aqua one, mattel millions
July 25, 2002 12:29 PM

Wonder what happened when Mattel sued MCA over that "Barbie Girl" song years ago? Wonder no longer. The case is still cycling through appeals, but MCA won this last round.

It's nice to see dance hits get First Amendment protection. Sounds like a call for kabarettists to start producing subversive pop tunes.

I have to agree with Kerri [my source for the link] that I couldn't tolerate Barbie anymore. It's not her implications as a role model. Barbie is as much feminist as anti-feminist. [Having played with Barbies myself, I know her shape had little relevance. It was, in fact, the "Skipper" doll whose body I could relate to and wanted.]

No. It's Mattel's insistence that Barbie be this inviolable cultural symbol. Please. It's a doll. Her presence in my life in no way shaped it; she and her sisters were just useful puppets for imagination.

Or, if you must have Barbie as a cultural icon, then that icon must be available for distortion, parody and reflection. In that spirit: the Distorted Barbie.

Silly Mattel. You'd think we were burning their flag. Which is, by the way, a First Amendment right.