The Poetics of Barbiecore

and why we’re here for the Inclusive & reclaimed Hot Barbie Summer of 2023

by Ars Poetica Director of Sales (and resident Poet Barbie) Zoe Branch

this Barbie is a BARD

Welcome to Barbie Month — Let’s Get Nostalgic

We can all agree, I think, that the Summer of Barbie is upon us. The upcoming release of the Barbie movie has unlocked something rare among people: an apparent collective enthusiasm and support toward a mainstream franchise. Despite many peoples’ nuanced and complicated relationship with Barbie as a concept — the original doll’s very existence touts a certain brand of thin whiteness that has been harmful to many — the face value response to the movie’s trailers and branding campaign seems to have struck a sweet, nostalgic, somehow intersectionally feminist chord among people of all kinds.

Take my partner, for example: When I asked if he wanted to join my friends and me in attending the Barbie premiere, he didn’t seem terribly enthusiastic. Despite the fact that he personally fixed a 1996 Barbie typewriter so that I could write on-the-spot custom poetry as a pink-clad Barbie on the streets of New York (more on that later), he shrugged it off as a piece of content that probably wasn’t for him. A day later, at the theatre to see Wes Anderson’s newest movie, a Barbie trailer played, and he turned to me, excited and boyish: “Oh, I do want to see it!” Equal parts pleased and surprised, it only took 60 seconds of bright colors on the screen to win him over to Team Barbie & Ken.

How has Greta Gerwig managed this? Even I am surprised at my eagerness to see the movie: I was decidedly not a Barbie girl as a kid, always defiantly on the side of tomboy-ism and playing with whatever more butch toys my brother had discarded. I didn’t have a particular interest in being pretty, or in cute outfits, or in discovering what a Barbie and Ken doll might do together.

Now I see that part of this stemmed from an internalized misogyny that I absorbed somewhere along the way: that things that are made “for girls” are silly and vapid.

Well before teasers and whispers of Barbie were even a twinkle in our collective eye, I’ve spent much of my 20s trying to unlearn this notion, going back and allowing myself to enjoy things like Twilight and Britney Spears. Not taking everything so seriously. Trusting that, just because something is mainstream, it doesn’t mean it is inherently naive.

I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling, and I think it’s part of what has led to such a positive response to the Barbie movie. The usual cynicism that comes along with girly content, with simple ideas, with in-your-face marketing campaigns, has dissolved in the face of a Barbie revival. Maybe it’s just not as “cool” as it once was to make fun of media made by and for women.

This moment, I think, is capitalizing on three to four generations of people who are ready to stop feeling ashamed for liking things that are feminine and mainstream.

When I recently sat in a New York City park, dressed as Poet Barbie (pink silk! heart glasses!) with a working Barbie typewriter made completely out of plastic, I got to absorb some of people’s warmth toward the soon-to-be movie and longstanding franchise. Men, women, and little kids stopped to sit across from me to receive a custom poem typed on the Barbie typewriter, and many of them reflected on what Barbie had meant to them, how their relationship to her had changed over time, and how they feel about, yes, the Summer of Barbie. I even got to write a poem for someone who is currently working on the movie: his poem topic was his reverence for the creativity and openness of Gerwig as a director. After posting a social media video about the day, I wrote another poem in response to a comment made from the official Barbie movie account. (nice engagement, social media manager!)

Poet Barbie and friends are BACK July 15th in NYC - location TBA

The reaction to this day was so lovely that we decided we need to do it again. We’re going to be out doing more Barbie-informed poems as a large and diverse group of Barbies and Kens in New York City on July 15 at a soon-to-be-disclosed location that will be announced on Instagram and TikTok on July 10th. Doing so feels in line with the energy of the movie’s campaign: nostalgic, connective, making space for an intentional reclaiming.

Some topics you can choose from to inspire your custom poems:

• your favorite memory of Barbie from childhood

• how you’re reclaiming or healing anything feminine in yourself or your life

• what Barbie means to you today

• dreams and optimistic hopes you have for your future and our collective human potential

• the color pink

• crushes on margot robbie, ryan gosling, issa rae, america ferreira, simu liu, kate mckinnon, michael cera, et al

• etc

We’re also available to hire as on-demand Poet Barbies and Kens for any kind of private party or event you might have to celebrate the movie nationwide or even globally — complete with brightly colored typewriters, costumes, and everything.

Private Barbie movie screenings, Barbie-themed bachelor and bachelorette parties, trips to the Barbie Cafe, stays at the Barbie Dream House…

(yes, we have Poet Barbies everywhere from NYC to Chicago to Malibu!)

And one more thing: we’re dedicating our free weekly poetry workshop to Barbie on July 12th!

Because let’s be honest: We all deserve something bright, pretty, sentimental, and simple — hopefully with a shocking, satisfying, feminist twist. We live in a world constantly bombarding us with images of heartbreak, complexity, and injustice; of breaking news and paralyzing bleakness. Enjoying something like the Barbie movie in all its dazzling optimistic dreaminess — or an equally uplifting poem written for you on a pink vintage typewriter — may not be able to make those things untrue, or unimportant. But they may give us just enough of the respite that we all need: some space to come up for air.

Catching our breath and reconnecting to our hope and imagination, the next question becomes: how can we turn those rosy lenses into an actual collective experience of liberation, safety, and joy for all? We may not have the answer yet, but we here at Ars Poetica will keep exploring these ideas and sharing our words with you on the journey.

Poet Barbie, signing off for now — see you July 15th in NYC or wherever you book Poet Barbies and Kens this summer.