Ever since the second trailer of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was released, the internet has been abuzz with chatter about the multi-starrer comedy. The much awaited film, which stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken, is scheduled for release on July 21. The film’s bubblegum pop aesthetic and the high dose of nostalgia have got people talking. This is set to be the first live-action Barbie film. A tagline from the film’s poster, “She’s everything. He’s just Ken”, has now become a meme template. Netizens initially used the tagline to show a couple in which the woman is far better than her male partner, for instance Elle Woods and Warner Huntington III from the 2001 romantic comedy Legally Blonde and the couple of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. However, soon people began using the meme to compare two competing entities. The University of York also used the meme template to compare itself with its rival, Lancaster University. she’s everything, he’s just Ken pic.twitter.com/22qLCeJuqE — zohair (@shayadzohair) April 5, 2023 the official she's everything vs he's just ken designation of current drivers pic.twitter.com/kXjDG53UWJ — Formula Whatever (@formulawhatever) April 5, 2023 handful of complaints about barbie being "feminist" for "she's everything he's just ken" do not know the barbie lore of ken being, essentially, just one of barbie's many accessories that she can do without — sybil grimalkin (@joblessthursday) April 5, 2023 She's everything. He's just Ken. #RosesAreWhite pic.twitter.com/gMT0dakTbq — University of York (@UniOfYork) April 6, 2023 Ken dolls aren’t hunks! They are vaguely metrosexual looking glorified handbags who are just there to make Barbie look good, you can’t cast an aggressively sexy leading Ken in the way you can cast a hot Barbie like Margot Robbie. She’s everything, he’s just Ken! — Jason Okundaye (@jasebyjason) April 6, 2023 they were the true 'she's everything . and he's just ken' pic.twitter.com/5MUUDwi9Pe — NOSTALGIA (@notgwendalupe) April 5, 2023 She's everything. He's just Ken pic.twitter.com/BucrxpDzs2 — Daniela Salazar (@Danielasalbe) April 4, 2023 she’s everything, he’s just Ken pic.twitter.com/xSCD3YLrhg — big booby Bella (@bellamisandria) April 5, 2023 She’s everything. He’s just Ken. pic.twitter.com/yYsoBXOp3p — Alessandra (@alessandra_kr) April 4, 2023 She's everything / He's just Ken pic.twitter.com/JyEZCRNRpq — clarissa / pinned alt s0cials (@ClarissaDeLune) April 5, 2023 The logic behind the comparison between Ken and Barbie is that the Barbie universe revolves around her, while Ken is seen just as a love interest who does not add much value to the narrative of the Barbie Land, similar to how the role of female love interests are often limited in movies. Echoing this view, a Twitter user wrote, “Ken dolls aren’t hunks! They are vaguely metrosexual looking glorified handbags who are just there to make Barbie look good, you can’t cast an aggressively sexy leading Ken in the way you can cast a hot Barbie like Margot Robbie. She’s everything, he’s just Ken!”
