Let's talk about Barbie

In the immense universe of toys that have been produced since the beginning of time there's one doll that has aged gracefully: Barbie.

There is always some kind of controversy about Barbie: it used to be that her outfits were too outrageous, then it was that the pregnant Barbie gave a wrong idea of how babies are really born; now the main controversy is that Barbie, according to many, promotes an unhealthy body image. True, she may not be anatomically correct, but people, she is a doll. And not any doll, either: she is the one doll that has passed the test of time. Probably because she appeals to the spoiled princess in all of us: she has cars, pools, airplanes, and lots and lots of clothes and accessories. I love Barbie, even now, at 32. And I hate imitations. I am a Barbie snob.

For me, one of the cool things about having two daughters is all the Barbie time we can score. Sarah owns several Barbie dolls, and her dolls came with a horse, a nursery set, a kitchen and a playschool set among other things. They currently reside in the playroom we have in the basement - her Barbie paraphernalia is (barely) contained in a large plastic see through toy/storage box, and Stella LOVES to dig through it and take out all the Barbies, the accessories, the horse. She can't dress a Barbie on her own yet, but she can put shoes on the dolls, and she thoroughly enjoys picking out a pair of shoes for each doll (of course).

Sarah, on the other end, at the ripe old age of 9, doesn't play that much with Barbies anymore. I think it might have something to do with one of her obnoxious ex-schoolmates teasing her, because she used to always ask me to "play Barbies" with her. She still remains faithful to the Barbie movies though, and I can see why: they are pretty much fairy tales in movie form, and they feature really pretty clothes, cute pets and catchy songs among other things. If you ask her which Barbie movie is her favorite she will have a hard time deciding, but she has no doubt who her favorite sidekick is: Bibble, from the Fairytopia series. He is pretty cute, if a little annoying (I can only take baby talk in small doses, and only from babies).

Right now, all she can talk about is the new Barbie movie, Barbie and the Diamond Castle - where she heard of it, I have no idea, since we are one of those weird families who don't have TV connection and only watch DVDs, so she doesn't see commercials. Be as it may, she knows about the new movie and she really wants to see it, so much so that the other day, while we were discussing our upcoming trip to Disney World, she asked if there was a Barbie-themed park somewhere - no doubt hoping that she'd get to see real-life Barbie movie characters walking around, and perhaps score some cheesy cool bag along with a free copy of the movie.

She doesn't know, but she will be getting it soon, as long as she keeps up her grades. Or maybe she does know - you never know with girls, really. And she is my daughter, after all. You never really know what she is thinking.