#and it sucks bc while yea you can go to other doll lines for more racial diversity mattel is the only place doing disability rn -__-

[miyanagi]

here's the thing about barbie as a character: she is nothing. she is cishet blonde blue eyed white woman #12837392947483928 and she is just not fucking necessary as a brand anymore. you can get your pinks and your femininity literally anywhere else, and to be honest, mattel is not putting enough into the heart and soul of barbie (THE DOLLS) to justify her persistence in pop culture. i love a lot about barbie, i'm a doll autistic and i grew up with the animated movies, but we have to just accept that barbie doesn't really deserve to be a cultural icon the way mattel still wants her to be. she isn't doing anything. the barbie brand cries out that it's progressive and inclusive now, but the only reason it even has to do that is because it never really was. yes, historically barbie is very important, but she just doesn't belong. mattel is finally cognizant of that, and all they can do is lampshade about it. they're too pussy to change her appearance because she's such an icon, and the idea the barbie movie posits of making barbie just a normal woman completely defeats the point. like. mattel already does that, first of all, but god... why can't people just enjoy fashion? why can't inclusivity also mean having fun with our clothes? why is the barbie brand's idea of inclusivity releasing a million unnamed minority dolls that can't mean much to children because they aren't even characters? all of the barbie dolls that come out are trying so hard to be progressive that they lose the charm of the brand because for some reason they can't merge being progressive with being fashionable... in a fashion doll line. i was a kid when lammily came out and i didn't fucking want her, you know? practicality isn't FUN with dolls. it's boring. i don't just want disabled barbies, i want disabled barbies with names and personalities and compelling outfits. the barbie brand is antiquated and not really worth anyone's time, and seeing the movie struggle to politically justify its existence really cemented that for me.