Before Greta Gerwig’s Barbie had even been released and become the smash hit of the summer, everyone agreed that one of the best inclusions was ‘Weird Barbie.’ Played by Kate McKinnon, she’s a Barbie who has had her hair chopped off, her face drawn on, and legs permanently fixed in the splits. She’s one of the best representations of how real children play with real Barbies.
Weird Barbie has inspired a TikTok trend of people sharing their own unhinged doll creations, but they are more reminiscent of Sid’s mutant toys from 1995’s Toy Story than anything in the Barbie movie. They feature legs and heads being removed from dolls and added to weird objects such as beer cans and um…what appears to be a lizard?
We’ll be honest, there’s more than a touch of horror movies such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre to this trend than to the PG-13 feel-good movie which has brought delight to all ages this summer.
It’s hardly surprising that Barbie has inspired memes, trends and viral images and videos across all corners of the internet. Since the release of the first posters and trailers, people have been turning themselves into Barbies. Everyone started planning their outfits for Barbenheimer release day and movie theaters have felt like they’re hosting a party. It’s been a proper event – with some people including outfit changes, and brunches or cocktail hours in between or around the two movies.
The TikTok trend appears to involve creating the most hideous, monstrous doll mash-ups with household objects possible then posting captions such as “somewhere in Barbieland, she is lurking” or “I hope she’s having fun scurrying around Barbieland.” People are certainly having fun with the concept of what might be hiding around the corner of a Dreamhouse in Barbieland for an unsuspecting Ken to stumble across.
If you’re a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, check out our guides to the Barbie Easter Eggs you may have missed, and to 20 things you didn’t know about Barbie. You may also want to know more about the Barbie soundtrack or the Barbie cast.