OK - so “becoming human” meant getting genitals. Got it. Thx.
Being unclear, it struck me as a tad - uh - off that she was so perky an dpositive about seeing her gynecologist, as that was not something I ever understood to be a laugh riot. But I guess if it was an element of becoming human, that makes sense.
For someone who has never been before, it was probably exciting for her. Her perkiness and excitement about going to the gynecologist is what made it funny. I think you’re looking way too deeply into this. It was just a laugh line. The whole move the running gag was that she had no genitals. Now as a real woman, she does and therefore has to go to a gynecologist.
ETA: Imagine Ken stepping up to the receptionist’s desk at the urologist and being super excited to get his prostate checked. It’s just funny because they don’t really know what they’re getting in to, but they’re excited to do something that most people would dread.
No, now Barbie is human, so she has genitalia. Spin it 180 degrees.
When she’s talking to Ruth, in the scene quoted above, it is subtle, but she breathes. It is at that point she became human. With genitalia. And all the other organs. And cellulite. 
She’s also going to die someday. It’s what Ruth warned her would eventually happen, with the decision she was making.
Yeah - with this one, I guess I just missed that, since she became human, she now had genitals. Unfortunately, I probably wasn’t paying enough attention at that point. Just eager for it to be over, and wondering what I needed to say abut the movie to my wife - as I found boring a movie she really enjoyed.
Missing a lot of the humor, I likely put too much thought into thinking, “Wait a minute - how/why did THAT happen?”
I think my biggest - uh - break was when it was revealed that the company knew about Barbieland, and that people could go back and forth. Since I wasn’t appreciating much of the humor (sorry, I really didn’t get the “beach off” humor) I started thinking, “Why is there a Barbieland? And how the hell does THAT work?” Seemed sorta like involuntary servitude. (and add me to the NOT a fan of Will Ferrell camp.)
And - yeah - what is with a “ghost” living in HQ? Just one of those things where, once you pile up fantasy upon fantasy, I tend to lose interest. But other upthread found that specific aspect great.
And not having played with Barbies (tho my sisters/kids did), I didn’t get a lot of the references. I didn’t know what was a reference to the dolls and their accessories, and what was just a funny joke added for the movie. Like why did all the Barbies wave to each other? And later, at one point everyone was waving goodbye in some exaggerated manner. I didn’t know if that was a “doll” thing, or a “supposedly funny” thing. Had no idea why Ken was so into horses. Was the doll? And I thought it wierd (and kinda shitty) that Barbie and Ken didn’t know what they would do if he stayed over. No, not sex. But couldn’t they watch movies eat snacks, and dance - like friends if not BF/GF?
Also, it felt like it kept changing focus. One moment it is just cute fluff that doesn’t need to be explained/analyzed, then a moment later, it is a profound commentary on gender equality. Then there’s some stylized modern dance number.
And the humor didn’t start out well for me. With the girls playing with the dolls, my wife said she and her friend had been howling. Well, I got the 2001 homage, and I guess it was mildly amusing, but nothing more.
I’m not for a moment suggesting anyone else ought not have enjoyed the film. I’m happy for you. But when I find myself underwhelmed by something that I hear so much praise about, I sorta wonder why that happened.
My wife thought the old lady on the bus bench was the actual creator. Anyone know if that is true?
Stuff like this usually goes right over my head so I took her going to the gynecologist as some sort of wink-wink she is pregnant now… baby on the way… cliffhanger for a part 2 kind of thing. I must have been way off.
Ruth Handler died in 2002.
Part of the humor of the gynecologist scene comes from subverting the expectation that we were all assuming she was starting a new job.
Prostate? For the first time, he has normal male genitalia. Wait until he discovers the fun in that.
Yeah, like the Gary Larson cartoon with the dog in the back seat bragging to the dog in the yard that he gets to go for a car ride and then he’s “going to the vet’s to get tutored!” People Unclear on the Concept.
Actually, I assumed part of the gynecological appointment would be for her to learn things like menstruation and the parts of female anatomy that young girls learn in sex ed classes.
I mean, I think this is the real issue here. I absolutely loved the movie and found it both hilarious and moving. I also came out of it (I saw it with a girlfriend) saying to myself, “wow, there is NO WAY my husband would like this movie, it would bore him to tears, and I would actively dis-recommend it to him.” The thing is, if one grew up playing with Barbies, especially in the 80’s/90’s, one just gets a lot of the visual and textual humor (like the waving, which is absolutely a doll thing) in a way that, if one didn’t grow up that way, one would have to overanalyze (as you in fact did).
And the breezy switches between fluff and commentary and musical numbers (which I also absolutely loved) are reminiscent of playing with Barbies as well – okay, not so much literally with the musical numbers, lol, but that same kind of switch between “we’ll act out these fantasies with Barbie” and “we’ll use Barbie to work out our feelings about real life,” and also at the same time the movie sort of draws from the same kind of imaginative tradition as Disney movies where everyone breaks into song, etc. that was also a big formative thing in that era.
BTW, Ken is so into horses because girls are really into horses, and it’s kind of a “manly”-esque interest as well – that transfers over into girls’ dolls. I wasn’t into horses myself so my Ken doll wasn’t, but I found it hilarious that Ken in the movie was into horses because I could absolutely see all my friends’ Kens being very into horses.
Barbie and Ken didn’t know what they would do if he stayed over because in my experience, when young girls play with Barbie and Ken, Ken is more of an afterthought stuck in because Barbie needs arm candy. Maybe they go on “dates” but I don’t remember anyone ever thinking about Ken staying over at Barbie’s house, that would be weird! It’s because young girls playing with Barbie have no conception of that sort of thing, or at least didn’t in the 80’s/90’s (the target audience for this). We had no idea what a boy would do at a girl’s house. (That’s changed now, of course – my kids have had playdates with both genders.)
I still need to show the movie to my 14-year-old daughter, and I wonder whether she’ll be like “this makes no sense” or “wow, that is sure a picture of a historical/cultural time that I definitely do not live in.” I think probably a mix of the two – she has an awareness of Barbie and a vague awareness of some of these cultural things, but never really played with them herself.
Thanks for your post. It expresses my reaction better than I could have myself.
I’m really glad this movie was made - and was so successful - appealing to women and with such a strong message of empowerment. A part of me is just a tad disappointed to be constitutionally left out of the fun!
I don’t know, I never played with Barbies but I got all the references just fine. 
And I thought the last line was hilarious.
What Eyebrows said.
I think you might be overthinking it a bit. It means she’s her own person now, anatomically correct even.
Exactement! As the French would say. 
After reading this thread, I definitely want to see this!
I never played with Barbies and got most of the jokes. I’m sure I missed some stuff that @raspberry_hunter mentioned but I enjoyed the flick.
We were too poor for Barbies when we were kids (first generation Barbie!), but we actually had Barbie Days in elementary school, and I looked on with envy.
My biggest laugh was at the last line at the end of the movie. And I was even spoiled, but I’d forgotten it. Very funny!
Being a boy in the 70s, I never played with barbies, though I knew about the plane, and the camper, and the Dream House, as cultural references.
What I didn’t know is that every referenced Barbie model in the film was real! Video back barbie, pregnant Midge, the dog that poops puppies…all real.
I really wanted to see Mulder and Scully Barbie…alas, I was ignored! It would have been great, having them debate the cause of the weird phenomenon, and the Real World.
