Shut Up Barbie (1974) by Vincent Grenier

Shut Up Barbie has rarely been shown and is a “rediscovered” film, so to speak. The film is the filmmaker’s reaction to the obsession a seven year old girl has with her Barbie Dolls. The film builds on the dolls’ referential content and limits. While innocuous at first, the humor eventually becomes rather unsettling and tragic. Ann Knutson plays the role of the mother Barbie Doll. (Vincent Grenier)

Barbie Dream House (2018) by Susan Kouguell

The pacing and the word play, along with the vertical density and retrograde effect, are intended to actively engage the viewer as the speaker of this text; a character who is grasping to retain fragments of memory and thought that are at the risk of being smothered in trauma. The 1960s era cardboard Barbie dollhouse reflects the specific conditioning of girls and how generations later these stories have stayed the same and how they are now being challenged. When these walls talked. (Susan Kouguell)

I’ve Never Had an Asian Barbie (2020) by Jessy Jiao

Approximately 80% of all toys produced worldwide are made in China. In Chinese toy factories, 90% of workers are females. The female workers are paid wages of $300 or less per month for 174 hours of work. The workers make toys such as Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine and Hot Wheels. These products are sold by Mattel, Disney, Walmart and other large American companies. The world of toys may be heaven for children, but it is a world of misery for toy factory workers. I hope to inform people who take privileges for granted about where the dolls are from, who made them and what kind of life those workers are living. (Jessy Jiao)

Meryl Fuckin Streep (2017) by Ava Bogle

For two young screenwriters, a movie pitch takes a turn into the surreal. (Ava Bogle)

Barbiemageddon (2023) by Penumbra Carter

Barbie exhibits the power residing within her, while floating in her Atomic Pool. (Penumbra Carter)

Invasion (2021) by Penumbra Carter

There seem to be a lot more Real-Life looking people invading Second Life, but they are frozen in some kind of interdimensional field of cross over realities, unable to move. Barbie takes an axe to them, in protest to their invasion of virtual space. (Penumbra Carter)

Out and about with Barbie (2021) by Penumbra Carter

Barbie having some fun; in and out of her box. (Penumbra Carter)

Big Gurl (2006) by Lauren Kelley

In Big Gurl, various shades of Barbie-like dolls are brought to life with clay to form malleable characters that navigate viewers through mundane situations that occur in public restroom stalls and behind fast food kitchen counters. An earthy narrator is employed to lead a cast of inert beings through various vignettes about the durable nature and limits of human strength. (Lauren Kelley)

Barbie’s Audition (1995) by Joe Gibbons

Barbie’s Audition is a hilarious bit of throwaway sleaze: Gibbons tries to get the meat-puppet substitute to spend some time on the casting couch. (Amy Taubin, The Village Voice)

Erotica (1989) by Lucretia Knapp

Two lesbians. A first date. (Lucretia Knapp)

Sally Cheesey Raffelyell (1992) by Lucretia Knapp

Two lesbian filmmakers appear on a talk show with a clueless host but fabulous audience. Jo-Anne, one of the filmmakers, voiced by Lucretia, was “Weird Barbie” before there was a blockbuster. (Lucretia Knapp)

PRISM Break Barbie (2013) by Addie Wagenknecht

PRISM Break Barbie is a solution for girls who want to protect their data beyond just encryption. The Barbie is equipped with a 3” and .6oz. concealed spring-loaded spike which can be activated by hand or by sitting the doll on a USB or SSD drive. The spike’s force when triggered will shatter hardware. (Addie Wagenknecht)

Hello Barbie: The First Dispatch (2020) by Faith Holland

Hello Barbie tests the limits of Mattel’s first AI Barbie that was launched as part of a growing trend of AI toys in 2015. Barbie can converse with her owner and generate tailored statements. She remembers everything you tell her and can recall this information in future conversations. Unlike friends who you have to say goodbye to at the end of the day, you can take Barbie to bed with you and talk to her until you fall asleep. The potential for constant contact and lack of regular social contexts expedites trust building. (Faith Holland)

Black Moses Barbie (Harriet Tubman Commercial) (2011) by Pierre Bennu

This mock commercial for a “Black Moses Barbie” toy celebrating the legacy of Harriet Tubman seeks to deconstruct and re-envision images of people of color in commercial and pop culture, and reexamine the messages transmitted through the communicative tools of childhood. In this piece, the inspiring legacy of Harriet Tubman the historical figure, is translated into a mock ad in order to examine and interrogate the gendered construction and marketing of heroism, violence and play. (Pierre Bennu)

Burka Barbie (2014) by Narcissister

As an African-American female of mixed heritage including Jewish-Moroccan ancestry, Narcissister’s performance video ultimately magnifies the shifting parameters of feminist diasporic consciousness around the female body and its objectification. As with her characteristic mask, Burka Barbie highlights femininity as always and only performative[…]. Bursting old paradigms that frame the female as the Dark Continent/Other and Muslim culture as “Axis of Evil,” Burka Barbie as fashion renegade explores the female body itself as a type of terrorism operating against global patriarchal authority.

23 Barbiepuppen kippen um (23 Barbie Dolls Tip Over) (1988) by Dagie Brundert & Gesine Jochems

23 Barbies in a row. Snatched from a sale table in Woolworths and lined up against a wall in their bathing suits. One by one they fall accompanied by a cacophony of humming. Dramatic. Dryly funny. Made in West Germany at the time of the DDR. (Dagie Brundert & Gesine Jochems)