After watching Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, my daughters and I left the theater laughing and crying. But lingering in my mind was a scene that plagued me with reminders of how dystopic America has become in contrast to the dolls’ utopia. And it has to do with guns.
In the film, when the CEO of Mattel, played by Will Ferrell, enters Kendom (formerly known as Barbieland), he and his corporate sidekicks walk into a brawl. The war between Kens is fierce, but the most brutal violence is rendered with beach balls, not bullets. “There are no guns in Barbieland,” as Ferrell said.
The characters—and some of the audience, all of whom likely scanned the theater for exits before sitting down (it is the “real world” of America, after all)—sighed deeply, relieved the Kens couldn’t inflict the horrors we see in the news every day.
The gun violence epidemic in our Real World is complex. Still, one facet of why this preventable crisis continues to devastate our lives is the marketing machine behind the gun industry. For decades, the gun industry has marketed the lie that guns make us safer when in reality, research has long shown that firearms make society far more dangerous. Guns are now the number one killer of our kids. …
Do you want to be “Good Guy with a Gun Ken” or “Military Might Ken”?
The gun industry has perfected the formula to prey on natural human developmental insecurities and fears to sell deadly products without considering the human toll. This isn’t a Mojo Dojo Casa House they’re selling to young men. They’re selling an epidemic.
These predatory practices come with deadly consequences.
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- Playing on emasculation, gun manufacturer Remington released an ad campaign telling men to buy their AR-15 style rifle to have their “Man Card” reissued.
- It’s no mistake the Sandy Hook killer used that very rifle to slaughter 26 children and teachers at their elementary school. Brady supported the Sandy Hook families in holding Remington accountable for contributing to the massacre.
- Similar ads and targeted marketing campaigns are believed to have influenced the shooters who attacked a school in Parkland, a Buffalo supermarket and a Highland Park July 4 parade.
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By tapping into military fantasies and needs for validation, the gun industry has created its own “Mass Shooter Ken.” This Ken comes with his own accessories like body armor, a racist manifesto, and an AR-15, complete with an illegally-secured stabilizing brace and ammunition. No background check needed!
— Brady President Kris Brown in One Reason We All Want to Live In Barbieland? There Is No Gun Industry.
