![]() "She invented inserts into a bra that you could put on after you've had a double mastectomy, so you could still feel like yourself," Gerwig says. She left Mattel in 1974, and two years later, started a new company called Nearly Me, making breast prosthetics for women post-mastectomy. In a cruel irony, Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970 and underwent a double mastectomy. More: Is the 'Barbie' movie appropriate for kids? Here's what parents should know Handler's breast cancer battle inspired her second career ''If she was going to do role playing of what she would be like when she was 16 or 17, it was a little stupid to play with a doll that had a flat chest. "Every little girl needed a doll through which to project herself into her dream of her future,'' Handler told the New York Times in 1977. In Handler's 1994 book "Dream Doll," she wrote that some Mattel designers were "squeamish" about a doll with breasts, but she stood her ground. “If that doll had smaller breasts, I think Barbie would have had smaller breasts,” Gerber says. Handler found Bild Lilli during a trip to Hamburg and used her as a model for Barbie. But the doll was also controversial for her small waist and large bust ‒ features inspired by the German fashion doll Bild Lilli. The first Barbie was released in 1959 and became an instant success. “Ruth saw that little girls wanted to play at being big girls,” says Robin Gerber, author of “Barbie and Ruth.” “She described it as a toy that would allow girls to imagine being whatever they wanted to be.” Given the popularity of baby dolls at the time, Handler viewed Barbie as an aspirational alternative: a toy to help girls envision lives and careers aside from being mothers and homemakers. She got the idea for Barbie after watching her young daughter, Barbara, play with paper dolls of adult women. Ruth Handler, who first appears as a character midway through "Barbie," co-founded Mattel in 1945. 'Barbie' review: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling dazzle in hilariously heady toy story Barbie creator Ruth Handler wanted the doll to be aspirational It was always about looking for the levity and the heart.” There are so many things like that throughout the movie. “I was like – if I can give girls that feeling of, 'Barbie does it, too' – that’s both funny and emotional. “And then to see Margot as Barbie, with this big old smile on her face, saying what she says at the end with such happiness and joy,” Gerwig continues. It felt like everything had to be hidden. When I was a teenage girl, I remember growing up and being embarrassed about my body, and just feeling ashamed in a way that I couldn't even describe. ![]() “I knew I wanted to end on a mic drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional. ![]() “With this film, it was important for me that everything operated on at least two levels,” Gerwig says. Anxious but excited, Barbie walks through a waiting room to a receptionist's desk, beaming as she says the movie's final line, “I’m here to see my gynecologist.” ![]() In the last scene, genial Mattel employee Gloria (America Ferrera) and her daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), drop Barbie off at an office building for what seems to be a job interview. 'Barbie': Margot Robbie never thought she'd have 'empathy for a doll' Greta Gerwig wanted to end the 'Barbie' movie with a 'mic drop' Greta Gerwig, who directed and co-wrote "Barbie," tells USA TODAY about the real-life Handler and that brilliant closing moment. Eager for human emotions and experiences, she decides to leave the valley of the dolls and embark on a new life in California.Īnd with some gentle guidance from her inventor, Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman), Barbie chooses to accept mortality and become a person at the end of the movie, adopting the last name Handler for herself. But like Frodo at the end of "The Return of the King," Barbie no longer feels at home in her cozy, familiar world. There's no putting Barbie back in the box.Īfter an existential journey to Los Angeles, Barbie ( Margot Robbie) successfully restores balance to Barbie Land, which is taken over by patriarchal Kens in the film's sharply satirical third act. Spoiler alert! The following contains details about the ending of "Barbie" (now in theaters).
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