B is for Barbie. A is for Accessibility!
Plus: the disabled icons who lit up the pink carpet!
If you exist in the world, then you know there’s a Barbie movie coming out later this month. If you’re like me, you’ve been gulping down the daily drops of content like a parched peasant wandering the desert in search of a Barbieland oasis. Marketing and PR students will study this Mattel-funded, Gerwig-led, Robbie-starred campaign for years to come, and rightly so.
In an interview with Out Magazine, trans icon and one of the stars of the Barbie movie, Hari Nef, spoke about the message of the movie being one of “living your life and being in your body your way, on your own terms.” Nef was specifically speaking about trans women at the time, but the desire for autonomy and control of our lives is felt in the disability community – and all marginalized communities. And from the early reviews coming in, it sure sounds like that theme runs through the veins of the whole film.
This week, the Barbie team did something that I’ve never seen before. The Barbie World Premiere of the film was a first-of-its-kind accessible event. With the help of 1in4 Coalition and accessibility coordinators, Warner Bros implemented disability initiatives that made the entire event – from pink carpet to screening to afterparty – inclusive of disabled guests.
According to the 1in4coaltion Instagram, these initiatives included:
An ASL interpreter on stage next to Greta Gerwig to introduce the film.
Disabled creators, actors, models, and influencers with intersectional identities invited to the Pink carpet, the screening, and the afterparty.
The pink carpet was accessible for wheelchairs and mobility aids.
The bathrooms were accessible and featured pink restroom stools.
Pink signage and Access Coordinators ready to assist guests.
Event staff trained to assist the disability community.
By working with disability advocates to create an accessible event like this, WB, Greta Gerwig, and Margot Robbie have given us a glimpse into what could be. ASL interpreters front and center, wheelchair accessible spaces, a whole environment set up with disabled folks in mind – not ignored or an afterthought – it shouldn’t be groundbreaking but it is.
And the fact that it all stood proud and pink? Like it was meant to be there, part of Barbieland instead of pushed to the side in greyscale or small signage to make nondisableds more comfortable, that sends the message that disabled people matter. Our needs matter. These are, as 1in4 said, “vibrant examples of how accessibility and aesthetics can go hand in hand.”
Speaking of aesthetics, you better believe the disabled creators hit that pink carpet looking like real-life Barbie icons…
Left: Lachi (she/her), an award-winning blind musician, disability advocate, and speaker.
Middle: Sofia Sanchez, Ukranian American actress and model with Down Syndrome. Sofia had her dress custom-made to match the dress worn by the Down Syndrome Barbie doll.
Right: Lauren “Lolo” Spencer (she/her), actress, author, CEO, and disability advocate with ALS.
Left: Madison Lawson aka wheelchairbarbie, a writer, editor, model, and disability advocate with muscular dystrophy.
Right: Natasha Ofili, a Deaf actress, producer, and writer, poses with Jim LeBrecht, a disability rights activist and co-Director of the award-winning documentary Crip Camp, and Keely Cat-Wells, chronically ill disability rights activist, founder of C Talent and Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree.
Over the last few days, I have spent hours scrolling instagram, re-watching videos from the disabled creators who attended the premiere and reading and re-reading their captions about how incredible it felt to be included. Visibility like this is so important and can lead to accessibility becoming the norm.
My only critique (and it’s not a small one) is the lack of masks worn at the event. Covid is still a huge concern for immunocompromised people. Many of our most vulnerable disabled siblings are still self-isolating because it’s the only way for them to stay safe in a world that has given up pretending to care.
As thrilling as it is to see this kind of progress being made, it stings to think that people in our own community were left out yet again. Chronically ill and immunocompromised people are a large part of the disabled family. It could have been so simple to add “pink face masks” to that list of accessibility initiatives.
Can you imagine the statement it would have made? The whole world is watching the Barbie media blitz. Seeing disabled guests, or even the nondisabled guests and stars, wearing bedazzled pink face masks could have represented the immunocompromised in our community *and* reminded the world that it’s cool to still give a shit about others.
I’m not trying to dampen the celebration here. But this is what advocacy is, isn’t it? Celebrating progress while still encouraging us all to do better. The efforts made to make the Barbie premiere accessible should be applauded! I want to work on that team! I want event organizers to take notes and implement the same initiatives going forward.
I want this accessible Barbieworld to be transferred into the Real World.
But I’m conflicted about the message it sends to the most vulnerable among us to see people in their own community gathering in such a huge crowd without any Covid precautions.
Solidarity has always been, and will always be, our strongest way forward.
