Who Let the Dolls Out? ‘Barbie’ Is Just the Latest Revamp of Girlhood Lore

Erin Strecker
·3 min read
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It’s a story about girlhood idols clad in their iconic looks, living in a faraway land. There’s a handsome guy, but the ladies realize he’s sort of beside the point (and not as great as he thinks, anyway). One woman ponders: Isn’t there more to life? A godmother figure explains that our protagonist must fix things in her old world before a new happily ever after, one that looks far different than what she thought she wanted.

I’m not talking about Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” These are the story beats of a new Broadway musical, “Once Upon a One More Time” in which fairy-tale princesses Cinderella, Snow White, and more discover Betty Friedan and attempt to break free of the stories they’ve been assigned — all set to the music of Britney Spears.

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Written by Jon Hartmere, the “Barbie” parallells are uncanny. Cinderella runs away from the land she knows, and meets a real-world little girl who doesn’t act like how our protagonist expected. Through personal growth, Cinderella becomes the new kind of hero the girl needs. (The “Once Upon a One More Time” team is getting in on the “Barbie” fun on social media.)

There’s no suggestion that this parallel is anything more than kismet; both projects were in the works for years. However, we are living through a moment in which stories that comforted us since girlhood have to adapt when prospects for real-life American women grow worse. These new tales update the familiar to soothe our grown-up selves in powerful ways.

You don’t need a Feminism 101 class to understand that a patriarchal world would have issues with the kind of “bimbo feminism” espoused in “Barbie” and “Once Upon.” (See also: right-wing response to the film). It’s hard to imagine either the musical or “Barbie” would have been nearly as successful even 10 years ago.

Thank Gen Z, which is so unabashed about its love of girlie entertainment: the resurgence of Taylor Swift, the Instagram accounts dedicated to the American Girl dolls; the loud love of romance novels. It’s thrilling to watch it all be celebrated and to see so many shake off the patriarchal notion that any of this should be something to hide. Us olds certainly can learn a thing or two.

The pop-culture possibilities are endless. For a Hollywood often allergic to original ideas, it’s a whole new well of IP. Lena Dunham is working on a Polly Pocket film and calls for more American Girls content are heating up social media once again.

Beyond the commercial prospects, this surge says work aimed at young women is worthy of serious consideration. It means bestselling romance author Emily Henry gets lengthy profiles written about her. It means that Serious Music Sites must consider the work of Swift; it wasn’t so long ago her work wasn’t reviewed at Pitchfork, as it was ostensibly considered beneath their criticism. Giddiness and high art aren’t mutually exclusive.

After a stirring performance of Spears’ “Everytime,” the climax of “Once Upon a One More Time” comes when Cinderella fears that because she is no longer a “shut up and smile” princess, girls won’t be interested in her story. That leads a child to remark that the tale may be changing, but that’s only because Cinderella isn’t done growing yet.

Thank goodness we — and Hollywood — aren’t either.

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