KMK: Barbie Bombs in Korea

Unraveling the recent box office blunder of the Barbie movie in South Korea haunts the minds of WB studio Execs. Was it a lack of publicity? How about anti-feminist hysteria? Could it have been a fundamental lack of recognition of Barbie? Or perhaps good old fashioned Warner Bros. burnout? It’s a case worthy of the Scooby Gang, but we shall see if we can cobble together the pieces of this puzzle. And puzzling is an apt word since Barbie has conquered much of the world under her pink stiletto, raking in over 800 million world wide. Yet, in the land of the morning calm, the blonde bombshell barely managed to pluck 1.9 million from the movie going masses. Odd, right? Because on the surface, one might believe, a country that boasts flower boys and hyper feminine girly-girls, that the population would flock to Barbie like a herd of sheep hearing the call of a pink pump wearing Jesus preaching a sermon on the virtues of proper beach wear, party music, and the latest tik-tok dance.

But this is decidedly not the case. The recent release of the Barbie movie in SoKo was met with such disappointment that Warner Bros/Discovery CEO David Zaslav apparently threatened to shelve the entire country like he did Batgirl. I kid. Still, Barbie has struggled to make an impact in the South Korean movie market unlike Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Sexy Sexagenarian Still Got It which hauled in nearly twelve times Barbie’s take. Maybe Barbie should’ve taken Tom to go party instead of Ken. So, exactly what did Barbie in? Sexism? Invisibility?

I mean when it comes to sexism it’s kind of hard not to focus on it when dealing with Korea. I remember hearing the horror stories of my married female co-teachers when Chuseok rolled around and they were hauled into their mother-in-laws kitchen to cook and serve the entire family for the whole holiday. Not to mention walking female friends home from a night out in Itaewon’s bars and clubs for fear of some drunk dude harassing them. I scoffed at the notion (Korea’s so safe, and it is, especially for a six foot three black dude) until I actually saw some drunk start to follow my friend. And this is just my own anecdotal experiences. So lets dive into the nitty gritty:

In 2019, it was estimated that at least one woman was “killed or nearly killed by her male partner every 1.8 days“

Korean Herald 6/29/2020

Yikes! If that isn’t a gut punch, I don’t know what is. Then take into account that back in 2022 thousands of people headed to Seoul to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative agenda of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Women’s groups and their supporters tried to stop him, but to no avail as the man dismantled the Ministry to such an extent that the Minister, Kim Hyun-sook, took issue with the idea that sexism was at fault when a Seoul Metro worker murdered his co-worker in a subway station bathroom after stalking her for years! Seriously, lady? Seriously? This from a government institution that since 2001 has acted as the nexus for coordinating gender equality policies across all ministries. Times are tough when your own allies are taking aim at you. This wave of anti-feminist hysteria stems in part to the huge strides the #metoomovement made in Asia, in the previous six years, where major public figures, such as Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, fell to accusations of sexual misconduct.

So sexism clearly exists in South Korea (duh) but did it take out Barbie? Before the movie’s release, localized versions of the Barbie movie posters in Korea omitted the iconic slogans “Barbie is everything” and “He’s just Ken.” Removing these messages sparked criticism, with some claiming it undermined the film’s intended female-empowering theme. While others suggest this was all misdirection and that other posters still had the empowering messages and slogans. With images of posters showing each side to be speaking the truth the outcome on this point comes out at a stalemate. Warner Brothers Korea even came out to say that the measure was not intentional and only a temporary part of their promotional campaign. No harm, no foul?

Perhaps Barbie’s failure comes down to the age old Korean saying: 도대체 바비가 누구야? Seriously, though Barbie has as much cultural relevance in Korea as Mimi (미미) and Jouju (쥬쥬) do in the United States. Know who they are? Exactly. So, how can one expect Barbie to have the same impact as she does in America in a country where she is little known and barely heard of? Pretty hard to get pumped up and excited for a decades long cultural phenomenon you never heard of. Sure the Barbie movie cast came out to Seoul to promote the flick but perhaps they needed more time and a more in-depth approach? I’m talking about a pink Corvette week long road trip of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling crisscrossing the country delivering the word of Barbie to the people. Or maybe they could’ve opened a real life Barbie dream house museum to welcome Koreans and introduce them to the world of Barbie. I’m just spit balling.

To double down on the inaccessibility, the movie’s content and humor were heavily influenced by American cultural references, making it challenging for Korean audiences to connect with the film. This often happens with humor, though it’s to be expected, as so much of it is grounded in prior knowledge of customs, norms, etc. Unless it’s slapstick. Everyone gets the old banana peel gag or Lucy stuffing her mouth full of chocolate. Something tells me the nuances of the jokes were lost in translation, leaving Korean viewers disinterested and annoyed Maybe they should have hired an actual Korean actress to be one of the dozens of Barbies in Dreamland? Like After School’s UEE who graced Korean Elle as a real life ‘Barbie’.

As Velma would say, “Jenkies!” Triggered? Just checking. In any case whether it was because of a dash of sexism or a spoonful of Barbie cultural irrelevance, or perhaps it was a pinch of both, the whole Barbie Experience was a recipe for disaster. If you did see it, I hope you had a blast! If you didn’t there’s always Tom waiting in the theater next door with his AARP card and a bazooka.