Known by the kids, the Ken doll is considered charming. But, in addition to its physical attributes, the Barbie's Ken story goes far beyond the role of just being the boyfriend of the most famous doll on the planet.
With the premiere of the new Barbie movie approaching, scheduled for July 21st, and this time performed by real actors, much has already been said about the plot! The duo Margot Robbie (who starred in Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad) and Ryan Gosling (who played a romantic couple in The Notebook) is already highly anticipated.
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Now, it's time to tell a little more about the story of Barbie's Ken, considered for many years the doll's romantic partner.
Ken's birth is a tribute to one of the founders of Mattel
1. Born on March 11, 1961 (two years after Barbie), Ken Carson, known only as Ken, was a doll designed to honor Ruth Handler, one of the founders of Mattel, the brand responsible for creating Barbie in 1959. At the time, Ruth had a son named Kenneth.
2. Ken has a last name: The Ken doll's full name is Kenneth Sean Carson. Yes, that's right, he has a last name!
3. In 1989, the real Ken, Kenneth Handler, expressed his dissatisfaction with Barbie's values, stating that she should be concerned with more than just going to the beach. For him, the doll should care about the poverty and suffering in the world and he would like her to work in a communal kitchen, even though he knew that would never happen.
Despite this, he never forbade his daughters to have Barbie or Ken dolls, but they never showed interest and always preferred stuffed animals.
4. At the time of release, the Ken doll was known for his red swimming trunks, yellow towel folded in the neck and a dark head of hair painted directly onto the plastic, taking 11 years to grow hair "real". However, over the years, the doll's appearance has transformed and he has acquired blonde hair and more casual clothes.
5. Ken and Barbie are over: In 2004, Mattel announced that toys' most famous couple had decided to "take a break" from their relationship. Fortunately, they reconciled in 2011, just in time to celebrate Ken's 50th birthday.
6. Pisces, Barbie's Ken also has a younger brother named Tommy, who also had his version launched and sold by Mattel in the figure of a small doll with blue eyes and dark hair, like those of brother.
7. Earring Magic Ken, Mattel's most profitable doll ever - thanks to his unexpected status as a gay icon. Ken doll, introduced in 1993 as an add-on part of the Barbie Earring Magic collection, had a purple vest, a mesh shirt pink, an earring in the left ear and two hoop-shaped accessories – one used as a pendant and the other attached to the waistcoat Ken.
The person in charge of marketing and communication for Mattel clarified that the company consulted girls to find out if Barbie should have a new partner or continue with Ken. The girls expressed that they wanted Ken to continue but thought he needed to be more modern.
So, as columnist Dan Savage put it in Seattle's The Stranger at the time, Mattel went for what was "trendy" and explored gay culture – or the “homoerotic trends and looks” girls saw on MTV, from Madonna dancers to partying rave.
And you might even think that Ken is just Barbie's boyfriend, but the doll has a life. interesting and has been a doctor, firefighter, football player and the classic lifeguard, as in the version of creation.