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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Alanna Tomazin

Come on Barbie, let's go party: Fans pull out the pink stops to celebrate movie

'Come on Barbie, let's go party' - you know the words.

After months of seeing snippets on social media, super fans will get to immerse in Barbie parties, draping in shades of pink to celebrate the official release of the Barbie movie as it hits cinemas across the country on Thursday, July 20.

After growing up playing with her barbies and falling in love with everything pink, Charlestown's Jessica Braiding said she was beyond excited to see the film.

"I've been excited to see the movie ever since it was first announced, I love Barbie and I love her aesthetic," she said.

Ms Braiding presents a pink aesthetic into her every day life, from wearing themed outfits to having a pink-inspired Instagram feed and lives among a number of blushing, household items.

"I just love the colour pink and I have a lot of pink items," she said.

To celebrate the release of the movie, Ms Braiding is gathering a group of 30 friends to dress up and watch a screening at Event Cinemas at Glendale on July 27.

"It will be a great social night out and the girls will dress up in pink dresses and the guys are planning on wearing suits with hot pink ties," she said.

Charlestown's Jessica Braiding is a Barbie super fan. Picture by Marina Neil

"I've even got glitter body spray to dazzle everyone in."

Newcastle's not-for-profit organisation Reflex Response Services, have booked a cinema out at Hoyts Charlestown for a "queer cinema" Barbie party and fundraiser on July 21.

"With a cinema booked just for us, where we can unleash our vibrance and bask in the glory of our fabulousness," founder Alicia Sneller said.

She said a number of the staff at Reflex were part of the LGBTIQA+ community and she wanted to provide a space to share some joy and raise funds for the trauma counselling services they bring to people in need.

"Together, we can nurture a community where no one falls through the cracks," she said.

"Grab your queer fam, adorn yourselves in shades of pink, and have a night to remember for a good cause."

Ms Sneller said Barbie was an icon for the queer community, playing an integral role in awakening for a lot of people.

"Barbie is a queer icon for women who later discover their sapphic tendencies - we tended to play out those complicated relationships with our barbies and not our kens," she said.

"For a lot of people they found her as a way to find those little seedlings of their queerness that they later get to connect to who they actually are - and she's camp as hell."

Ms Sneller said she was excited to watch Australia's Margot Robbie star as the live-action Barbie and heart-throb Ryan Gosling as Ken.

"I can't wait, it's an all-star cast and it seems like a movie that's full of joy and acceptance and not a complete detachment from reality through some of the questions Ken and Barbie ask.

"I think it's something that connects to all audiences," she said.

The movie explores relatable themes as Barbie suffers a crisis, leading her to question her place in the world.

Owner-operator at Heddon Greta Drive-In and Scotty's Cinemas, Scott Seddon was anticipating hundreds of ticket sales for the Barbie movie with an estimated $40 million in sales across Australia.

"We're really looking forward to it especially with the release of Oppenheimer on the same day - we're going to have two major sittings at the same time, it's pretty spectacular," he said.

The Raymond Terrace cinema hosted a preview of Barbie on Wednesday night selling out two cinemas, and threw their own pink party.

"We've got pink streamers decorating the foyer, pink cakes and pink floodlights and we're even experimenting with pink popcorn," Mr Seddon said.

"It's really good to see a burst of positivity," he said.

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