Are Barbie and Ken Together? Relationship Status Explained

Barbie and Ken dolls have long been iconic amongst children of all ages. While Barbie existed to take on 200 jobs, Ken appeared in the subsequent years as Barbie’s partner and canon boyfriend.

Now, seeing as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie comes out on July 21st, starring Margot Robbie as the titular doll alongside co-star Ryan Gosling as ‘just’ Ken, then there’s an off chance you might be wondering about Barbie and Ken’s official relationship status in the movie.

ALSO READ: How Old Are Barbie and Ken in the Movie?

Are Barbie and Ken Dating, Married, or Siblings?

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Barbie and Ken have always been portrayed to be dating whether by the doll franchise, or in their animated movies.

See, Barbie was first created on March 9, 1959 as a solitary barbie teenage doll for kids of all ages. Then came Ken on March 11, 1961, whose main purpose was to become Barbie’s boyfriend in toy commercials.

Since then, they had been inseparable in the many commercials and promotions for dolls, they were a swimsuit couple, a disco couple, and eventually became bestsellers in the toy industry.

There had been many iterations of Barbie and Ken, including the Toy Story 3 movie where the couple had a more nuanced love story in mind. While the Barbie was introduced to be a more mature figure in addition to Andy’s sister’s toys, she was eventually met with the first Ken doll in the third film.

They were love at first sight, until Barbie found out about the cruel treatment Ken had been involved in the imprisonment of her toy friends.

Although Ken initially sided with Lotso the strawberry-scented bear and main villain of the story, he eventually admitted his love for Barbie and declared his love for her, that in spite of having ‘hundreds just like her’, Ken said, “Not to me, there’s not.”

Like many couples in Hollywood, yes, even this toy franchise, Barbie and Ken, despite being the favorite ‘plastic IT couple’, had their downsides to this relationship.

They had broken up on Valentine’s Day back in 2004, in which Ken was unprepared to ‘commit’ to Barbie who was excitedly trying out wedding gowns. Coincidentally, it was also the year Barbie ran for president.

In the 2015 YouTube vlogging Barbie era, Life in the Dreamhouse, Barbie and Ken would usually hang out over the support of her 5 million subscribers to her channel.

So far, the only movie that had Barbie and Ken canonically marry was in The Princess and The Pauper. Although it’s a bit of a stretch, given that the Barbie is named Annalise and the supposed Ken in the story is named Julian.

Now that we’ve covered grounds on their canon relationship, let’s delve into what filmmaker Greta Gerwig decided to do for the couple in the 2023 Barbie movie.

READ MORE: Does the Barbie Movie Have Post-Credits Scenes?

WARNING: This part of the article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the Barbie movie's ending, so READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Barbie and Ken’s Relationship Status in the 2023 Movie Explained

Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Barbie and Ken are technically dating in the 2023 movie.

It was explicitly told in the trailer itself, when Ken told Barbie, “I thought I might stay over tonight.” When Barbie asked why, Ken said, “‘Cause we’re girlfriend and boyfriend.”

Barbie and Ken have lived in Barbie World throughout their life, never having left it for the ‘real world', where they do discover the 'true' extent of their relationship.

There may be plenty of Barbies and Kens to choose from based on the movie trailer, it would seem that Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are portraying the iconic plastic duo.

According to Greta Gerwig herself, as written in the Barbie movie alongside co-writer Noah Baumbach, Barbie and Ken were made to oppose societal standards and even by far as to become the opposite of what the Bible said on Adam and Eve's story (via InsidetheMagic.net):

Barbie was invented first. Ken was invented after Barbie, to burnish Barbie's position in our eyes and in the world. That kind of creation myth is the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis.

For those who aren't aware of the story, there is a belief that Eve (women) was created by the ribs of Adam (men). In this case, Barbie was 'Adam', where Ken 'rooted from as Eve' via plastic.

But as for the authenticity of this relationship, well, Gosling's Ken does believe it is his sole purpose to serve Robbie's Barbie.

While Barbie is being speculated to be gay, Barbie also ends up contemplating about her life than just being the 'stereotypically perfect' Barbie we have known her to be.

By the end of the film, Ken tells her that all he wanted to do was be with her in her dreamhouse, "I always thought it was our dreamhouse." (Not just Barbie's dreamhouse), "It's Barbie and Ken, not just Ken."

But to Barbie, who admitted that her ending might not be that she's in love with Ken, believes "Maybe it's not Barbie and Ken. Maybe it's Barbie and it's Ken."

That they are two separate entities who could do whatever they want without each other, that Barbie wants to find herself beyond being with Ken in Barbie Land.

Barbie chose to transform into a human after holding a deep personal conversation with her 'mother', Ruth Handler, the creator behind the Barbie doll franchise.

Barbie chose to become human in the end, even after Ruth told her, "Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever, humans, not so much."

Barbie then said, "I want to be a part of the people that make the meaning, not the thing it's made. I don't want to be an imagining, I don't want to be an idea."

The official synopsis for the Barbie movie reads:

After being expelled from the utopian Barbie Land for being a less-than-perfect doll, Barbie and Ken go on a journey of self-discovery to the real world.