Furthermore, there is a concern regarding the real-world effects of this media on young girls. If popular media tells a child that the "cool" Barbie is the traumatized one, are we inadvertently glamorizing mental illness?
Consider the explosion of the "Dreamcore" and "Weirdcore" genres. These visual styles feature abandoned mall playgrounds, distorted Barbie vocals, and VHS static. The is the human avatar of this genre. She speaks in a whispery, ASMR tone about the pressures of influencer culture while brushing the hair of a vintage doll. She smiles with too many teeth.
The holds up a mirror to our mediated existence—plastic, performative, and precarious. In popular media, we have finally stopped asking for heroes. We are asking for reflections. And the reflection, it turns out, is a smiling doll with cracked paint, filtering your dreams through a web of pink and black.
