If you’ve been wandering the Christmas toy aisles, amazed at
the longevity of a product for children that is still around in spite of its
anatomical impossibility, I have news for you.
Barbie lives.
According to an article in the Economist a few years
ago,
“. . . wrapped up in her
pouting lips and improbable figure—buxom breasts, wafer-thin waist and
permanently arched feet waiting to slip into a pair of high heels—is an
apparently enduring statement of aspiration and western aesthetic. She is,
according to M.G. Lord, who has written a biography of Barbie, “the most potent
icon of American popular culture in the late twentieth century.”
Just
check the website of any major toy distributor
- she’s still doing fine.
But
the real breakthrough is that I’ve discovered the original model.
Granted my premise is a bit flawed since Barbie was born in
1959, but after my visit to John Gray’s blog today, I’ve found the source:
 |
| Jamie Lee Curtis in her prime. |
Time travelling Barbie...
ReplyDeleteThat is one scary doll.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Delores: scary.
ReplyDeletePS: about Trump; first we were laughing, now we’re truly worried. Are there really Americans who might vote for the man?
Well, those voters should be easy to spot. Just look for the scrapes where their knuckles dragged the ground.
DeleteWho IS that woman? She looks a little like Jane, but I hope it's not. And Trump? I keep hoping any minute he will self destruct. :-)
ReplyDeleteI added a caption for you, DJan.
DeleteWell, damn. I shoved a chocolate in my mouth, then saw Jamie Lee Curtis.
ReplyDeletesigh. I bet she had bigger feet than Barbie though. Even for a doll, Barbie's feet are ridiculously tiny.
Yeah. Speaking as a 10 (and that's shoe size, not hotness level), I find that the most egregious design flaw of all.
DeleteDidn't she make a movie called Perfect, or something like that? Maybe that's what the still is from? I never saw it. I guess she was emulating Barbie rather than the other way around, even back then.
ReplyDeleteOh good grief!! I thought she looked a little familiar when I read the post yesterday. I never knew Jamie Lee Curtis looked like that.
ReplyDeleteI had an encounter with a plastic surgeon years ago (no, I was not getting altered) and he was making his wife into a living Barbie doll.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's not creepy AT ALL.
Delete