‘Come on Barbie, let’s go govern.’ California politicians jump on the ‘Barbie’ bandwagon

Barbie’s plastic is fantastic – and malleable, apparently, for a whole range of political causes.

The summer blockbuster, directed by Sacramento born-and-raised Greta Gerwig, debuted on Friday. Whether it’s her spunky, innocent character or glittering Malibu Dreamhouse, she’s proven an irresistible canvas for politicians and interest groups to project their messages.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office tweeted “4 ways Barbie embraces California values.” The thread made sure to mention that Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls, was founded in a Los Angeles garage

Sen. Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco posted a Tiktok riding Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in hot pink stilettos. “Did someone say BARTbie?” text on the video reads. And the Assembly Democrats posted a TikTok featuring their Barbies and Kens.

The Tax Foundation, a think tank generally critical of high taxes, wrote about all the California taxes Barbie would have to pay on her Dreamhouse, shopping sprees, income for the 200+ jobs she’s held and fuel for her pink convertible. They argued that “she might just call ‘cut!’ on her LA scene” and “set her GPS for a more tax-friendly state” due to the state’s taxes.

Though Barbie and her Malibu Dreamhouse give California politicians a special connection, the movie drew the attention of politicians nationwide. Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dressed up a mini-me Barbie in a matching fuschia suit and posted videos and pictures of the doll signing bills, cruising a pink convertible around the Capitol and delivering a speech from a tiny podium.

“Come on Barbie, let’s go govern,” she tweeted.

‘Barbenheimer’

This weekend, as the glittery, family-friendly Barbie movie debuts, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” an epic that chronicles the development of the atomic bomb and the tragic story of its physicist inventor, also hits theaters.

On Twitter, over one million users offered predictions on which summer blockbuster — Barbie or Oppenheimer — each of their Senators would watch first.

California Sen. Alex Padilla tweeted that he was still deciding, asking which his followers thought he should see first. The respondents were pretty polarized.

Asm. Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, told The Bee the choice was “a hot topic in our household.” His twin daughters and wife decided to take a girls-only trip to see Barbie this weekend. He’ll be leaving his pink tie at home and attending Oppenheimer next door.

“But I’m excited about the movie and especially the Sacramento connection. That Greta Gerwig is helping put Sacramento on the map again,” McCarty said.

Not everyone’s a fan

Perhaps Barbie is such an appealing conduit for messaging because of her apolitical nature. She’s just a plastic doll, after all.

But at least one politician managed to condemn the blonde icon’s big screen moment. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, labeled the new flick as “Chinese communist propaganda” for the movie’s depiction of disputed territory in the South China Sea as belonging to China.

It’s safe to say that Cruz will be seeing Oppenheimer first.