“When Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women) set out to direct Barbie — and write the screenplay with her partner, Noah Baumbach — she knew that LGBTQ+ inclusion would be a necessity. While actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling give life to the OG Barbie and Ken dolls, the film’s Barbieland is filled with Barbies and Kens that reflect the vibrant diversity of the real world — albeit a more colorful version with Dreamhouses, daily beach parties, and bops from divas like Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj, Charli XCX, and Ava Max.
“We are opening the doors to the Barbie universe,” Gerwig states in an email interview. “There’s no way we could have told this story without bringing in the LGBTQ+ community, and it was important for us to represent the diversity that Mattel has created with all of the different Barbies and Kens that exist today…”
