Aug 19 2023 - In the Pink with Barbie

Since the Barbie Movie launched into our foreground, we've been treated to PINK.  To a specific Barbie Pink:   "The colour barbie pink (Pantone) using hexadecimal colour code #e0218a is a colour of magenta-pink. In the RGB colour model #e0218a is constituted of 87.84% crimson, 12.94% green and 54.12% blue." While Barbie came about in 1959, the pink signature colour came about in the 1970s. There is so much pink used in the movie that a global shortage of pink paint resulted. Barbie Pink has power over supply and demand. Lots of fun and low controversy in the Barbie colour realm.   But look!  That nose on the horizon!  There are accusations of "Jewface" in the headlines over Bradley Cooper's prosthetic and hugely prominent nose (according to reporters) to represent Leonard Bernstein. The press is ignoring this more than whether a straight actor can take on a gay role, as Leonard Bernstein was gay as is represented in the movie.  But that prosthetic nose is far more compelling than whether non-gays should play gay roles, and so on.  Leonard Bernstein's children defend Bradley Cooper endlessly in the headlines.  Barbie Pink is good fun.  Leonard Bernstein's nose is juicy stuff. This Sakura watercolour was combined into a montage with a textured image.  I don't see any Barbie Pink in this image - I just overlaid #e0218a and it is vividly magenta. Actually screamingly magenta - like a big prosthetic nose.

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More Barbie

Today is another Barbie Day. Wasn't the Barbie Doll so controversial!  Do a search today and the first item is "Barbie's new shapes:  Tall, petite and curvy".  That was news yesterday from from USA Today for all of America:   Barbie is out in three new body shapes to make her look more like the girls who play with her. That highlights the largest controversy over her size and shape when first released in 1959.  Barbie's 1/6 scale 11 1/2 inch size/proportions put her at 5 ft 9 inches weighing 110 pounds.  That was considered 35 pounds underweight at the time.  She would have had measurements of 36-18-33, and experts say that there was a lack of body fat required for a woman to menstruate. It wasn't that this was a mistake.  There were books that accompaigned her with instructions on How to Lose Weight advising 'Don't Eat'. Another controversy was with Barbie's chest.  The articles at the time describe it as having 'distinct breasts'. We all agree now that this was a metaphoric expression for over-endowment to the extreme. Barbie's existence as a doll and product was also a controversy.  The doll was modelled after a German Doll 'Bild Lilli' and Mattel 'acquired' the rights and stopped production of Lilli.  What followed was ,a law suit over the nature of Mattell's claims to being the  original designer and over the 'rights' and what was included.  The German maker settled out of court.  It seems to me Mattel likely got off easy on this one.  Despite, and in spite of, these issues, Barbie became a cultural icon.  There are so many occupations for Barbie - Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor Barbie (1988) and Nascar Barbie (1998) are a few highlights.  The 50th Anniversary in 2009 included a runway show in New York.

A Barbie Pink

This is Queen Street West, in the block behind the Queen Mother Cafe.  What an interesting choice of colours for graffiti and wall murals.  The coral-pink tones are very inviting.  That is because the colour pink is the colour of universal love of oneself and of others.  It represents friendship, affection, harmony, inner peace and approachability.  It is the official colour for little girls, and it is the sweet side of the colour red. The Barbie Doll displays this use of little girl pink in North American society.  The doll came about when the Mattel co-founder's wife, Ruth Handler,  saw her daughter Barbara giving her dolls adult roles.  Ruth's initial suggestion of an adult doll was rejected by her husband and the Mattel board.  However, she persisted and found an equivalent doll in Germany, which was used as the model for the American Barbie.  Barbie was subsequently introduced in 1959 wearing a zebra-striped swimsuit then. It doesn't mention how the pink came about. Over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries since then.  Mattel claims that three Barbie dolls are sold every second.