Bratz: The Movie is Officially a Feature-Length Commercial

Sure, it is obvious that Bratz: The Movie is a big-screen commercial for the popular line of dolls. But now the obvious is also the official -- sort of. The head of Bratz-makers MGA Entertainment hasn't exactly come out and admitted that the forthcoming movie is a blatant attempt to sell more dolls, but he pretty much insinuated it. The CEO, Isaac Larian, told Reuters that the movie " should clarify widespread misconceptions about his toy line" and "will cast [the dolls] in a 'wholesome' light through themes like friendship and education." The quotes belong to Reuters, paraphrasing Larian, but nonetheless they make it sound like the movie was made specifically for those purposes. The context of Reuters' article places Larian's statements, and therefore also the movie, as a response to criticisms that the Bratz dolls are inappropriately sexualized and too provocative for their demographic. In the only verbatim quote, Larian counter-criticizes his competitors as being afraid to promote diversity, which is another favorable trait the Bratz dolls apparently have.

Bratz: The Movie isn't the first feature-length commercial, and it does actually seem like a wholesome movie for the kids, so I guess it shouldn't matter if the product peddling is so obvious, intentional or outright declared. I have to wonder, though, what Robosapien, the next toy adaptation from producer Avi Arad, will be clearing up for us -- that hacking is bad, perhaps? Too bad Transformers, the most popular and most successful feature-length toy ad (is it just me, or were the original Transformers toys much cooler than the ones of today?), has already told us that hackers are good guys. Anyway, Bratz: The Movie has to be good because Oscar-winner Jon Voight (also seen in Transformers) is in it. Lionsgate will release the wholesome commercial to the delight of preteen moviegoers on August 3.