Things Only Adults Notice About Weird Barbie

Barbieland might be separate from the real world, but it’s obviously heavily influenced by what human beings are doing. Barbie’s shower doesn’t have any real water and her morning cup of OJ is always empty because out in the real world, she’s just inside a plastic house. When things in real life change, however, they have an effect on Barbieland. For example, Gloria (America Ferrera) becomes depressed and starts imagining a Barbie with cellulite and frequent thoughts of death, and those things become real for Stereotypical Barbie in her world. 

Because we know that the real world has a real impact on the dolls, we also know a tragic detail about Weird Barbie. At one point in the movie, there’s a throwaway joke where Weird Barbie briefly calls out that she smells like basement. The joke definitely lands, but after thinking about it for a while longer, the adults in the audience might have realized that it also points to a sad truth about her existence outside of Barbieland.

If Weird Barbie smells like basement, it’s probably because out in the real world, her humans are done playing with her. Outside of Barbieland, Weird Barbie has met the fate that awaits so many beloved childhood toys. She’s been packed into a storage bin and set down in the basement, likely abandoned for decades. Luckily, Weird Barbie doesn’t seem all that concerned with her fate in real life, and by the end of the movie, she seems pretty happy with her position in Barbieland.