"Growing up, my dolls were doctors and on secret missions. I had Barbie Goes Rambo"
About this Quote
The specifics matter: “doctors” and “secret missions” are jobs with authority, competence, stakes. Saldana isn’t just saying she played “like a boy.” She’s pointing to how easily kids remix whatever they’re given into something larger, and how revealing it is when that remix feels transgressive. A doll is supposed to rehearse beauty, romance, domesticity; Saldana used it to rehearse agency, danger, purpose.
Context makes the line feel like a miniature origin story. Saldana’s career has become a case study in blockbuster femininity that isn’t ornamental: action-heavy franchises, tactical competence, characters who move the plot instead of decorating it. That childhood “Barbie” doesn’t prefigure her as a warrior so much as it frames her as someone practiced at smuggling power into spaces designed to look pretty. Underneath the punchline is a cultural memory: girls learned early to hijack the toys, the roles, the expectations. Saldana is just naming the jailbreak with a grin.
Quote Details
| Topic | Nostalgia |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Saldana, Zoe. (2026, January 16). Growing up, my dolls were doctors and on secret missions. I had Barbie Goes Rambo. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/growing-up-my-dolls-were-doctors-and-on-secret-134314/
Chicago Style
Saldana, Zoe. "Growing up, my dolls were doctors and on secret missions. I had Barbie Goes Rambo." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/growing-up-my-dolls-were-doctors-and-on-secret-134314/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Growing up, my dolls were doctors and on secret missions. I had Barbie Goes Rambo." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/growing-up-my-dolls-were-doctors-and-on-secret-134314/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.






