in brief: Barbie to star in live-action film about ‘female empowerment’

Barbie’s upcoming live-action movie, going into production at the end of this year, is promised to be about female empowerment.

The plot aims to team the original doll, marketed in 1959, with an overworked bureaucrat looking for an assistant – as well as many dazzling costume changes. ‘We always thought that the Barbie story had great potential,’ said Sony’s Hannah Minghella. ‘But a universe of possibilities opened up when Jenny, Walter and Laurie brought us their unexpected, clever and truly funny concept.’

Minghella believes that the screenplay ‘captures everything that has made Barbie a classic,’ and that this project will see her come out as a ‘truly original screen character.’

For decades the brand have resisted the urge to create a feature film. But this concept, by former Sex in the City writer Jenny Bicks, has won everyone over. Bicks promises to prioritize female empowerment by utilising the many professional skills Barbie has gained from her 150 careers (astronaut, model, surgeon, etc). The doll will ‘step into the lives of others and improve them, almost like a modern-day Mary Poppins.’

Kudos to the screenwriters for coming up with an empowering plot. I only wonder how positive it can be, coming from the doll who, if real, would have to walk on all fours because of her unrealistic proportions.