No Roles For Old Women

Actresses face a bleak future as they age. They have no roles to play after they mature from fresh-faced young ingenue to harried young mother and then...they are invisible.

Now Barbie is facing the same bleak prospects. The 54-year-old doll is not as popular as she used to be. And it is Mattel, her manufacturer, that is undermining her by introducing new dolls to take her place.

She's had some work done, like all the others who wanted to keep their youthful good looks as long as a surgeon's skill could nip and tuck things into shape. Barbie has added every conceivable outfit to her wardrobe, built a dream house and a dream car, done the California thing, but time cannot be outrun.

Especially in those high heeled shoes. You'd have to be a thoroughbred to run on your toes, which is all Barbie can manage with her ready-for-stilleto feet.

And what has Mattel created to replace Barbie in the hearts of little girls?

Wouldn't you know it. The new line features some fairly bizarre looking creatures who are barely old enough to drive. Who needs a Barbie dream car when you're in high school and lucky to have a learner's permit?

Monster High dolls are pushing Barbie out the door and off to the nursing home. The teens are model-thin, lacking Barbie's old-fashioned curves. Their clothes are not high fashion but thrift shop.

Where Barbie was all about glamor, Monster High dolls are about horror in a fun way. They are Saturday morning cartoons as compared to Barbie's Saturday night date with Ken. For all of Barbie's friends added over the years, she never had a genuine posse like the Monster High gang. That dating scene? So last century.

Not that Monster High is Mattel's salvation. With fewer children being born, the market is shrinking and Mattel's profits are slowing. What few kids there are tend to gravitate to video games instead of toy cars that require imagination to power, instead of an electric outlet.

The parents of those kids are lucky to have jobs, and are facing shrinking paychecks and rising costs. They just don't have the money to spend on luxuries like fashion dolls of any sort, and they sure aren't going to buy Barbie a new dress when the child playing with Barbie needs an outfit for school.

Toy manufacturers are starting to look east, to China, where markets are emerging and income is disposable. They respect their elders there. Barbie stands a good chance to survive, leaving the Monster High crowd in the dust of fading trends.