That's Barbie! I know her!

Two questions. Just two.

1) Did you play “Barbie”?

2) Did you see the Barbie movie?

Choose your combo below based on your answers above:

A. YES-YES

Tell me! Tell me! Loved it? Why? Hated it? Why? Learned something? Cool!

B. YES-NO

Stop what you’re doing. Do not pass GO. Go see the movie and then come back here. Go see the movie. Then we’ll talk.

C. NO-YES

Please realize, this movie was not made for you. Pause a minute and let that sink in. This. Is. Not. YOUR. Movie. And you know what? That’s okay! Every movie has a target audience. And you are not it this time. My husband loves Rocky. I, II, III, IV, LVI (oh wait… that’s the Big Game). He LOVES them all. Full of grit and determination and the underdog winning and rags to riches. (Or maybe it’s not full of any of those things.) I don’t really know. You know why I don’t know? Because Rocky wasn’t made for me. I can watch it (and I have). I can appreciate it. I can enjoy it. I can like it… or tolerate it... or hate it. I can watch something else when it’s on (which I often do). But I can promise you, when the writers and directors of Rocky got to work, SuZanne Merrifield was NOT their target audience. They did not consider my wants, desires, or hopes and dreams at ALL. Not even a little. You know who their target audience was? My husband. The eye of the tiger baby! So if you hate the Barbie movie, please accept the possibility… that you just may not understand. You may not “get it”. You might think you do… but you don’t. It’s not your fault, you just can’t. Because you don’t know her. Barbie. You don’t know her like I do. D. NO-NO

You are welcome to have and share an opinion, but be aware your “opinion” actually belongs to someone else.

My Thoughts on Barbie

I LOVED my Barbies. I had a dozen (or more). I had the refrigerator and a bathtub you could put water and bubble bath in with a little bellows mechanism that you could push which caused the bubbles to foam. I collected communion cups from church for my Barbie house. (In case you didn’t know communion cups are the PERFECT size and shape to stand in as a Barbie trash can. They were just going to throw them away! Ironic.) You know how many Kens I had? One. Just one. And he had a faulty head. It had a tendency to fall off from time to time, which is a whole other story line.

My best Barbie moments were with my BFFs Candi and Bonita. The most fun part of playing Barbie for us was “setting the stage”. Arranging the house just so. Finding the perfect outfits. SOOO many times the “parents” would declare the evening over and we would lament because, “WE JUST GOT EVERYTHING SET UP!” Never mind that we’d been playing for 17 hours. For me Barbie was about ACCESSORIES and FASHION and hours spent in a ruffled yellow bedroom listening to Amy Grant and hanging with my besties.

So what’s the point. What do I really want to say about Barbie? The doll and the movie? Maybe it’s what I want to say about everything.

When did we forget that it’s okay for us to have different opinions about things? I mean I LOVE mushrooms and my husband gags thinking about them. What if we had let this difference… a fungus… come between us? What if we had missed out on 30 years of marriage, two amazing sons, laughter and tears and grief and joy and a million moments that have turned into the stories of our lives? I realize I’m exaggerating the importance that mushrooms could play in the course of destiny. But I’m exaggerating to make a point (which is exactly what they did in the Barbie movie btw).

How boring it would be if we ALL loved Barbie… or mushrooms.

I, for one, am glad to see my old friend Barbie back in the spotlight. Pink and glittery and darling and looking quite good for her age I might say! Being all introspective and self-aware and thinking deeply. I’m proud to see her standing up for herself. Figuring herself out a bit at a time. I stand with her in that rosy glow.

I loved the movie and I love men! Strong men! (Have you met my husband?) These two loves are not contradictory IMO. Why would a strong, independent, intelligent woman threaten manhood? A strong, independent, intelligent woman should complement a strong man! If a man feels intimidated by a strong woman, I question his strength, not hers. On the other side, strong women, feminists, sisters - being strong doesn't mean bashing your men (or mine). They are tender inside that tough exterior. We are stronger together. We need Barbie. And Rocky. And Allan.

In the movie, Barbie was offered a glimpse of what it would be like to accept the flesh and blood reality of being a woman. And she chose it y'all! CHOSE the loving and being loved, the aching and the pleasure, the joy, sorrow, rapture, loss and gain. She said yes to it. Picked up that coin, shiny on one side and tarnished on the other and put it into her pocket. Being woman… man… human… is hard and lovely and scary and wonderful.

So whether you relate to Barbie, or Ken or Allan… or Rocky Balboa or Iron Man… or whomever. And whether you love mushrooms or hate them… we should all feel free to stand in the spotlight of who we are. Feel empowered to stand in the light we love… in the light we know.

Hey, it’s cool with me if you want to shine that light of yours over here a little more. It might not be my chosen glow, but it helps me know you more when I consider what the world looks like through your eyes. Your spotlight is special, unique. It’s so YOU… whatever color it might be.

My spotlight is typically some shade of purple, but not today peeps. Today, it’s definitely all the shades of PINK.