Imagine having your dream house and coming back to the world of Barbieland only to discover that Ken turned it into the Mojo Dojo Casa House while you were away. UGH. That’s what happened to Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) in Barbie, and it has now blossomed into a beautiful meme.
When Ken went to the “real world” in the movie, he learned all about the patriarchy, which includes (of course) men on horses and beer. The horses are really the important part, because without them, there would be no patriarchy (in the mind of Ken).
Played in a beautifully non-toxic way by Ryan Gosling, his Ken and the other Kens at his side stuck out because they were just so willfully ignorant of what actually makes the patriarchy powerful and instead just wanted fun houses with horse decorations and to have boys’ nights. In our real world, however, the men who do benefit from the patriarchy force all of us to play with their toy cars instead of playing with Barbies like many of us wanted. I’m talking about things like Elon Musk buying Twitter and forcing us all to call it “X” and ruining our fun. Things like that.
So when we went from seeing a bright blue bird to suddenly seeing an X marks the spot for hot takes that will inevitably make you angry about how people watched Oppenheimer, it did really feel like Barbie coming back to Barbieland to see saloon doors where her beautifully pink glass doors to the Barbie Dream House once stood.
Since then, referring to things as the Mojo Dojo Casa House has become a new beloved facet of the internet, and honestly? Great, that’s exactly what I wanted after seeing Barbie. Just memes about Ken’s saloon house.
SUBLIME!
Is it surprising that Gosling playing a himbo Ken was fascinating to watch? Not at all! It’s Ryan Gosling! He masters the art of the himbo in a way that is magical. Although, I do believe that playing Ken unlocked something in him that we can never tame again. Still, the existence of Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House has made for a fun time online.
Now, let’s be clear: The Mojo Dojo Casa House cannot simply just be a house that is where a man lives. No no no. It has to be the energy of a man talking about his house that makes absolutely no sense. Like for instance, Edward Cullen showing Bella Swan his room with no bed in Twilight.
Honestly? I don’t want the Mojo Dojo Casa House memes to ever end because it is just Ken’s Mojo room house house and that’s beautiful. The memes have gone so far that now there are parody lyrics for Taylor Swift’s “betty” that are all about Ken singing to Barbie, and yes, I will forever now sing “You heard the rumors from Allan” instead.
So yes, Barbie lost her Dream House (briefly) to Ken and his Mojo Dojo Casa House, but in the end, we got a beautiful meme and a new version of “betty,” so really, I think we all won. I hope the Dream House still has the saloon doors.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
