She’s available in all skin colors, she’s diverse and inclusive. Created by businesswoman Ruth Handler, unveiled in New York in 1959, Barbie’s long been a money-maker. With millions of followers on Instagram, she’s now an influencer, too.
The documentary dives into the world of Barbie content creators, meets the most famous collector (who owns 18,500 dolls), and speaks to fans and feminists. Barbie: the first doll with her own career. Still, she’s an object of love and hate. More than any other toy.
Barbie was a president and an astronaut, long before reality caught up. More recently, Barbie starred in her very own Hollywood movie, putting the whole world in pink Barbie fever. But what few people know: Barbie was invented in the 1950s by an ambitious businesswoman named Ruth Handler, an American immigrant with Jewish-Polish heritage. Together with her husband and a friend, Handler founded the toy company Mattel.
On a trip to Europe, she discovered a doll: Lilli, sold by a major tabloid newspaper. For the first time, Handler set eyes on an adult doll with her own style. Handler immediately recognized the sales potential. Up to that point, girls were limited to playing with baby dolls that served to prepare them for motherhood.
Barbie was unveiled at the 1959 New York toy fair. Mattel sold around 350,000 in the first year alone. The Barbie universe was born. The concept was coherent and economical. And, as a woman with her own house, her own car and her own career, Barbie caused a furor.
With millions of followers on Instagram, now she’s an influencer too. Many successful women have found eternal life as a Barbie figure. Most recently, the German marine biologist Antje Boetius. This documentary sheds light on the phenomenon known as Barbie.
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