Denise Duhamel's Medicare Barbie (by Nin Andrews)

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am waiting for the sequel to Greta Gerwig's Barbie, which Gerwig will cowrite and coproduce with Denise Duhamel. In a sneak preview, we will learn (gasp!) that Barbie has aged!  

 

POEM IN WHICH BARBIE QUALIFIES FOR MEDICARE

DeMay 9, 2024

Barbie never thought too much about her eligibility.

She’d loved AARP—the discounts at Sunglass Hut

and Outback Steakhouse—when she waved

her bright red card. She’d been born to shop,

but the medical world was still a mystery to her.

Sure, one of her first careers was as a Registered Nurse,

and a decade later, she became an MD. But she had

little experience being a patient except when children

made her a papier mâché arm cast or shaved off her hair

in play-chemo. Without vertebrae or femur,

Barbie never took a bone density test or had to worry

about osteoporosis. Menopause had been a breeze—

no hot flashes, no bleeding to miss. She was spotless

when it came to age spots, even after all those years

in the sun. No pee when she sneezed. No cataracts

despite the fact that she never blinked. She still drove

at night but was considering trading in her convertible

for a cushy Lincoln town car to arrive in Medicare-style

for her annual checkups. She was looking forward to a ride

in an MRI then consulting a podiatrist to see if anyone could

at last help ease her feet into New Balance sneakers.

The dermatologist told her Botox was covered if Barbie

suffered from migraines. Her smile had never given way

to laugh lines or crow’s feet. Still, Barbie lifted her hands

to her temples and told a white lie—why yes,

those headaches have sometimes been so fierce I’ve had to retreat

into my dark box to rest. After all, Barbie

was a American boomer and wanted her fair share,

what she thought she deserved, what was coming to her.

 

---from Rattle, Poets Respond

__________

Denise Duhamel: “I didn’t think I had another Barbie poem in me! (I thought I’d put her to rest in 1997 after the publication of my book Kinky.) But I couldn’t resist the idea of Barbie being eligible for Medicare.” (web)

 

Comments

[Ken Lauter]

Denise,

Just read your “Medicare Barbie.” OMG! Loved it! - as I had previously loved the brilliant, subversive Kinky. I think you have extremely important things to say both about the doll per se and the mythos surrounding her (particularly after blockbuster movie)— things regarding female identity, eros, and empowerment. Things that girls, young women, and the culture at large desperately need to hear.

Thanks so much for the new Barbie poem. It’s a fittingly provocative sequel to Kinky and may one day come to be seen as a decisive turning point in the cultural apprehension of the Barbie image of womanhood.

Is Nin Andrews’ introductory comment true about you and Gerwig working on a film sequel? Or is it just a satiric barb?

[Nin Andrews]

Hi Ken,

No, my intro about Gerwig is just a fantasy--my wishful thinking. I agree with your comment, which is why I'd love to see her Barbie-insights on the screen.

[David Schloss]

I found this a very poignant coda to Kinky. Perhaps it's my age! Thank you, Denise.

[Jacqueline Lapidus]

I'm older than the "boomers". Never had Barbie dolls, hated having to watch my younger "fairy goddaughter" play with them (though I made clothes for them by hand, because the real ones were outrageously expensive). I haven't seen the movie and never will. But the poem is a toot! Denise Duhamel is being kind to those 60-somethings retiring now.