A vast ocean of bright, pink promotional material led me to the cinema this weekend to experience the much-anticipated Barbie movie. But, let's cut to the chase: I walked away from the theater with a somewhat mixed bag of feelings.

First off, a piece of advice for the enthusiastic marketers out there: hold back a bit on the promotional content! Because there were so many clips online, I felt like I had already consumed a sizeable chunk of the film through the myriad of trailers and teasers. It took some of the mystery out of the experience, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was just watching the extended cut of an already familiar story.

The day I learned how to read price tags as a child was when I asked my mother to buy me a particular Barbie that I liked in Rustans. I can’t remember what the doll looked like anymore; but I do remember it was somewhere around P256 pesos. It was a lot of money to me as a child, but Mama always indulged my love for dolls.