And when Rae is not in front of the camera, she is working hard behind it. The comedian became mainstream during the success of her HBO series “ Insecure,” for which she served as executive producer for every season. CANDIDATE BARBIE: I've been running for president since before you media people even took women candidates seriously. I've been different races, different ethnicities — I've tried to break all sorts of barriers. I've been running for president since before a lot of those bigtime politicians, of any gender or race, even got into politics. CAMPAIGN MANAGER: You're very right that it's hard to run a campaign without a party or positions. Any given speech was basically half an hour of platitudes. VOTER: Fundraiser Barbie would call me at all hours. At dinner. In the middle of my kids' soccer games.

TV: The film is quite existential, thematically . Did it make you think anything in particular about being alive, or, on the other hand, dying?I was trying to channel a presidential Barbie and worked with Wouri to like set the tone for that. For him, I know it was more of an inspiration of Barbie throughout the decades. There were little pieces of the dress that represented the different looks for Barbie over the years. It just made me feel like President Barbie on the carpet. The pink and the velvet almost gave it a change of royalty that I love. But Barbie stays one step ahead of that thought, because it’s all leading up to an expert commentary on how little girls will always realize, sooner or later, that the real world is run by men, and that its Kens have more power than its Barbies. And once Gosling’s Ken makes it to Reality, he realizes this too, and he goes full men’s rights activist, transitioning from Barbie’s placeholder boyfriend into one of the most fascinating antagonists in modern pop cinema.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, the synopsis read, “After being expelled from Barbieland for being a less than perfect-looking doll, Barbie sets off for the human world to find true happiness.” It will be released only in theaters July 21, 2023! Flash forward to Nov. 4, 2020. In an alternate universe somewhere, the four women discuss with NPR how Barbie lost the presidency yet again. Candidate Barbie and Campaign Manager Barbie speak from a hotel lounge in downtown Miami, shortly after the concession speech. Fundraiser Barbie talks via Zoom from her home in Connecticut. Voter Barbie talks from her kitchen in Suburbia, USA.In July 2022, Rae spoke with “ TODAY” and revealed how Gerwig convinced her to do the role. At first, the California native told the outlet, “I was like, ‘This sounds crazy, but OK. Let me just read the script.'” So we had a meeting, and in that meeting she described her vision of the movie and was giving [me] a bunch of disclaimers and I was a little bit confused. But in that meeting I was able to make out that, one, she wanted me to play President Barbie, and two, that it seemed like the movie was going to be very funny. So I got the script and once I read it, I absolutely loved it and thought it was so smart and it was so well done and self-aware. I was just excited that she thought of me. I'm such a fan of Margot and Ryan Gosling, so the more announcements I saw about who's going to be in it, my excitement grew. TV: Speaking of hype, Barbie has arguably been the best kept secret of the year. Before this film, was there any other project that required you to be as tight-lipped on this level? CANDIDATE BARBIE: Beyond "I'll create jobs," I said nothing of substance. But I have political views! I swear I do! For example- [campaign manager lunges at her, clamps hand over her mouth. Both fall to floor, wrestle for 30 seconds.]

CAMPAIGN MANAGER: [sighs, rubs forehead, pours four fingers of scotch] You really aren't planning on running again, are you? FUNDRAISER: [casually puts cigarette out on tongue] Ohhh, I don't think I'm getting out of the game. Like, yeah, I could start a super PAC, but that's the coward's way out. Maybe I'll convince one of the Bratz girls to run. They aren't doing anything these days, I don't think. IR: No! Why would anybody want... I don't get it. You're blamed for everything. You can't do anything right. You have no time. You're constantly having to meet with people about serious things. No! No. I would be this president. I would be President of Barbie Land in a minute because it doesn't need much work, it's perfect. You're just adding cherries on top of tasty sundaes. Don’t get me wrong. Margot Robbie is no slouch as what the movie calls “Stereotypical Barbie” — the blond bombshell that kids in Mattel focus groups point to when presented with diverse Barbie dolls and asked, “Which one is Barbie?” Stereotypical Barbie starts the movie as a confident woman who knows exactly who she is, and doesn’t ever want anything to change. She lives in Barbieland, a fantasy realm conjured by Mattel that’s powered by the imaginations of kids who play with Barbie dolls. It’s a world ruled by Barbies, and unashamed of traditional feminine tropes. The president is a Barbie (played by Issa Rae, in a pink silk “President” sash). The Supreme Court is all Barbie. And every Nobel Prize winner in history is — you guessed it — a Barbie. Every pink-washed DreamHouse mansion in Barbieland is owned by a woman who makes her own money and spends her free time indulging in “girls’ nights” where everybody shares a glorious communal wardrobe.VOTER: Thank God they made me with non-pointed feet. I had to stand there waiting five hours to vote. So yeah, that was an ordeal. In the movie, the main Barbie is played by Margot Robbie, with Ryan Gosling as her Ken, but there are also multiple other Barbies and Kens, played by an excitingly diverse ensemble cast, all living in a fuchsia-fabulous realm called Barbie Land – that is until Barbie decides to venture further afield. The anatomically incorrect Mattel doll has been a fixture of childhood play since she was launched in 1959, and has inspired numerous animated kids’ movies and TV series. This live-action movie will, however, be the first time Barbie has been envisaged as a real (sort of) woman. That alone would be enough to boost box office, but it was in July 2021, when cool-indie-actor-turned-feted-feminist-auteur Gerwig came on board to write and direct, that anticipation for the Barbie movie really began to build. I did not expect Barbie to be a movie about Ken — and more importantly, a movie Ryan Gosling steals with such glorious aplomb that I can’t even be that mad at him for it. FUNDRAISER: [stubs out cigarette] I signed onto that campaign in a heartbeat. I mean, think about the fundraising potential — she's BARBIE. It seems she has grown into exactly the energetic, entrepreneurial businesswoman that her “bossy” behaviour as a little girl once predicted: “My mom was the one who described me that way; like ‘Stop being so bossy!’ And I always had, I guess, a negative association with being a boss … But I just was always drawn to it! A lot of my games were like: ‘Oh, I’m a restaurant owner’ or, ‘Oh, I’m part of this company and I’m sooo busy!’”

CAMPAIGN MANAGER: But seriously, we couldn't say too much about Barbie's beliefs. Do you know how hard Voter Barbie is to pin down? She's a blank canvas! I mean, she's not Protest Barbie or Conspiracy Theory Barbie. She's "Voter Barbie." How the hell do we sway her? Best to stay inoffensive.And after she read it, the HOORAE founder stated that she understood Gerwig’s vision for the project. “When you read the script, you’re like, ‘Oh, I get it!’ It’s very funny, and it’s just very specific to her,” she continued. CANDIDATE BARBIE: Shatter the glass ceiling? At this point? There's about as much chance as there is of a real woman having this figure. [motions to her own DD-cup breasts and 22-inch waist] Rae is the first to admit that even having grown into her childhood Business Barbie ambitions – as a CEO, a business owner, a movie mogul and a mentor to others – she’s “still learning the lessons”. She knows what she wants, though, and that’s not “bossy” or “insecure”. That’s confident leadership. President Barbie sees over Barbieland, approving any policies and heading important meetings. She is far from a harsh or overruling leader, though. Like the other Barbies, she's ultimately a fun-loving individual who wants the best for her people, which has earned her a respected status with the population. After breaking out of her brainwashed state from the Kens' patriarchal society, she and the other Barbies manage to outwit and prevent the Kens from taking control of the Barbie Land constitution. TV: Right. So you have your own Barbie doll now. Did they send you a bunch of them or were you only able to get one? What did you do with it?