By 
Spoilers for Barbie below.
A big plot line in the Barbie movie, one that was teased in Ryan Gosling’s impassioned performance of the summer bop “I’m Just Ken,” is Barbie’s lack of romantic interest in Ken. Minor spoiler alert: turns out, Robbie’s Barbie never actually kisses Gosling on the lips in the film.
Robbie was bummed out by the lack of opportunity to lock lips with one of Hollywood’s biggest heartthrobs too, she told People.
When asked whether she was happy she didn’t have to fully kiss Gosling, Robbie replied, “Uh no!” with a laugh. “That didn’t feel like a win for me.” She added that her friends were particularly amazed the choice was made, since Robbie was a producer on Barbie.
“All of my girlfriends were like, ‘Well you did a whole movie with him and you don’t kiss? What’s wrong with you? I thought you were kind of in charge on this one!’” she said. “I was like, ‘I know, I can’t check that one off [my list].’”
Gosling was fine with how Barbie and Ken’s relationship was portrayed, he told the outlet in the same interview with Robbie. “It was so funny trying to figure out what their idea of kissing might be,” he recalled. “I’m so glad all of that got cut out.”
Before the film’s release, Robbie spoke to Vogue about how she approached Barbie as if she didn’t feel sexual desire. “I’m like, Okay, she’s a doll. She’s a plastic doll. She doesn’t have organs. If she doesn’t have organs, she doesn’t have reproductive organs. If she doesn’t have reproductive organs, would she even feel sexual desire? No, I don’t think she could,” Robbie explained. “[So yes,] she is sexualized. But she should never be sexy. People can project sex onto her. Yes, she can wear a short skirt, but because it’s fun and pink. Not because she wanted you to see her butt.”
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
