The show’s snazzy ‘fantasy toyshop’ look will appeal to Barbie nostalgists – but where’s the bite or wit of Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film?
: Petra Rajnicova
As a 42-year-old man, I may not represent this exhibition’s target audience. But last year’s saturnalian battle-of-the-sexes Barbie movie – directed by Greta Gerwig, and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – was so brilliant that I arrived expectantly at London’s Design Museum. Bring on the pink!
Sadly, Barbie®: The Exhibition – while stylishly staged by Sam Jacob Studio, with a flurry of inventive touches – lacks the bite or wit of Gerwig’s film, which mocked its subject and Mattel, the multinational behind the franchise that co-produced it. Too often, the show’s toothless interpretation reads like smug corporate hogwash. Anything potentially troublesome for this 65-year-old brand is suppressed.
By the end, when, for the umpteenth time, I was being whacked over the head with the marketing mallet, hammering home yet another on-brand message about Barbie being a “role model for all”, I was rolling my eyes. As for the suggestion that Mattel – a chronic producer of planet-choking plastic – is, in fact, virtuously mindful of environmental issues: that had me laughing out loud.
: Underwood Archives, Inc / Alamy Stock Photo
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