As world watches them grow, Olsens keep a strong fan base

Empire Olsen is projected to do $1.2 billion in sales this year.
By LIBBY COPELAND
WASHINGTON POST
They are like collectors' dolls, big-eyed and pocket-size.
They are two halves of one whole, for that yin-yang split in all of us.
Ashley Olsen is our girlie-girl; Mary-Kate is our tomboy. Ashley is our blond overachiever; Mary-Kate is our tousled bohemian. They contain the innocence of children and the sultriness of sexpots; they are both intimidating and familiar, like a relative who becomes famous.
They are like real people, only smaller and richer; they strap on Jimmy Choos and jaunt off to Rome, carrying our fantasies of glamour with them. They are the Olsen twins, two for the price of one.
Despite their fabulous wealth and their 18th birthday June 13, there is still about the Olsens a faint aura of kitsch. Perhaps it is because they sell their fashion lines at Wal-Mart, or because they remind us of the late '80s when we first encountered them, sharing the role of toddler Michelle Tanner on the wholesome sitcom "Full House." Back then they had a vaguely simian look, and their hair was fastened in fountains atop their heads. They had a stable of catch phrases like "You got it, dude!," which they delivered with a sort of robotic charm.
Striking gold
Over the years, the Olsens did not crash and burn as we expected them to. They did not enter rehab or get married in Las Vegas or star in a series of god-awful movies intended to get their careers back on track. Instead, they starred in a series of god-awful movies that bypassed theaters and went straight to video, beloved by young girls everywhere. These girls then went out and bought the Olsens' clothing and makeup and stationery and backpacks, making the twins rich. They named their brand mary-kateandashley -- one word, say it fast, the way little girls do -- and this year the Empire Olsen is projected to do $1.2 billion in sales.
Because we first encountered them in diapers and watched them grow up on-screen, Mary-Kate and Ashley are, in a sense, America's kids. No doll maker could have designed a better mold for the nation's maternal instincts. Even now, their huge blue-green eyes, enhanced by sooty makeup, recall those big-eyed waif paintings of the 1960s.
Their hair -- layered and styled into starlet fullness -- seems too big for them. They are both less than 5 feet 2 inches tall. This smallness helps reinforce the notion that two little Olsens make one big Olsen, which is, after all, the basis of their career.
Who is Mary-Kate without Ashley? Who is Ashley without Mary-Kate?
And who are we without them, making unity from the division in our souls?
For the little girls who followed them, the Olsens were the original reality television. Their lives were chronicled in as many as six movies a year, with such titles as "You're Invited to Mary-Kate & amp; Ashley's Sleepover Party" and "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & amp; Ashley: The Case of the Fun House Mystery."
Later the twins ceased to play themselves and instead played thinly veiled versions of themselves. Usually the theme was the same: sisters beating a tough challenge through smarts and spunk. Often this required outfoxing parents and, as the girls got older, necessitated the involvement of cute boys.
Stereotypical characters
When the Olsens' roles were not indistinguishable in their perkiness, they fell into stereotypes. Ashley was feminine and a perfectionist; Mary-Kate played a jock or a bohemian. In the theatrical release of "New York Minute," which came out last month amid halfhearted reviews, Ashley plays an ambitious young Republican, while Mary-Kate plays a rock drummer with a devil-may-care attitude. In real life, they supposedly embody those distinctions. "Know your Olsens," says the caption beneath a photo of the girls in a recent issue of People, comparing "the funkier MK" with "the more classic Ashley."
The Olsens' brand is predicated on this sense of intimacy, this notion that what you see on-screen is what you'd get if they really did invite you to their sleepover party. Marketers say little girls see the Olsens as friends or big sisters. When the Olsens fly off to have adventures in Paris, Rome or the Bahamas, as they have in their various direct-to-video movies, girls see themselves, only with money and a sophisticated lifestyle.
There are plenty of products to foster the bond. There are Mary-Kate and Ashley dolls in caps and gowns to mark the twins' high school graduation this year. As a Mattel spokeswoman puts it, "We allow girls to participate in Mary-Kate and Ashley's life through our product line." There are twin perfumes: mary-kateandashley one ("jasmine spice") and mary-kateandashley two ("juicy peach freesia"). There are books about Mary-Kate and Ashley going to the beach, and to summer camp, and about their summer after graduation. "New York Minute" is set in Manhattan, where the girls will start college at NYU. It's as if each real-life event has its well-packaged counterpart, on sale now at Wal-Mart for $4.49.
Which is arguably why the Olsens are so popular. If they are glamorous, they are also accessible. If they are rich, they are also humble. If they arrive beautiful on the red carpet, don't forget we saw them before they were potty trained. And frankly, they were kind of funny-looking.