Abstract
- Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film features a reference to the Proust Barbie, which isn’t an actual model of the doll, however a intelligent nod to Marcel Proust’s novel.
- Within the film, Barbie finds herself in the actual world and encounters Mattel executives who point out the unsuccessful gross sales of the Proust Barbie.
- The reference to Proust Barbie within the film creates a secret connection to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and has develop into a popular culture phenomenon. The viewers is left to think about what a Proust Barbie is likely to be like.
Warning: spoilers for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film.
Barbie is filled with references to a wide range of Barbie dolls, each well-known and obscure variations of the well-known doll, however one particularly has caught the eye of viewers: the Proust Barbie, and right here’s its true story and connection to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie took the well-known Mattel doll and despatched her on a journey of self-discovery, although not with out some very actual commentary on varied real-life points, akin to patriarchy, gender inequality, and capitalism.
Barbie sees Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) undergo an existential disaster when her excellent life begins to alter. After searching for steerage from Bizarre Barbie (Kate McKinnon), Barbie, together with Stereotypical Ken (Ryan Gosling), journey to the actual world to search out the kid enjoying along with her and repair the portal between her world and the actual one. All through her journey, Barbie presents a wide range of dolls and drops references to many others, a few of them fairly obscure and forgotten, however a selected one has made viewers query how far Mattel has gone with its Barbie dolls: the Proust Barbie, however not like the remaining, this isn’t an actual model of the Barbie doll.
Mattel Has By no means Made A Proust Barbie Regardless of Film Reference
Barbie and Ken’s arrival in the actual world places Mattel executives on excessive alert and so they order their seize. Ken makes his approach again to Barbieland by himself after exploring extra of the actual world and studying about patriarchy, whereas Barbie is discovered by Mattel’s brokers and brought to the corporate’s headquarters. There she meets Mattel’s CEO (Will Ferrell), who’s ready for her with an enormous Barbie field. Barbie will get within the field and mentions that the scent is a Proustian reminiscence, with the CEO mentioning how badly the Proust Barbie offered. Whereas Barbie options discontinued, controversial, and obscure Barbies and Kens, Mattel by no means made a Proust Barbie.
Greta Gerwig spoke about this particular scene in Barbie with AP Information, sharing why she added a reference to French novelist Marcel Proust. Gerwig defined that in Swann’s Means, the primary quantity of the novel In Search of Misplaced Time (first translated as Remembrance of Issues Previous), the Narrator is thrown again into his childhood by the style of a madeleine dipped in tea. Stereotypical Barbie had an identical expertise of involuntary reminiscence when she entered the field, which Gerwig seized to make a joke concerning the many failed Barbie dolls which were made through the years.
Proust Barbie Provides The Film A Secret Oppenheimer Connection
Within the above-mentioned interview, AP Information shared with Gerwig that Marcel Proust was J. Robert Oppenheimer’s favourite, with Gerwig playfully saying that Oppenheimer “would have liked Proust Barbie”. Proust has now develop into an sudden connection between Barbie and Nolan’s Oppenheimer, two of the largest motion pictures of the summer season (and absolutely of 2023 as an entire), which had been already linked as they share the identical launch date. “Barbenheimer” has develop into a popular culture phenomenon, however one which has significantly benefited cinema because it has introduced again the joy and curiosity of watching motion pictures in theaters. Again to Proust Barbie, what she could be like is as much as the creativeness of the viewers, and it’s positively one of many cleverest and most fascinating references in Barbie.
Supply: AP Information.