One of the cool elements that Gerwig brings to the film is calling attention to the specific kinds of Barbies each character represents. Robbie's "Stereotypical Barbie" look doesn't outshine other Barbies, like Issa Rae's "President Barbie," Alexandra Shipp's "Writing Barbie," or Kate McKinnon's hilarious and loveable "Weird Barbie." However, what really piques the audience's interest is the inclusion of discontinued Barbie dolls that Gerwig includes to fully pay homage to both the triumphs and mistakes of Mattel's ideas.
For example, Michael Cera plays Allan, Ken's best buddy who was discontinued after Mattel realized that kids were not even that interested in playing with Ken, let alone his sidekick. Additionally, Emerald Fennell plays the often-forgotten Barbie bestie Midge, who is a discontinued pregnant Barbie, and often coupled with Allan.
You can see other more tame discontinued dolls like "Video Barbie," who loved television so much that she had a TV screen on her back, and "Earring Magic Ken" who has an earring and a big round necklace (which many likened to a wearable sex toy), sparking rumors that the doll is "Gay Ken" and getting it pulled from the shelves.
There are also a few other, more questionable Barbie dolls included like "Sugar Daddy Ken" (yes, this was a real Barbie doll that was discontinued for obvious reasons) and "Growing Up Skipper," which featured a slightly older version of Barbie's little sister doll that, when you turned the arm, grew a pair of boobs (yikes).
