Nick Corporon | Barbie Boy / 2014

the first abandonment of love

by Douglas Messerli

 

Nick Corporon (screenplay, based on a story by Mickey Corporon, and director) Barbie Boy / 2014 [13 minutes]

 

Seven-year-old Bobby (Trent Carlton) is enchanted with Barbie and Ken in this short film, and fortunately his enlightened parents (Lauren Dobbins Webb and William Kidd) are almost totally supportive of his delight in the dolls. Yet, his father cannot help but remind his son that dolls are generally only for girls, and that, accordingly, perhaps he should not mention his obsession with Barbie and her friends to his school classmates.

    When another boy his age, Trevor (Shawn Kissinger), comes to visit, the other boy plays only with plastic military figures, who constantly fight and challenge each other. The moment Bobby picks up one of the figures and puts him into the play, the other boy simply knocks him out of his hand, chuckling with glee at the power of the move. Bobby suddenly realizes just how more protective and loving his world really is. But even a child must ask himself, what makes for that difference, for a toy to be fantasized about, a world of dreams spun around them as opposed to simply using plastic figures to hit and clash against one another like beating a spoon against a pan?

     As a child, I chose a less obvious set of dolls, the plastic Disney figures who performed on the metal Disney stage. My parents could not even perceive these toys as being dolls.

     It’s quite clear that Bobby is not at all amused by Trevor’s actions.

     In the toy aisle of his local store, Bobby wonders once again at all the choices, and as usual is drawn to the Barbie dolls. But there are so many other offerings, magic kits, Mars invaders, gyroscopes. This time, despite his predilections, Bobby chooses the Mars invader, whose button-ready movements even scares him a bit. We see a child a war with himself, caving into societal normality. And it is terrifying. The delighted and wide-eyed boy is suddenly condemned to lose his beautiful identity to the demands of those around him, even though the mother queries his choice and suggests it might want to think more carefully about his decision.

    Bobby brilliantly embraces the Mars invader in his Barbie and Ken fantasies, both of them simply giving the ugly invader to their perfect world, “a try,” since he’s apparently “all the rage.”

    When the family packs up for vacation, however, Bobby’s mother notices that Barbie is missing from what her son is packing, and perceives the sad look upon his face. Grabbing up Ken, she plays a game with her son in which Ken is missing Barbie and confused about her absence in his life. The boy quickly finds the hidden Barbie and rejoins the couple, packing away both with his vacation clothes.

     But while putting the bags in the car, Barbie falls out of his bag, his father momentarily displaying his disdain before he hands it back to his son to be placed back in his vacation bag. It is simply a moment in his overall protection of his son’s identity, but to a seven-year-old it becomes a kind of test, another challenge to his childhood fantasies and his sense of identity.

   As the car moves forward, Bobby eventually puts his hand on the window, enjoying the sense of air pulsing along his hand. A moment or two later, he pulls out Barbie from his bag and lifts her as well into the place of pleasure, the air pulling back her blonde hairdo. And just as suddenly, he drops her, freeing her from his world, but, obviously, also freeing himself from her world. His doll now sits along the road abandoned but clearly not forgotten.

     It is both a tragic and liberating moment, representing the moment we all are forced to give up some of our childhood obsessions for the sake of being perceived as becoming responsible adults. The child has freed both the doll and himself, but what has he given up in the bargain? As Bobby finally lays his head down on the seat to rest, it is almost too painful to watch.

    We already know that Bobby is not quite like other boys. If he grows up queer, we can only hope that he can find his Ken.

   I would be derelict if in this short essay I did not also mention two important related films, Alain Berliner’s 1997 film, also about a seven-year-old, Ma vie en Rose and Greta Gerwig’s 2023 hit, Barbie. There are clearly others as well, but these two stand out as related works.

 

Los Angeles, June 30, 2026

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (June 2026).