Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour . Austin Chronicle . 03-30-98

Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour

DIRECTED BY: Susan Stern

REVIEWED: 03-30-98

"Cuba 15," Elizabeth Schub's touching and unnerving short about a Cubana's quinceañera, is the perfect warm-up to Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour. Both deal with the passions of young girls who dream of being adults with real breasts and hips. Both walk that careful edge of showing the world of the subjects without over-editorializing about the worth of their obsessions. And both deal with sexuality, the playful seductions of a girl learning to be a woman and the plastic perfections of a grown-up doll. But, at some point, the similarities end and Barbie Nation takes a deeper look into all things that come with miniature accessories, whether they be homemade S&M Barbies or the scary Barbie conventions where doll designer and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler is treated like the Pontiff. While this documentary is loosely about Handler's journey through Barbieland and her obsessions with all things mammary, director-producer Susan Stern uncovers more grist for the Barbie-mill with unauthorized versions of the perky blonde that would make any toy exec blush. But there is something essentially American about Stern's discoveries, and her film shows volumes about our country's needs for fantasy and role-play.

--Adrienne Martini

Film Vault Suggested Links
Life, Love & Celluloid
Paris Is Burning
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.