Bobbi Miller On Barbie
Barbie is a film I greatly appreciate, but it was not perfect by any means, which is okay.
To be fully transparent, when I started my paid newsletter, I didn't fully know where I was gonna go with it in terms of who I would interview. I knew that I personally knew so many creative and successful people I could interview, but I didn't have everyone lined up for the twelve months of 2024–and I still don't! When I was writing about Barbie, I heavily focused on the storylines and the messages hidden within its dialogue. But a lot of what blew me away about Greta Gerwig's work was her directing–which was not nominated for an Oscar, which was disappointing but possibly not as bad as Twitter made it seem?
However, I knew I needed to discuss Greta's work with someone qualified to talk about it. I just didn't know who this would be. It had to be someone with strong opinions and a passion for the Barbie brand, along with the 2023 film. It had to be someone who appreciated the visuals in the film, like how much of the sets and directing was inspired by Old Hollywood musicals. Then I remembered the perfect person: Bobbi, your friend who knows just a little too much about pop culture (those are her words, by the way!)
Bobbi is the host of her own podcast, The Afternoon Special, where she touches on various pop culture topics. I actually referenced Bobbi once before on Movie Mondays in my Howard newsletter when I was discussing Disney's famous "Want Song." Bobbi did a whole episode on this! (Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere: Exploring the Music of the Disney Princess.) On her podcast, Bobbi unapologetically shares her opinions on various subjects like Disney, girlhood, the impact 2001's Shrek had on our society, and why she believes How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) is a movie that we should all enjoy year-round, not just at Christmas time.
However, I especially felt Bobbi's passion during the biggest party of summer 2023, the release of Barbie. Bobbi even attended the Barbie premiere in LA and dedicated three episodes of The Afternoon Special to the iconic doll. Unfortunately, the SAG strikes prevented Bobbi from speaking about the film itself on her podcast, but the fact that she stood by the union only makes her that much more admirable. I also follow Bobbi on social media, and her takes on various movies are some of my favorite things to see on my Twitter feed. I reached out to her via email to see if she was open to talking to me about Barbie, and I am honored she said yes. I am equally as excited to share her brilliant responses to my questions.
Hi Bobbi! I'm so grateful you agreed to talk to me about Barbie. Before we start, can you tell readers about yourself, your podcast, and your hobbies?
Of course! I'm Bobbi and I'm a culture critic and the host of The Afternoon Special Podcast, where I pull back the curtain on some of pop culture's most interesting niches and try to make sense of it all. Across the Internet and beyond, I create edu-taining pop culture content that uses history, analysis, and a dash of humor to highlight film, TV, and more. When I'm not masquerading as a niche Internet micro-celebrity, you can probably find me engaging in various enrichment activities, including reading, crocheting, and ranking all the Ghostfaces in the Scream franchise.
I specifically wanted to talk with you about Barbie because I saw how passionate you were about the film when it came out. You even went to the premiere. What was it like seeing Barbie Mania in person, and do you have a favorite memory of being there?
Oh gosh, what a day that was! It was insane to experience Barbie in person! I don’t think I have one memory specifically because I think the full day was truly one big special memory for me (it was also swelteringly hot, which was not so special). However, I will say that it was so cool being able to see the film with the cast and getting to dress up like a Barbie. And being a fan of her Barbie press tour fashions, I was geeking out seeing Margot in her Solo in the Spotlight Barbie premiere look, so that was quite the treat too.
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