Weird Barbie

Submission 2,885

Part of a series on Barbie (2023 Film). [View Related Entries]

About

Weird Barbie is a character from the 2023 Barbie movie played by Kate McKinnon, described America Ferrera's character Gloria as a Barbie you make weird "by playing with them too hard." Following the film's release on July 21st, 2023, Weird Barbie inspired fan art and memes, also inspiring a TikTok trend where users showcase their weird Barbie dolls.

Origin

On July 21st, 2023, the Barbie movie was released in theaters. The movie features a character played by Kate McKinnon called "Weird Barbie," a Barbie who was played with too roughly and is described on her character poster as "always in the splits."^[1] A scene featuring Weird Barbie was uploaded to the Rotten Tomatoes Coming Soon YouTube^[2] channel 10 days before the film's release, garnering over 618,000 views in two weeks (shown below).

Spread

Weird Barbie became the subject of memes and fan content following the film's release. On July 22nd, Twitter^[3] user @zanadoodles posted an image of the Cynthia doll from Rugrats, writing, "the original weird barbie," garnering over 28,900 likes in 10 days (shown below, left). On July 23rd, Twitter^[4] user @lumise05 posted a piece of Weird Barbie fan art, garnering over 6,000 likes in nine days (shown below, right).

That day, Tumblr^[5] user huyandere posted a meme featuring a conversation between Barbie and Weird Barbie, garnering over 12,000 notes in a week. On July 25th, the same user posted a meme to Twitter^[6] that gained over 80,000 likes in a week, which was also posted to their Tumblr^[7] account, garnering over 58,000 notes (shown below).

Weird Barbie TikTok Trend

In late July 2023, TikTokers began posting videos showcasing their weird Barbies. On July 26th, 2023, TikToker^[8] @sophiesophie_06 posted a video showing a Barbie only consisting of a head and legs, garnering over 9.5 million views in six days (shown below).

On July 27th, TikToker^[9] @kenlee.w4 posted a weird Barbie that garnered over 2.4 million views in five days (shown below, left). On July 28th, TIkToker^[10] @sinmineral posted a video of a weird Barbie that gained over 5.1 million views in four days (shown below, right).