Brands increasingly dominate consumption, however much we may claim to prefer the local, the artisanal, the authentic and unprocessed. Cinema has been a little slow in servicing this development, having been stuck on old-fashioned biographies, but recently there’s been quite a wave of origins stories for triumphant businesses.
The Social Network, about Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, was a pioneer in 2010. Lately, there’s been Air (the Air Jordan shoe), BlackBerry (the defunct smartphone), Flamin’ Hot (spicy Cheetos), Tetris (the video game). There will be plenty more loyal effusions. The success of Barbie, a euphoric brand movie that didn’t bother with a story, guarantees that.
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