While surfing the internet this past week I came across a rather interesting story; a story aimed at an artist by the name Sam Humphreys. Humphreys has released a rather bloody artistic view of the Mattel Barbie. Instead of seeing her glamorous and perfect like we all have come accustomed to seeing, she is featuring bloody lips and black eyes as well as bruises throughout her body.
Humphreys claims that it is an artistic way of showing children that not every angle of life is perfect. These barbies are only for show and Humphreys in no way expects Mattel to begin production on them. I for one would not appreciate these particular barbies being mass produced but I did enjoy the angle that Humphreys was getting at.
If you look at the line of products affecting our children today many of them go towards a fictional world, and Barbie is one of them. There are many different editions to Barbie going all the way back to 1959. She has thousands of friends and at one point she even stopped dating ken, Mattel had stated that like all Hollywood couples it was time for Barbie and Ken to come to an end. I do believe in letting children know that love doesn’t always last but it is possible. Barbie reflects perfection and she has many professions and many personal items such as her “dream house” a camper, and the ever so famous corvette.
These domestic violence barbies perhaps is a showing of behind mansion walls. In reality there is no such thing as perfect but Mattel mass produces a couple for every Barbie that has a baby, they are married with a happy home and often times the couples have more then one kid. I know the majority of society rules, but the fact that they released a pregnant Barbie without a husband or a wedding ring was something I slightly enjoyed, more as a collectors item but nonetheless I liked it because it was the truth, many children boys and girls grow up or grew up in a single parent home, it’s not like we as adults have never seen adultery or any other sin for that matter.
These bruised up barbies would possibly tell a child that it is VERY possible to get into a relationship that can put up a curtain and in front you see the dream house you see the pink corvette, all these things that make your life perfect; but behind this curtain behind the mansion walls is reality, an over worked mother and father, a parent that’s a drunk or possibly on drugs. We as adults should face the reality of our own, that our children could one day be facing these troubles, the fact that Humphreys used barbies to show us what we all know and refuse to acknowledge was one of the most artistic things I’ve seen in a while, these barbies were made and because they told a possible truth; a truth that we deny exists it demanded our attention.
My hat is off to Humphreys in this attempt to showing us what we know but do not want to see. Great job Humphreys.
Awkward 101 