The Simpsons: 10 Episodes Probably Made Out Of Spite

In the early 1990s, Mattel released a new Barbie doll called the TeenTalk Barbie which would read 270 different phrases. They were the kind of thing you’d expect if you’ve seen this episode that parodies the doll: low-hanging fruit of feminine tropes about how great shopping is and, most controversially, how hard math class was. Due to public reaction, Mattel said that future revisions of this doll would not say this particular phrase.

Always reacting to the real world, The Simpsons used their already existing doll Malibu Stacey in exactly the same way. Giving her a voice that said only the most vapid things shatters Lisa’s illusions that she had of the character. This prompts her to make a stand and make her own talking doll that empowers women.

Largely mocking the toy industry and Mattel, Bill Oakley, one of the writers for the episode, even based Lisa’s story on some of his own experiences. He went to several Barbie collecting conventions and met super-fans due to his wife’s own interest in the toyline.

Despite Lisa’s issues with the doll being founded in logic, the fact that the “less intelligent” Malibu Stacy outsells hers is a Simpsons-style cynical look on how having fun often wins over the importance of making a statement.