I was on the Light Rail this afternoon, along with dozens and dozens of women young and not-so-young decked out in sequins, cowboy boots, and glitter cowboy hats.
And I mean decked out. The Swifties are in town, and I feel like a Muggle. A happy Muggle, but a Muggle nonetheless.
It was like Halloween and prom and a wedding all mixed into one, except unlike prom or a wedding, a date was not required. This is a girl power event. Moms and daughters. Sisters. Besties.
The common accessory are homemade beaded bracelets that fans can exchange with each other during the concerts. The beads spell out names of songs, lyrics or albums, and the colors match the "Era."
At the Light Rail, I saw dads dropping off their teenage daughters to go downtown to the show. I started getting teary. I am so happy for these girls and women, all going to see the show of their dreams. I am so happy for my daughter. It is cool to see her so excited. It is really cool to see a woman performer embrace so many young women fans.
Tomorrow, I am going with some friends (I hope) to see Barbie. I'll confess: my friends and I played with Barbies until I was twelve. My favorite Barbie was Ballerina Barbie, who wore pointe shoes and had a crown glued on her head so she could twirl. The only reason I stopped playing was because I moved to Ohio. Greta Gerwig*, the director, played with Barbies until she was fourteen. Maybe if I played with Barbies for another two years, I'd be an award winning director.
Barbies were my social toy, the toy that I loaded in a grocery sack, plopped in the basket on the handlebars of my bike, and rode around town to my friends' houses. It was awesome.
Fun facts about Barbie that I read in the NYT article about Greta Gerwig. Barbie was the first doll that represented an adult. When Barbie was introduced in 1959, dolls were babies. Barbie has a Dream House before women could get a credit card. Barbie made a few missteps, like her infamous quote, "Math is hard," but we can't blame the doll for that. Was it a dude in marketing that said that? Or was it someone who really struggled to understand Differential Equations? Yeah, math is hard. I studied applied math in college. I should know. Bow down before me, motherfuckers. You all should be impressed.
I'm just kidding!
(Not really.)
Lots of things are hard. It doesn't mean with can't do them. Maybe they needed to revise Barbie's quote to be "Math is hard, but you are smart. You can do it!"
I am looking forward to Gerwig's movie for other reasons, besides it being the toy of my childhood.
- Gerwig directed Ladybird, a beautiful movie about a mother and her daughter leaving for college.
- Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls is in the Barbie movie, which is awesome. Close to Fine is one of my favorite songs.
- Gerwig would spend Friday evenings on her childhood at the home of her Jewish neighbors. No matter how good or bad Gerwig's week was, she felt comfort in the prayers said by the family's father. Gerwig says she wants everyone who sees the movie to be reminded they are a child of god.
I look forward to the next Seattle Sounders and Seahawks game. I wonder how long the stadium will have glitter, sequins and beads embedded in it. I'd love for a the football players to come up from a tackle more sparkly than before they went down.
* I googled "Greta Gerwig" today and the search page turned pink and had pink sparkles. Check it out!
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