BRATZ Movie --

We wrote this before the movie came out -- tried to get it published as an Op Ed but no luck.

Bratz Dollz. Bratz Bralettes. Bratz Cartoons, Bratz Computers? Those “hot to trot” babes sure do have it all. Now, they are finally movie stars (even though they’ve been living the movie star life for years). When BRATZ: THE MOVIE comes to your local theater, you might be hard pressed to recognize “the girlz” since the profiteers have cleaned them up a bit with a makeover, yet still their PG rating loosely warns “some material may not be suitable for children.” The real life actors playing our least favorite dollz won’t be outfitted in anything remotely dominatrix or soft porn “esque” because let’s face it: if cute little dolls look sleazy in those outfits, real girls wearing them would look, well, obscene (and the producers would have to kiss the PG rating—and all the allowance money that comes with it--goodbye).

No matter how they clean up the movie girlz to mimic every other perky wanna be a teen girl flick, it’s important for parents to see the sexualization that defines the overall Bratz package. Yes, like all teen girls, the Bratz--Yasmin (Nathalia Ramos), Jade (Janel Parrish), Sasha (Logan Browning) and Cloe (Skyler Shaye)---are proud to be"BFFs" - Best Friends Forever, but unlike real girls who play sports, love math and want to be scientists, writers and explorers when they grow up, the Bratz only solidify the same old stereotypes. We haven’t seen the movie yet, so we can’t predict where the specific product placements will show up (we’re willing to guarantee this movie will be one long commercial for various “must have” products), but we are certain the script will include the following:

• A popular mean girl who gets what’s coming to her at the end of the movie (the mean girl usually comes with her own posse of dimmer but just as mean followers)
• A crazy fun makeover and/or shopping spree scene set to music by a teen pop star
• A “once in a lifetime” chance to model, perform in front of a band, or get dressed up for a special dance or concert.
• An embarrassing moment (which aims to make a Brat more likeable and relatable to her audience). This moment will probably occur in front of a cute boy.
• A “cool” boy who helps the girlz understand that they should just be themselves. On the way to learning the value of friendship, at least one of the girlz will “get” this “cool” boy in the end.
• Frustrating use of the word “power” It will be used to reference how a Bratz feels powerful shopping, choosing a special look, getting a make-over, or picking friends over a mean girl.

We’ve done our research and let’s face it, when it comes to the portrayal of girls in popular culture there is an abysmal lack of imagination. The “special” talents of movie teens won’t include engineering, drumming, or skateboarding. They’ll all be sexy pretty with perfect bodies and yet at least one of them will make an insecure comment about how she looks. They will look “hot”—PG Hot that is—not as hot as the little dollz.

Bratz have been on the “What were they thinking?” radar screen for some time, and for good reason. Margaret Talbot in The New Yorker described them as “little hotties”; London’s Daily Mail called them “a clique of sultry-eyed trollopes”; and bloggers all over the net refer to them as mini “hookers” and “prostitutes.” It’s not just the fly-girl fashion that is troubling to their critics, it is the lifestyle scenarios they come with--hot tubs, party planes, “juice” bars, and boyz. All of these suggest imaginative scenarios to little girls that they can reenact as they play with their little hotties.

Isaac Larian, CEO of M.G.A., (or as he’s been renamed by bloggers, the “pimp” to the Bratz ho’s), may have a point when he complains, about the less than positive media attention focused on his dollz. After all, there are countless other poor models of teen girlhood jiggling about. Just flick on the TV and check out any recent music video. The message to young girls? Clearly, shaking your bootie and moving “those humps, those humps, those lovely lady humps,” is the best way to get power. And in Larian’s defense, the Bratz are the first truly popular group of multicultural dolls for girls? They shook Barbie out of her pink suburban reverie and gave real cache to urban chic.

So really, why pick on the “passion for fashion” girlz? Maybe because the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls found that the Bratz are the best example of the way a marketers have taken a product and targeted the very youngest girls to exploit their desire to be like the big girls they see in pop culture--hanging out with boyz, shopping for fashion, and partying all night long. While some unwitting friend of the family might buy a four-year-old a t-shirt that says “Little Flirt” or a underpants that say “eye candy,” literally millions of girls, moms, and relatives are buying the Bratz dolls for this age group.

Girls are bombarded every day with invitations to self-sexualize, self-objectify, turn themselves into cute, sexy, hot, shopping divas, and to do so by their own choice, because that’s what makes them feel empowered. Is the Bratz movie one such invitation? We’ll see, but in a post-Paris world, parents ought to be worrying a teensy bit that playing with Bratz, might just lead to becoming one of them.

(Let us know if our predictions are right. We can't bring ourselves to go watch this movie!)

