Barbie was one of the most anticipated movies of 2023. Not only does the name Barbie garner immediate attention but the star-studded cast and huge innovative marketing campaign made it unavoidable. But did Greta Gerwig reach such high expectations?
Barbie was born in 1959 to Ruth Handler. Named after her daughter, Barbie aimed to give little girls the chance to play adult and explore the endless possibilities that women can become rather than playing mother with dolls. However, where there is Barbie, here are problems with body image, consumerism and female representation. The most glaring issue that has always faced Barbie is that she is tall, slim, blond with a large bust. Barbie’s body is so unattainable that even she could not have it if she was alive as her proportions mean she wouldn’t be able to walk. Despite this Barbie has become a household name and a staple of many people’s childhood. Gerwig was tasked with handling these issues in a sensitive and self-aware manner.
I could rave about numerous aspects of this movie. Like any remarkable film, it effortlessly guides emotions from laughter to tears and back within a single scene. The meticulously hand-painted set, the inclusively cast ensemble, and the insightful commentary on womanhood all deserve admiration. Nonetheless, the unsettling reminder that Barbie is a commercial commodity remains pervasive. Gerwig undeniably crafted a powerful cinematic experience, navigating the challenges of collaborating with a major toy company and studio.
The first scene parodies Stanely Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey, the little girls smash their dolls when Barbie arrives. This is a lovely representation of how the creation of Barbie was necessary for human evolution, as it represents society's need for girls to be empowered and women enabled to transcend traditional roles as sole mothers. Gerwing aligns Barbie, a girly, pink film with classic cinema seemingly saying that feminine cinema deserves to be on the big screen and in the discourse. Unapologetically feminine movies have often been treated as unserious and are rarely blockbusters. The first girly blockbuster in my memory was Mamma Mia directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Mamma Mia was never expected to be a smash hit but clearly women want films about women not just about cars, guns and war. Gerwig continues that tradition by nodding to Kubrick and saying - look here! I can make trailblazing, meaningful and girly cinema! Later there is a mansplaining montage where Gerwig nods to the universal experience of men revelling in over-explaining many things such as the Godfather. The playful critique of masculinity and the self-prescribed cinephiles make the first scene even more funny and weighted. A woman can understand classic cinema after all!
Barbie follows Margo Robbie as “stereotypical Barbie '' living out her perfect day. She wakes up in her perfect pink dream house and spends the day socialising with all the other perfect Barbies, Kens and Allen (of course!). Stereotypical Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, pines over her but she easily pushes him to the side to spend the night with her girlfriends. Everything is pink, there’s fun music and a perfectly choreographed dance. Yet, an unsettling undercurrent emerges. Barbie grapples with a growing sense of foreboding, reflected in her appearance's transformation.
After a trip to seek advice from “weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), Barbie is told to prevent a fate worse than death (cellulite!) she must travel to our world and fix whoever is plaguing her Barbie with bad vibes. But unfortunately, the real world is not all fun and games. Barbie is leered at and objectified while Ken is ecstatic to discover patriarchy. Barbie’s lack of sexist conditioning is clear as she sees a poster of bikini-clad models and says “Look it’s the Supreme Court!” and when she marvels at an old woman and tells her how beautiful she is. Gerwig crafts comic yet touching moments allowing us to reflect on our own beliefs about femininity.
A real strength of the script was that it was unapologetically girly and childlike without underestimating the intelligence of the audience and the seriousness of the themes. Gerwig shows this when Barbie is being hit on and she unabashedly explains “I don’t have a vagina” which evokes a laugh from the audience but it also nods to the important role of language. If the Barbies and Kens parallel real-world Barbies and Kens that means they will have learnt those words from children. Mainly because children do (and should) know anatomically correct language. This has been seen on social media with parents teaching their children the correct words to help protect them from sexual abuse and manipulation. In essence, knowledge is power!
While Barbie is being hunted down by the suits at Mattel, Ken takes patriarchal ideology back to Barbie Land and the Kens take power. America Ferrera and her unenthusiastic Barbie cynical teenage daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) help Barbie escape and they head to Barbie land to put things right. Barbie, like Ladybird and Little Women, is a testament to Gerwig’s mastery of the coming-of-age genre. Barbie starts the movie with childlike bliss and her journey through the human world mirrors the growing pains of getting older. By the end of the film, she is an adult and is aware of the troubles of the world but still chooses to feel it all.
Gerwig is tasked with handling the controversy paired with Barbie and Sasha shutting down Barbie and explaining the terrible things Barbie represents for women’s body standards is a self-aware nod at the audience. However, this raises the question: Is Barbie outdated? And if so, is nostalgia being used to re-market Barbie to parents who played with Barbies as children but think it doesn’t give a good message to their children? It would make sense as even the “heartthrob” Ryan Gosling is 42, unfamiliar to young viewers but all of us who grew up on The Notebook instantly recognise him.
Even through Gerwig's skill, it’s hard to forget we are being marketed as a mass-produced doll which promotes consumerism. Does Barbie perform activism to make sales and revive Mattel's most famous lady?
For me, Barbie was everything it could have been and more. Gerwig was never going to escape the tangle of controversy that comes with Barbie. However, her creative flair, thoughtful ideas and brilliant comic timing permeate from start to finish.
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