Does Barbie prefer Blondes, too?
Hello.
It has been quite some time since the last time I babbled here. I do, however, have some thoughts I would like to talk about. As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m taking several film studies units for my course. And one of the screenings happened to be Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953). I think it's a very enjoyable film, which you can enjoy in many ways. I feel like fashion enthusiasts would enjoy the film, the musical enthusiasts would too, and of course, Monroe’s fans!
My opinion about this film is very amateur, as you might reckon. There is one scene that catches my eye though. This film reminds me of Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (William Lau, 2004). I am the newer generation, I grew up watching Barbie so naturally, I watched Barbie first. And the film happened to be one of my favourite films of all time. Anneliese and Erika are two girls, the blonde-brunette dynamic we all love, who switched places due to Anneliese being kidnapped. That’s the premise of the Barbie film, which is based on the classical story that is Mark Twain’s Prince and the Pauper. (and yes, fun fact, many Barbie films are based on classical stories, if you haven’t noticed already).
Why would I link that to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, then?
Simple. Two points.
- The blonde-brunette dynamic
- The wedding scene.
(You see, i’m not exactly a complex person haha)
While the blonde-brunette dynamic is not exclusive to both mentioned films, it just got me wondering if there is any Gentlemen Prefer Blondes reference in Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper? I am going to attach the pictures below for you to see what I mean by this.
I did not do much research, as you might have noticed. This is just my amateur opinion, I just wondered does Barbie…prefers blondes too? Because if she does, that explains the reference! (the wording are quite strange, I know, I just thought it’s a bit of a-ha! sentence from me, apparently not, haha)
Anyways. Regardless of if an actual reference to the 1953 film is present or not, I found both films to be super entertaining and very nice. Feel-good films, in my opinion. This is not so much of a review, it’s more like my thoughts and questions, but who knows? Maybe someday I’ll do my research on this!
