Create Your Own ‘Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse’

December 4, 2019 8:09 pm Published by Kelsey Lawrence

I have unfortunately been feeling like a dumb failure this week! It’s just one of those weeks. “I should go ahead and BE a housewife,” I think to myself as I roast two chicken breasts, get on my knees to sop up gray water dripping out of my radiator, and walk around the park listening to Dido’s “Thank You” and smiling at ducks.

Practically speaking, there isn’t a lot motivating me to succeed except for the faint promise I made to myself that one day I would create my own world to live in. Maybe it will look like an inconspicuous stucco home in a desert town that, on the inside, is an explosion of pink furniture and aquariums and a white-and-gold bathtub.

There aren’t many examples of my dream life out there, so thank god for Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse! It’s my vision board in TV-show form. The show’s haunting technology and warm group of friends who have pool parties will stick with me in the way that pictures of Mike Tyson’s abandoned mansion have. And let me tell you, I wasn’t the only one enchanted! These Google reviewers also couldn’t believe their eyes, qualifying their reviews with hesitant, contextualizing phrases like “for some reason” and “low-key”.

“It’s really fun. Maybe it’s just because I’m childish and enjoy all sorts of cartoons, but this is just really good? I really love the devices and all their gadgets for some reason.”— cherry cherry

“Ok so I recently rewatched this show recently and like, it’s low-key good?”—Charlotte Warren

“So good. I can not even describe how much I love this show. I stopped talking to my family for 3 days because I was busy watching this. If you guys EVER take this off Netflix…. I’m suing! JK. But there will be consequences.”—Allison Neidert

Everyone was surprised! That’s because Barbie hasn’t told us that many funny jokes before. But if we take a step back and examine just the color pink alone, it’s a tongue-in-cheek color. It’s camp, it’s joie de vivre loca, it’s in on the joke. This week, I need some world-building in the form of a fizzy show built out of ’80s/’90s TV tropes about Southern California teens, mansions, chlorine, pristine plastic, and Aliexpress.com-esque interior design. Time to level up!