check out the article below if so inclined!].
The books this week deal with bodies, empowerment, sex, and control - a fitting topic for the culmination of Barbiemania. What better way to exist than to commodify your own body for money and pleasure just like Babs!!
Lastly, I leave you with this bit of nostalgia because I would be remiss if I didn’t take you back: Please raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by the 1992 Dance! Workout with Barbie VHS tape (me, it’s me. You too??). It’s got dancing, it’s got Barbie, it’s got leotards over leggings, it’s got BABY JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT.
I watched this thing religiously as a kid like I was training for the Barbie dance Olympics. Thank god I didn’t seem to get the message that “working out” was important to my life at age ten but more that I could practice the dance moves at my control on repeat until my brother ran screaming from the room. God knows what kind of complex this video gave any child over 20 BMI. Alas, hindsight…
FURTHER READING 💻→
Both Instyle magazine online and High Snob Society detail every Barbie collab, with both pubs recognizing the major overkill of all this merch.
The Guardian discusses Barbiemania.
And Barbie herself “Margot Robbie Opens Up About the Movie Everyone’s Waiting For”.
Barbie even has a READING LIST according to Pango Books. I’m honestly kinda loving this for her…
BOOK REVIEWS📚→
My Body by Emily Ratajkowski
First of all the title - this girl plays the game right. My Body. You come here looking for the spicy tea, for a small simulacrum of a sex symbol’s life, hell maybe to even BE her for a few hundred pages. And then instead you get this intense desire to give Emily a hug and then wrap your arms around your own teenage baby self and whisper it wasn’t your fault.
I know what you are thinking. BOO HOO sucks to be so desirable that everyone wants to see you nekked. It’s difficult for people to sympathize with Ratajkowski - even if they may empathize - because there are politics surrounding EVERY body, but at least hers gets the right attention, we might argue (although deep down we know none is the right attention in the patriarchy). Fat bodies and small bodies, white bodies and dark bodies, from birth or altered bodies - they all come with their own political and personal issues. Skinny white big boobed bodies, however, also get money and proximity to power and at least some “positive” attention - or at least the attention many of us have been groomed to seek since a young age.
I think of her and the other naked women who line the walls and fill the halls of museums, some so ancient the color has washed from their bodies and their marble heads have fallen off. It would be easy to mistake these displays for symbols of respect, for an honor. But what were their lives? And what were their names? No one remembers.
What I loved is that Emily offers a series of vignettes as counter-argument - you can be just as lost, insecure, lonely, depressed, etc., etc. even if the world pays you to be sexy. She is just another pawn in the industry, to be used and manipulated for men’s power and pleasure. She’s also a good writer - her prose is strong and she weaves subtle comparisons between what a woman’s body can do and what it looks like throughout the interesting stories. It was a quick read and one I would recommend for any young woman navigating life with a body.
Moodometer: You finally believe your therapist when she says you are beautiful and are inspired to SMASH the patriarchy.
I give this an I’m Impressed 4 Stars.
Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom
This book gave me PTSD. Now maybe you would not relate to Anna’s drug-fueled Instagram journey to ultimate outward beauty, but dang it felt like revisiting 2010s Facebook for me (cringey and way too much skin). Anna’s narrative skips between her early 20s starting as an Instagram influencer where she got hooked on plastic surgery, drugs, and likes, to her retirement at the washed-up age of 35. We meet Anna when she’s about to undergo a complete reversal of every treatment she’s ever had - known as *Aesthetica* - in an attempt to regain some control over her physical body and her mental health - a “rebirth”.
As someone who is not shy about their Dysport injections and a shady past with illegal substances, I should have been moderately unphased by Anna’s antics. But perhaps I just haven’t gotten there in therapy yet because boy did the shame waterfall cascade down on me thinking of the times I woke up not knowing where I was or what happened (this is not a behavioral endorsement btw. Please take care of yourself). For anyone who has ever done too many substances or considered too many cosmetic procedures or pandered for too many likes on the gram - BEWARE. This will be hard to swallow.
There’s no safe way to reject a man
However, there is depth and redemption to look forward to. The thematic similarities to My Body are strong - the question of empowerment, who owns women’s bodies, and social media as the gap between truth and lies. While there were many highlight-worthy moments, it was a tough read simply because of the topic. I do think it’s an important story, and perhaps I am better (?) for having read it. At least it’s got me real thankful for my life…
Moodometer: You want to feel better about your life because at least it’s not as [insecure, sick, drugged up, sad, lonely] as this chick’s last 15 years.
I give this a You’re Plastic Admit It! 3.5 Stars.
READING 📖→
All I’ve been reading are the two books for this week’s newsletter (I live on the edge!) but planning to start a crime novel of some sort - thinking a Karin Slaughter since she never disappoints. Triptych is the first in the Will Trent series and I’ve been tempted to start at book one ever since having a minor heart attack over The Silent Wife (book #10). Also, Karin is COMING TO MY TOWN in August and I need to make sure and bring the right book for her to sign. Dreams do come true.
LISTENING 🎧→
Why is live music life-changing every. single time? I went to a concert with 13 of my closest friends and it was soul-cleansing. I’ve loved Atmosphere (rap and beats duo) since I was a 16 y/o baby and I got FERAL when they went on. My fiance (his name is Mark, can I just call him that from now on, since we are friends now??) had never seen that side of me and I am happy to report he has not yet called off the wedding!
WATCHING 📽️→
Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix might be the most unhinged TV show I’ve ever seen to the point where I don’t even know WHY that’s the name but I do know that someone eats an eyeball if that gives you any hint to its vibes. Based on the 90s cult horror novel by Todd Grimson, the book is so out of print even Amazon doesn’t have it. If you love horror and ‘90s nostalgia I highly recommend - but be prepared to say WTF every ten minutes.
BOOK NEWS 📰→
BRITNEY SPEARS IS PUBLISHING A MEMOIR PEOPLE DID YOU HEAR? The cover features a topless Britney (interesting choice) so all we can hope is her book editor is better than her social media manager… But really, looking forward to Britney having a voice again.
Kate Winslet is starring and producing the limited series adaptation of Trust by Hernan Diaz (check out last week’s Curator for a review!) - I will be anxiously awaiting news of a premiere date (and also praying she gets inspired to bring Mare back).
Spend a weekend with Colleen Hoover and Time magazine - she gets honest about fame, guilt, and life post-TikTok (“I could sit there and read reviews all day and have to go to therapy and take Xanax, but I don’t want that life,”).
LET’S CHAT☺→
This week: leave a comment with your favorite Barbie-related memory. Although I have plenty from childhood, a new one has usurped the top spot - Mark’s nieces showed me the Barbie they named “Natalie”, and she looks like she’s been getting lit at the club all night and just finished her morning Walk of Fame (as my mom calls it) from not her house. CLASSY.
Or per ush, let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. I’m always game for a good rec (or warning, grievances, etc. ). If you tell me your favorite TV show or movie lately, I’ll give you a book recommendation.
In Case You Missed It 🖤
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See you around the bookshelf!
Natalie
