I was never all that into Barbie dolls as a kid. And baby dolls were absolutely not of interest. I did have several Barbie dolls, but those were hand-me-downs from my older sisters. With Barbies, at least, you could swap out their outfits and accessories, which was fun…for about 10 or 15 minutes. I had far more fun with my stuffed animals and Fischer-Price Little People — when I wasn’t playing with Hot Wheels or tossing a football around.

So, I’ll confess, I’m a little bemused by all the Barbie hype coinciding with the movie’s release. I get the studio and certain advertisers making a big show of it. It’s all the people — friends and contemporaries of mine — who are so into it. To be clear, I’m not knocking people for being fans of Barbie just because I wasn’t. There are plenty of things I dig that I’m sure others find utterly yawn-inducing.

I think what’s throwing me off is the level of enthusiasm displayed by my peers. Obviously, there are tons of women around my age for whom Barbie holds a great deal of nostalgia. Even though I was a bit of a tomboy, most of my friends were girls. But I swear I do not remember playing with Barbies being all that big a thing for my friends and me when we were young.

I guess I just missed the Barbie boat. Wouldn’t really mind her Dream House, though.

This “Moore to the Point” commentary aired on NewsTalkSTL on Monday, July 24th Audio included below.