M.G. Lord Quote

Not surprisingly, when Barbie achieved superstar status, her houses became more ostentatious. Yet even Barbie's three-story town house, with its Tara-like pillars and ersatz wrought-iron birdcage elevator, is an outsider's interpretation of upper-class life. Authentic valuables are to Barbie's possessions what a pungent slab of gorgonzola is to cheese food; her furniture and artwork would not look out of place in a Ramada Inn. For all her implicit disposable income, her tastes remain doggedly middle- to lower-middle-class. As pictured in the catalogue, the town house also reflects Dynasty thinking. Both Ken and Barbie are absurdly overdressed—he in a parodic tuxedo, she in a flouncy confection that barely fits into the elevator.

M.G. Lord

Not surprisingly, when Barbie achieved superstar status, her houses became more ostentatious. Yet even Barbie's three-story town house, with its Tara-like pillars and ersatz wrought-iron birdcage elevator, is an outsider's interpretation of upper-class life. Authentic valuables are to Barbie's possessions what a pungent slab of gorgonzola is to cheese food; her furniture and artwork would not look out of place in a Ramada Inn. For all her implicit disposable income, her tastes remain doggedly middle- to lower-middle-class. As pictured in the catalogue, the town house also reflects Dynasty thinking. Both Ken and Barbie are absurdly overdressed—he in a parodic tuxedo, she in a flouncy confection that barely fits into the elevator.

Related Quotes

About M.G. Lord

Mary G. Lord (born November 18, 1955) is an American author, cultural critic, and investigative journalist. She was a political cartoonist and columnist for Newsday. She is an associate professor of the practice of English at the University of Southern California.
She produces the podcast, LA Made: The Barbie Tapes with Antonia Cereijido.