Movies - TV
Ryan Gosling Gave A Perfectly Ken Gift To Barbie’s Cast & Crew
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
When choosing a gift for the cast and crew of “Barbie,” Ryan Gosling wanted to represent Ken's half-hearted assertions toward the patriarchy with gift-wrapped t-shirts.
The shirts had a long-maned blonde horse with a headband (a nod to Ken’s equine obsession) with the quote, "When you Ken like lightning, you crash like thunder."
Savvy filmgoers will likely be able to recognize the phrase as a variant of a line of dialogue from Gosling's dour 2013 intergenerational crime drama "The Place Beyond the Pines."
Director Greta Gerwig said due to licensing concerns, Gosling went to Mattel to get permission to make the shirts. Their response was a hilarious example of life imitating art.
Gerwig recounted, “They said, 'You can't use Barbie. We're very sensitive about Barbie,’” before adding “‘You can do whatever you want with Ken, we don't care about Ken.'”