The recent introduction of several new Ken dolls led me to think about this iconic toy.  Mattel featured some new Kens this past Christmas season, including  him  dressed in his  Toy Story 3 shorts and loafers, and also wearing a Warhol-esque “Ken Loves Barbie ” T-shirt.  My own history with the figure is, well, complicated.   As a comics-loving kid, my favorite dolls were my action figures, several of which have survived my childhood.  But I always liked fashion as well, so I was a Barbie devotee for a while.

Ken, however, was not my idea of an ideal Barbie companion.  Maybe this was because the blonde, sun-tanned Malibu Ken I`d inherited from an older cousin seemed a bit distant.  I wasn`t sure exactly WHAT he was supposed to do.  He was not a superhero who fought crime or a GI Joe who went on exciting missions. And he didn`t have the eclectic wardrobe of the female dolls.  My fashion dolls  and female heroes ended up dating {and  battling}  the superheroes and Joe figures.

Youunger doll enthusiasts were much luckier. With the 1990`s came many new varieties of Ken.  His smile seemed friendlier, his clothes more  colorful. And he did more than simply hang out waiting to use Barbie`s stuff.   Ken was now a doctor, a Harley Davidson rider, a guitarist in a rock band-and most exciting of all to me, a Star Trek crew member{in 1997}!  As an adult, I could finally respect  him.  No longer bland, he`d become a figure of diverse interests, a true Renaissance toy!

And Ken has long been a pop culture mainstay. In the 1970`s, he was satirized  in MAD magazine as sundress-clad “Draft Dodger Ken” and also appeared in the 1974 cult film The Groove Tube.  He played both pop star Karen Carpenter`s  husband and her brother Richard in  the disturbing but brilliant film Superstar {1987}.  But it was last year`s appearance in Toy Story 3 which got him firmly back in the public imagination.  At first, Ken`s character seems to be all style and no substance, merely a tool of the evil Lotso Bear.   Then he realizes he`s working for a rotten system.  Of course, the big push is when Barbie cuts up some of his  favorite outfits in order to motivate him to help Woody, Buzz, and the other toys escape.  By the end, the enterprising pair are running Sunnyside Day Care in a democratic way, holding dances and sandbox beach parties for all!  It`s truly gratifying to see Ken grow politically aware in this future classic.

So I`ve gradually come around to Ken.   He may never have the innate coolness of a DC Universe Batman or Green Lantern, but he`s pretty valid in his own way-and has a much bigger wardrobe. Here`s to a new generation finding him under their Christmas trees!

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