Althouse: The new Ken doll.

February 9, 2006

The new Ken doll.

He's into Buddhism, we're told. Shouldn't Buddhists be freaking out about the use of their religion as a fashion accessory?

UPDATE: I have one of the original Ken dolls -- complete with flocked hair. But I never got any outfits for him, so he only ever had his red bathing trunks. Because my Barbie was "Negligée Barbie," she did not have that classic swimsuit, and I never bought her one. Thus, my version of the famous couple had a doomed relationship.

24 comments:

Anna said...: Ken is so metro.; 2/9/06, 9:45 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I agree with Anna. New Ken looks like a girl.; 2/9/06, 9:59 AM
amba said...: Buddhists rioting is an oxymoron.

(vw: pudtle); 2/9/06, 10:03 AM
Anonymous said...: I hope they don't freak out. I'm sort of numbed to one group or the other freaking out.; 2/9/06, 10:04 AM
bill said...: I was about to say Buddhists aren't known for freaking out, but remembered they occassionaly protest through self-emolation.

The upside of that being, with a sufficient firebreak they are only a harm to themselves.; 2/9/06, 10:29 AM
Gaius Arbo said...: Hell, Steely Dan used Bodhisattva for a song. I don't recall angry protests......

Personally, I have always wondered if Ken was straight. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just wondered......

Verfication: ycaaz; 2/9/06, 10:35 AM
tiggeril said...: Both Buddhism and Hinduism have been a fashion accessory for quite some time now. There's nothing the trendoids love more than some of that wacky Eastern religion every now and again.; 2/9/06, 11:31 AM
tiggeril said...: Not those trendoids. Unless you're thinking of Kabbalah as a Western religion.; 2/9/06, 11:35 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/9/06, 12:29 PM
X said...: When I lived in Japan, there were a number of fairly well-publicized riots in Korea involving not only Buddhists but Buddhist monks. Something to do with rivaliries between different sects. The Koreans are a badass people.

As for Ken's brokebackitude, let's not forget the notorious Earring Magic Ken, designed in the early '90s based on their observations of the guys who hung out in all-night clubs in NYC. A lot of those clubs have names like "The Manhole".; 2/9/06, 12:46 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/9/06, 1:42 PM
Wade Garrett said...: What does it mean to be "into" Buddhism? Is that the same thing as being a Buddhist? Or is that the cliche Southern California-Richard Gere-I'm-into-Buddhism-because-it-sounds-cooler-than-Christianity-or-Judaism thing?; 2/9/06, 2:01 PM
reader_iam said...: Made me think of the touchy-feely sort of Zen Buddhist/New-Age-y sorts of things.

Which makes me think of the movie "Serial," starring Martin Mull.

Tommy Smothers' (I think) character:

"Youness, meness,
Usness, weness
Yourness, mineness,
Ourness."

Martin Mull's character:

Sickness!; 2/9/06, 3:37 PM
Gaius Arbo said...: Riffing off townleybomb then, maybe that's the ticket to improving Ken's image:

Brokeback Barbie

"I wish I could quit you, Ballerina Barbie......"

Verif: gtdic; 2/9/06, 4:09 PM
Gordon Freece said...: tcd,

Aren't you being a bit arrogant and insensitive, condemning the Taliban's "perfectly understandable" reaction to a grave offense against their religious sensibilities? They wuz provoked!

</sarcasm>

(Word verification COMSXORX -- if there are any Windows programmers in the audience, dig it: I've just been fighting with an inexplicably failing CoCreateInstance() call... COM sux0rx indeed.); 2/9/06, 5:40 PM
Eli Blake said...: tcd,

That does bring up an interesting point. Some Islamic extremists are willing to issue orders to murder some cartoonists for drawing a cartoon that insulted their religion, but they have no problem openly desecrating others' religion.; 2/9/06, 5:45 PM
Eli Blake said...: I have one question though. How do they define his religion? I mean, you can give him clothes, but a doll is just a piece of plastic, and I wonder how you define their religion. Do they have a tattoo on him or something?; 2/9/06, 5:48 PM
Eli Blake said...: Of course, with the new 'metro' Ken, it is sure to set off alarm bells at Concerned Women of America, a conservative group which recently jumped all over Barbie as 'promoting the homosexual/transgender agenda.'; 2/9/06, 5:57 PM
Charlie Martin said...: Hell, Ann, we're just so pleased to see someone knows where to put the 'h'. In the immortal words of the Sixth Patriarch, "fundamentally not one thing exists, so why get all excited about a stupid doll"?; 2/9/06, 8:10 PM
Charlie Martin said...: New Ken is like New Coke. Kinda gay.

Which means New Ken is a lot like Old Ken.; 2/9/06, 8:12 PM
Charlie Martin said...: Speaking as a Buddhist, born & raised....

Speaking as one of those 60's converts (probably like your parents, tcd) it still kinda freaks me out to run into "born and raised" American Buddhists.

Freaks me out in a good way, mind you, but it still freaks me out.; 2/9/06, 8:15 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 2/10/06, 7:07 AM
Anonymous said...: [using] religion as a fashion accessory

Not just the Ken doll, but sounds like George Bush the Cheney sock puppet too!; 2/10/06, 7:59 AM
No Blood for Hubris said...: I'm Buddhist, not born and raised (but I bore and raised a Buddhist), and I'm also not freaked out about Ken. But dabbling in Buddhism means--what? He learned how to meditate? He can light an incense stick? He posted the Four Noble Truths at town hall next to the Ten Commandments?; 2/11/06, 11:03 AM