His mattress is on the ground. There’s no hand soap in the bathroom. The Grindr notification goes off while you’re at dinner.
And the worst ick of all: he stares you in the eyes while playing “Push” by Matchbox Twenty on the acoustic guitar.
If there’s one thing Greta Gerwig’s Barbie showed us, it’s that whether you’re a Barbie or an Allan, we’ve all witnessed our fair share of dating “icks” from a Ken.
[me, in 15 years]
— jordan (@JordanUhl) April 10, 2017
“ok, son. idc if you’re gay, straight, into sports, w/e.
just don’t be the guy who plays his acoustic guitar at parties”
In case you haven’t seen this summer’s supreme camp film (which crossed the $1 billion mark and is about to become the highest-grossing flick of the year), we’ll catch you up.
After taking over Barbieworld with the help of the patriarchy, all Ken (Ryan Gosling) wants Barbie (Margot Robbie) to do is sit and listen to him play “Push”… over and over again.
TBH, his over-the-top cover isn’t that bad either.
Listen.
While the majority of Barbie resonated with the gays and girlies, the concept of being subjected to a nonconsensual guitar performance especially hit home. (Thank goodness the Barbies never had to listen to any “Come to My Window” covers or worse: anything Lana Del Rey.)
It didn’t take long for both heteros and LGBTQ+ users to take over #BarbieTok with videos sharing the icks they’ve seen from Kens — and copping up to the moments they’ve been Kens themselves. (What do you mean a guy doesn’t want to hear synopses of all the gay podcasts we’ve listened to?!)
According to Urban Dictionary, an “ick” is defined as “something someone does that is an instant turn-off for you, making you instantly hate the idea of being with them romantically.”
And as our dear Queerty readers know, it doesn’t take many dates with LGBTQuties to realize the gay community is FULL of them. From lesbian faux pas to taking over your TV for YouTube music videos, these creators had us LOL-ing (and questioning our own choices).
“PUSH” play on some of our fave TikToks about Barbie and dating icks in the LGBTQ+ community below.
@mattissinglebtw Then we made out and he was like “i feel something so special with you” 🤔
♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@horsethey I havent been able to listen to boulevard of broken dreams for years
♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@jono_thon We all have our own version of this 😂 #gay #gaydating #barbie #imjustken ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@taesungtao yall talking abt girl in red but this was IT in 2016 #trans #lesbian #lgbt #queer ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@adamtots ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@heyyallkrishere I dont play guitar, I am getting sung to. #lesbian #masc4masc ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@disc0.titz #barbiemovie #barbiegirl #bi #lgbtq #mojodojocasadreamhouse ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@phillypublicist He’s still not speaking to me 😭 #meg2 #meg2thetrench #themeg2 #shark #sharkweek #sharkattack #myken #dorneypark #warnerbros ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@cryingtoclairo if i had a nickel for everytime this happened id have two nickels which isnt alot but its weird that it happened twice right #wlw #lesbian ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@sue.barue ..,,,, i could do so many of these #push #playguitaratyou #barbie ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@5hmoopie im never forgiving myself for this @Izzy you shouldnt either #iamkenough ♬ Push – Ryan Gosling
@mr.bobbykelly u can do it ken, we’ve all been there! #barbiemovie #barbie #ken #gay #lgbt #comingout ♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Billie Eilish
bachy
Don’t yuck my yum!
Don’t ick my trick!
Don’t eww my boo!
Don’t blech my redneck!
Don’t spit on my deviation!
Brian
Two of these ring true to me:
– When the driver picks you up, drives aimlessly around town, and belts showtunes.
– The “instead of a movie, let’s just watch YouTube” playlist.
Neither were awful, in the end. But each experience threw me for a loop. (“People do this??,” I’m constantly asking myself.)
Louis
Brian, you’ve been on a date with James Corden?!