Barbie: BBC Responds to Pride and Prejudice Joke

Barbie is now playing in theaters, and the Greta Gerwig-directed film is crushing it at the box office and being called a “masterpiece.” While you won’t see any pop culture-themed Barbies in the movie, there are some hilarious pop culture references. From the 2001: A Space Odyssey opening to a joke about Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, there are plenty of nods to enjoy. At one point, Barbie (Margot Robbie) becomes depressed, and an ad for “Depression Barbie” starts to play. This version of the doll dons sweatpants, scrolls Instagram all day, eats Starbursts, and watches the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice miniseries from 1995. In honor of Barbie, the Instagram account for BBC iplayer shared a fun video of Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy.

“He swam so Ken could Beach #PrideandPrejudice #iPlayer,” the account captioned the post. You can check out the fun Barbie-themed Pride and Prejudice video below: 

Why Doesn’t Barbie Feature Pop Culture Barbies?

In the vast world of Barbies, Mattel has made many pop culture-themed dolls throughout the years. There are collectible Barbies from Disney, Star Trek, and so much more. However, you won’t spot any of the movie-themed and television-themed Barbies in the new film. Recently, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with Gerwig about the movie, and she explained why those versions of the doll are left out of the story. 

“I definitely looked at a lot of, there were the pop culture versions, and then there was also just other toys that Mattel has because they have a bunch of different toys. They have Hot Wheels and they have Barney, and they have all these different things. But it ultimately felt like we wanted to stay within the realm of the things that are only self-referential to Barbie, if that makes sense,” Gerwig explained. “Except for Proust Barbie.”

What Is Barbie About?

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.