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Sun 27 Aug, 2006 06:42 pm
Quote:Lesbian Barbie show causes uproar
August 27 2006 at 09:35AM
Toy manufacturer Mattel is reportedly threatening to sue a Brazilian artist for portraying Barbie as a lesbian.
Brazilian artist Karin Schwarz depicts Barbie as a lesbian.
Karin Schwarz's exhibition features pictures of Barbie in compromising situations, reports the Jornal de Sao Paulo newspaper.
Mattel has given the artist 24 hours to close down the exhibition or they say they will take legal action.
But Schwarz says she will not back down: "Barbie is exploited by Mattel. She wears a bikini, she shows off her belly, has big breasts, and even has a boyfriend," she said.
The exhibition, entitled Amazing Girls, is on show at a bar in the city of Curitiba.
A Mattel spokesperson said: "Barbie is a very proper lady and she is not happy about being portrayed as something that she isn't.
"We are going to sue and we hope that this teaches people a lesson. Also, Barbie is 46 years old, she should be respected!"
I think Mattel is making themselves look like complete buffoons.
Best to let the "15 minutes of Fame" die out on it's own. The artist is obviously drumming up publicity for her show.
How can a doll be exploited anyways? It's a bleeding doll for pete's sake! I'm sure the little kiddies will still like the doll, even though this artist is portraying it as "lesbian".
Give me a break!
I don't know, reyn. Usurping copyrights, altering over 40 years of image. If it were my property, I might get a bit upset also.
It depends how closely the image looked to the original. Mattel may be just buying publicity for the other party and negative stuff for themselves.
Two ways to look at it, I guess.
A onetime friend of mine went to the wire on this, all the way up, re the courts, and won.
I say onetime friend in that he proclaimed over chinese or thai food against someone - like me - designing parking lots. Hiss across the table. It was my ex who was his friend. Still liked him.
I hope, I hope, that somewhere in my packed stuff, I have the photo card of the Barbie Enchiladas. But maybe I gave it to my ex when we broke up, as it was really his. (I'm sort of a distribution purist).
Copyright (wright?) is a big issue and has been covered a few times in the art forum. Tricky at the same time it is easy.
I am perplexed myself, as I see photos I want to riff/paint off of online, and don't, sometimes painfully.
I always ask.
So far.
I always hated Barbie and, frankly, my dear, if all the Barbies marched like lemmings to the sea, I would cheer.
You think that's bad, wait until you see what they do with GI Joe. I hear they're calling the exhibit "Sgt. Brokeback."
Lesbian barbies should sell lickety split !
( groan )
any who
You can do a search on Ebay for barbie dolls people paint, mutilate, and tatoo - only to resell them as " works of art"
why is it such abig deal after someone has PAID for the doll, what they do with it?
I would prefer a bi-sexual Barbie complete with her friends Candy, Pheobe and a NickFun doll!
I think Snap On Tools should be the creator of barbies...
I read an Unauthorized History of Barbie. Mattel has been suing for years and years to protect that copyright.
Barbie is a sacred and commercial icon, but most of the Barbie Doll "art" that I've seen or read about is ho-hum derivative and didactic.
Perhaps the worst Barbie Art that I've ever seen was 35 years ago at a School Open House. The third grade teacher was using "visual arts" and in her classroom there was a shoebox, painted blue inside, containing a naked Barbie lying on raw spaghetti to represent an Egyptian mummy.
How's that for a prophetic comment on the Middle East?
There is no credibility involved there. All the Barbie Dolls I have ever seen have shaved vaginas. We all know the ancient Egyptians didn't do that.
NickFun--
I believe the Egyptians accomplished smooth, hairless skin with courage and tweezers.
Did they Noddy? Then a Barbie would be a perfect representation!
A lesbian Barbie?
They could have at least made it a bisexual Barbie, and provided Ken with a little video camera.
Exactly! Silly Mattel! Instead of fighting this stuff, they should be embracing and exploiting it by coming out with wonderful accessories.
The Egyptians were big on hairlessness. Might have been the hot climate or the realization that no hair meant no lice.
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