Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse

Life in the Dreamhouse is an incredibly meta affair. At the time, I didn't like this series very much because I simply wasn't interested in seeing through the hard irony bordering on parody. Although it is a series of mini sketches, the basic script formula is based on classic situational comedy, in which a group of friends/relatives live in one house and comment on banalities. The joke is that we are not in some ideal world, but in a self-aware reality where everyone knows they are made of plastic. It's over the top, fun, and it uses all the tricks that Mattel has perfected over the years in commercials. Even the dolls released for the series have cartoon faces, and it's all one big exaggeration. It even works with similar techniques as WandaVision, for example in the episode where the black-and-white friend Midge returns and is depicted as a Stepford Wife who envies Barbie for being fully-jointed. The feature films had a decent level at the time and the series was meta, they were two different worlds. Today, we live in the interconnected universe of Dreamhouse Adventures, which is not as fun anymore. (26.04.2023)