Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour

The Barbie doll has survived 57 years of changing fashions and mores and by changing with the times. The Barbie of today is pitched to kids (and adult collectors) as a fashionable, confident woman who can be an astronaut, a doctor, an air force pilot or homemaker from almost any cultural background — a far cry from her origins as a strictly white fashion model. She's been attacked for promoting unrealistic ideas about women's bodies and treasured as a gay icon. Director Susan Stern did a deep dive into the controversy and love surrounding the doll and its creator, Ruth Handler, in her 1998 film Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour. The film screens tonight at 7 p.m. at the Missouri History Museum (Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue; www.mohistory.org) as part of the museum's current exhibition on toys. Admission is free.