When Barbie hit cinema screens in 2023, it filled all of our lives with color and comedy. However, Barbie might actually be a far more dark and depressing flick than first thought if this theory about one of the very best Margot Robbie movies turns out to be correct.
No one believed that a live-action movie based on the iconic toy could work, but Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and the team surpassed all expectations with one of the best new movies of 2023. From the impeccable set and costume design to the fantastically funny script and sterling work from the entire Barbie cast, everything about the comedy movie was pretty much perfect. You can read our Barbie review if you want to hear all the nice things we had to say about the flick.
However, as you would expect from one of the best movies of the year, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Barbie. One detail spotted by Reddit user Physmo55 suggests that the dolls in Barbie Land may not be the only characters who are slightly less than human.
According to the theory, the characters who work in the Mattel bullpen may actually be dolls, too, and are blissfully unaware that they don’t really belong in the human world.
The theory checks out, too, when you consider the evidence presented by Physmo55. First of all, the “lower level workers” are all wearing the same clothes. Now, that’s not entirely unusual for staff in an office, but when you consider the fact that some of the cubicles down there don’t even have an entrance, it all becomes a little bit bizarre. Are these employees simply part of a production line of worker dolls?
Mattel is well aware that its dolls can escape Doll Land and enter the real world. Will Ferrell’s character in Barbie, the CEO of Mattel, even makes reference to previous incidents of their products causing havoc by crossing over into human civilization. With this in mind, perhaps Mattel decided it would be “way cheaper” to simply employ dolls rather than paying real people to do their menial duties.
Phsymo55 goes on to mention how fitting this would be as an analogy for the idea of the “corporate drone” in the modern world. Maybe all these workers are alternate versions of Ken, who were taken out of Doll Land and away from their primary job of ‘beach’ and handed different responsibilities, with their new job title becoming ‘office’.
We reckon this theory checks out and is definitely how we will interpret that world the next time we watch the Ryan Gosling movie. For more from Doll Land, dive into our Barbie ending explained guide, or find out all we know about the Barbie 2 release date. Or, if you are in a curious mood, here are 10 Barbie Easter eggs you may have missed.