Until now Ken had three body types, 18 heights, 13 skin tones, 10 eye colors, 27 hair colors and 20 different hairstyles.
From today we must add a digit to all these variables.
The first image of Ryan Gosling as Barbie's longtime boyfriend in the live-action movie about Mattel's famous doll has been revealed.
In the snapshot, Gosling, 41, can be seen in the skin — or plastic — of Ken.
He sports a peroxide blonde, spray tan and sculpted abs.
A rogue smile hangs from his face and, tight around his waist, a pair of underpants with his name on them.
This is the second official image that transcends the long-awaited project.
The first was made public last April, and showed Margot Robbie (31 years old) in the pink convertible of the famous doll, which she will bring to life.
In addition to the aforementioned actors, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Michael Cera and Kate McKinnon complete the cast.
#BARBIE
July 21, 2023
Only in theaters.
pic.twitter.com/DAemOyv5H8
— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) June 15, 2022
But the film has aroused interest not so much because of who is in front of the camera, but because of who sits behind it.
Acclaimed director Greta Gerwig, author of
Lady Bird
or the latest revision of
Little Women
directs
Barbie
and signs the script with her partner, screenwriter Noah Baumbach (
Marriage Story
).
“People listen to 'Barbie' and think they know what the movie is going to be.
Then they hear that it is Greta Gerwig who writes and directs and that is when they think that it may not be what it might seem at first, "Margot Robbie commented last August in the British edition of
Vogue
.
This strange combination of names has turned a cursed project (it had been around Hollywood studios since 2014) into one of the most anticipated films of 2023, when it will be released in theaters.
No details about his argument have been released.
More information
Ken, six decades of a popular icon much more than a plastic doll
This is not the first film appearance of the toy couple.
Barbie broke into
Toy Story 2
and expanded her role in the third installment of the Pixar series, where she already shared the screen with Ken, who has been her partner (with her comings and goings, like all ) since 1961.
Ken appeared out of nowhere as Barbie's boyfriend.
They met, according to the canon created by the toy company Mattel, on a television set, shooting an advertisement.
Back then he was a dark boy (there was soon a blonde version), lanky and stubborn.
His skin looked several Pantone tones below his current one, but the doll came with a towel, swimsuit, and flip-flops, so at least he intended to get a tan.
In these six decades, Ken has changed a lot to adapt to the beauty ideal of each era.
He has gained muscle and has let his hair grow.
He has become a fashion icon and a reference for the homosexual community.
He has become blonder, darker, and then he has atomized into dozens of different Kens to represent a more heterogeneous world.
The easiest way to analyze the prevailing canon of male beauty at a time is to take a look at this 30-centimeter doll.
The Ken that Gosling represents, however, respects the canon and fulfills the image that the general public has in mind.
Whether Gerwig's film does the same remains to be seen.