• This Friday at 21 pm, France 5 broadcasts "And God Created Barbie", a documentary that returns to the story of the most famous doll in the world.
  • Journalists, researchers but also artists deliver their anecdotes and their reports to the doll. We find in particular Arielle Dombasle, Nicky Doll, Frédérique Bel and Olivier Rousteing.
  • Link with the German figurine Lilli, trial for counterfeiting in song or problematic sleepover, the documentary also returns to more unknown facets of Barbie.

The year 2023 will be Barbie or it won't be. A few months before the release of the film event with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, France 5 dedicates an evening, this Friday at 21 pm, to the most famous doll in the world. Entitled And God Created Barbie, this documentary looks back at the story of this toy that invaded American homes since its creation in 1959, before conquering the planet. As one of the speakers, Kévin Bideaux, a researcher in arts and gender studies, recalls, by the end of the 1990s Barbie had more than one billion sales and 80% of little girls had one in their room.

From the top of her 29 cm, her platinum blonde hair, her ridiculously small feet and her wardrobe to make Carrie Bradshaw swoon, Barbie also evokes a plethora of memories – more or less pleasant – to the various guests of this documentary. Arielle Dombasle, Nicky Doll, Zahia Dehar or Lio deliver tender, amusing or more bitter anecdotes. Link with a German call-girl figurine, trial with Mattel, problematic pajama party... The opportunity also to (re) discover more unknown faces of the doll.

Barbie and Lilli

It was in California that Barbie was born, the fruit of the imagination of Ruth and Elliot Handler, at the head of the Mattel brand. But it is on the other side of the Atlantic, in Germany, that one of his inspirations is hidden. As the documentary recounts, Ruth Handler would have discovered during a trip to Europe the existence of Lilli, a figurine with endless legs. Mascot of the German tabloid Bild, call girl and heroine of erotic comics, Lilli is not a toy for children... Some men even offer it on their dates to clarify their intentions (we do not draw a picture).

But what interests our American mother and businesswoman is the discovery of a doll modeled on the female body, which can be dressed according to her desires. A toy that contrasts with those of little American girls, who have to make do with infants. Barbie – diminutive of Barbara, the name of Ruth Handler's daughter – will be a revolution: the possibility of playing and projecting oneself with miniature plastic women.

Stylish Barbie

If the doll has conquered the hearts of millions of children since its birth, it has also seduced fashion designers thanks to its elegance and its body defying all morphological logic. These include Pierre Cardin, Dior and Chantal Thomass, who transformed the doll into a real collector's item. In 1985, Yves Saint Laurent first dedicated a collection of clothes to her, adapting her classics to her small size, including her famous tuxedo or Mondrian dress. Miniature costumes made with care and meticulousness, just like real haute couture outfits. Barbie will even be styled by Alexandre de Paris, the star hairdresser of all the Saint Laurent shows. An existence that ordinary mortals can barely caress with their fingers... And yes, Barbie is living her best life. And beware of the one who will question this dream life.

Procedural Barbie

Singer Lio paid the price in 1986, with a song about a heartbroken actress. "Barbie you cry in your little doll's head, you think that a big misfortune is a whole missed life," she sings in this title. A Barbie so desperate that she comes to suicide, evoked by the pun "barbi-turiques". A way to play stereotypes, explains the singer. But the tragic fate of this character is not at all to the taste of Mattel, which sues Lio and his record company for counterfeiting. Because no, Barbie can't have dark thoughts. The judge does not agree with him, the American company loses the case and must pay nearly 60,000 francs in damages to the artist. Barbie can therefore have some qualms, at least in song.

Barbie good advice...

Sink into despair, never, but shopping, a van ride, caring for animals, selling flowers or windsurfing, yes! Almost anything is possible with Barbie. For its defenders, this inspiring facet of the doll is also one of its qualities, in that it shows little girls that nothing is impossible. But Barbie is not always good advice... As in 1965, when a special box "pajama party" is marketed so that the doll remakes the world with her friends. There is a dressing gown and a comb (the base), but also two surprising accessories: a scale and a mini magazine on which is written on the front "how to lose weight?", and on the back, "do not eat! ". An injunction to thinness and suffering, a damn good idea, especially when addressing children... This pack will finally be withdrawn from sale a year later.

Inclusive Barbie

A true reflection of society, the doll has long conveyed many clichés and stereotypes. In recent years, however, Barbie has been open to inclusivity and diversity. It was not until 2016 that a Barbie with "normal" measurements was launched by the brand, an alternative to the unrealistic female body of the original doll. Since then, Mattel has also offered dolls in much wider skin and hair colors, offering more representations to little girls and boys. It also represents disability, one doll is in a wheelchair, another with a prosthetic leg. Just recently, the company unveiled a doll with trisomy 21. "Our goal is to allow all children to be in Barbie, but also to encourage them to play with dolls that don't look like them," Lisa McKnight, brand manager, said in a statement. The lines are also moving at Barbie.

  • Entertainment
  • Television
  • France 5
  • Barbie
  • Documentary
  • Toy