Comments

[ls]

I am endlessly appalled at the Bratz dolls, and Barbie too. But I am trying as hard as I can to, in fact, turn it off. I have no TV; my four year old girl has never seen a Disney anything (nor will she), she attends a Waldorf school that reinforces these values and has a rather strict dress code, I buy her clothes online and rarely take her to stores where she can beg for clothes I feel are inappropriate, and on and on. Uphill battle? Lost cause? Perhaps. But still, as a parent I have to try as hard as I can to protect her from what I perceive as a pretty negative force trying to turn her into one big consumer of plastic yuck. I hate the strange forcing of adolesence on younger and younger children,and what is often lost is that these messages are damaging for boys to absorb as well; it shapes very unrealistic attitudes and expectations from the girls and women in thier lives. It also bothers me that more parents throw up their hands and "give up" in the face of the media messages and products, as though tye are powerless to, indeed, kill their television, refuse to buy certain toys, censor their children's clothing, and more.

[Shaping Youth]

Spot on. And Bratz being marketed in Scholastic book fairs at schools ABSOLUTELY put me over the edge as well...since it added 'credence to crud'---

Our messaging to girls clearly needs to be more Zoey'sRoom.com and less Bratz, bombshells and bubble brains...but until marketers can find the proper way to make a buck off a massive media mindshift like we're launching at Shaping Youth, they'll keep churning out the same ol' line that it 'sells.' (ugh)

I'd love to republish this in full w/attribution and full byline as a guest author on Shaping Youth? What do you think?

Or...if you prefer, I can snag a 'teaser' portion add some editorial comments and send 'em your way to THIS blog for the rest?

Your call. (and no, I won't buy a movie ticket to see the 'clean up'; they've done enough damage already)
--Amy

[Cheryl Branscum]

Please sign my petition protesting Bratz dolls.In a world where there are so many pedophiles and girls having babys at 14,I feel like I have to at least try and do something,women have come way to far to have our children look up to this.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/moms-against-bratz

[Cheryl Branscum]

Please sign my petition protesting Bratz dolls.In a world where there are so many pedophiles and girls having babys at 14,I feel like I have to at least try and do something,women have come way to far to have our children look up to this.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/moms-against-bratz

[cheryl]

Please sign my petition to get the MGA to change the style of the Bratz dolls http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/moms-against-bratz

[linda]

I dont know why they are so popular..they are the ugliest . trashy dolls -they are garish to say the least and the sad thing is mattel tried to do something similar with the my style barbie line which is much nicer than the brats but still similar in some ways..they have taken over the shelves and knocked barbie off the shelves...probably with a leopard skin heel....

[Cesca]

I'm totally against Bratz dolls because they are basically telling young girls that it is ok to sexualise thems elves and act 18 instead of 8, which i think is appalling. Call me naive, but i think at that age children should be playing tag outside or other innocent activities, not being told by mini prostitue like figures how to attract boys and that they need to dress in revealing outfits to be fashionable. I was absolutely disgusted when i read a comment from someone who was involved with the Bratz company who claimed that the dolls were not sexualised, but fashionable. I dont think that leather boots, fishnets and mini skirts should be fashion for a 5 year old. Please sign my petition against Bratz at www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/188762701 or visit my websit at www.freewebs.com/real_beauty_revolution

[Dale Luttrell]

bratz for brats if you ask me

[Dale Luttrell]

bratz for brats if you ask me

[anonymous]

because of your movie i have to point out the scene where the girl crying to be offencive to emos.(which I'm proud to say I AM) emos are not emotionally disturbed and we don't go crying around the place like that girl you put in the movie. you have made a JOKE of every one who likes to express themselves in rock music and likes to wear dark clothe. i don't know what i was doing watching your movie in the first place. it seemed to have been a waist of my time. I JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT INCASE YOU DECIDE TO MAKE ANOTHER MOVIE LIKE THAT AGAIN

From the authors of PACKAGING GIRLHOOD: rather than censor you, we'd just like to point out that you mistakenly think we wrote the Bratz Movie when we were really complaining about it just like you are. We support your viewpoint. You're right on if you think that Bratz is trying to make all girls alike and wipe out interesting differences of expression! I hope you find the right blog to put this message on!

[anonymous]

Chloe in the movie was the ugliest girl i ever saw she look like a horse that walked into a pigs arse!!! she was the most fucking ugliest girl that i ever saw!!! it was hard to tell if she was male or female!!! (NOT JOKIN)my guess, she is a dude!!!

[14 year old]

i as an older sister of six is disgusted at the fact that bratz of any kind are brainwashing young minds and are encouraging them to act like little sluts (not kidding) and making them act inapropriatly towards anyone and they expect the glamorous houses that they see on t.v its descusting.... they are innocent children. .... if you would like to comment on what i just wrote please do at leanewalsh@yahoo.ie

[DIXON FABIAN]

stereotyped stunning sexy teenagers....lets face it theyre all cute. Brains dont count for much these days..theyre offering what people want. check the mentality of the audience first

[DIXON FABIAN]

stereotyped stunning sexy teenagers....lets face it theyre all cute. Brains dont count for much these days..theyre offering what people want. check the mentality of the audience first

[sid281]

Well I like them?

[Jennifer]

One girl's athletic, one's a cheerleader, one's a rocker, and one's a geek. They do move a bit beyond gender stereotypes.

[Ellen Smith]

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with bratz dolls.. I used to play barbie dolls as a kid and it didn't have any negative influence on me, infact it develops an understanding of life, the world you live in and develops creativity as well..
I think it all depends on guidance and supervision.