Fans Have a Different Theory for Why Barbie Doesn’t Love Ken

While none of the Barbies in Greta Gerwig’s Barbieland seemed particularly romantically invested in their Kens, this was particularly true for our lead, Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie, whose disinterest in Ryan Gosling’s Ken sometimes bordered on hostility. Who can forget the moment she told him, “But I don’t want you here,” when he asked to stay the night at her Dreamhouse? Funny, but brutal. Or possibly funny because it was brutal—but I digress.

The movie offered us one explanation for the state of their relationships, and Margot Robbie gave us another in her interview with Vogue, but this hasn’t stopped fans from coming up with their own theories—and one idea has gone particularly viral since TikTok user callmeashbash shared it on her account.

According to the movie itself, the disparity in emotion is all down to the way little girls play with their Barbie dolls, and the way Barbie product design and marketing plays into that. To most little girls, Ken just isn’t very interesting; the whole point is Barbie, and her sparkly outfits, and interesting careers. Ken, like the posters say, is just Ken, there as an accessory if they want to host a Barbie wedding or send her to a dance. He’s basically a handbag, less interesting than the Barbie jeep because at least you can load it up with dolls and have them ride around in that. As Stereotypical Barbie says to Gloria and Sasha when they’re riding the three-person bike, “Ken is completely superfluous.”

Stereotypical Barbie’s active disinterest in her Ken seemed a little more hardcore than the others, which is all down to Robbie’s take on the character and the nature of dollhood. According to the aforementioned Vogue interview, Robbie sat down and thought about what it would feel like to be a doll, lacking certain organs and anatomical features, and came to the conclusion that it made no sense for Barbie to feel any kind of sexual desire. Beyond that, with no hormones or genitals to inspire it in her, the very concepts involved just don’t make sense—something Robbie played beautifully in that scene early on, outside the dream house, where Ken tried to kiss her, and again when he talked about staying over that night.

But sex doesn’t equal romance, and where Ken didn’t exactly know what a boyfriend and girlfriend would do if they spent the night together, he was extremely interested in kissing, romance, and generally living together as her longterm, steady, low-commitment romantic partner. (OK, let’s be real: He was lying about the low-commitment part.) Ken doesn’t have genitals or hormones either, but he’s definitely romantically into Barbie, like a lot—which means Robbie’s motivation doesn’t give us the whole picture.

Now, some are going to argue that this was already covered in Helen Mirren’s voiceover. Barbie was designed to be a full and complete person who doesn’t need Ken, or any man, to be happy and fulfilled. Ken, meanwhile, was designed so that his very existence revolves around Barbie: “Barbie has a great day every day. Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him.” And yeah, that might be all it is, but given how annoying Stereotypical Barbie seems to find her Ken compared to the other Barbies—who, while still not particularly interested in them, don’t seem to spend every interaction just wishing they’d go away—there does seem to be a little more to it than that, which is where callmeashbash’s TikTok comes in.

callmeashbash argues that Gloria doesn’t just influence Barbie, but she actually forms Barbie’s subconscious. So, because Gloria had always found Ken completely unnecessary, to the point that she never bothered adding one to her Barbie collection as a little girl, Stereotypical Barbie felt the same way. It wasn’t just that Ken wasn’t the centre of a Barbie’s life the way it was with the other dolls; Stereotypical Barbie didn’t want a Ken in her life at all because Gloria didn’t want one.

It’s a brilliant theory, and it’s even backed up a little by the fact that Stereotypical Barbie seems to get increasingly tired of Ken as the movie progresses—though that also might be more about his behavior than Gloria’s influence on her. Either way, we’ll never know for sure unless Gerwig or someone else involved confirms it (doubtful). Still, it makes for a great addition to your personal headcanon if you want it.

(featured image: Warner Bros.)