Now that she’s premiered… I loved it! The detail and thought put into this film is immaculate. They couldn’t have curated a more perfect set for Barbieland! I squealed at every single component in this movie that looked like it was plucked from my Barbie play sets. The hair brush Margot Robbie used in the film looked just like the one you got with every new Barbie… I was internally screaming. Can we also talk about Barbie’s wardrobe? Every outfit she wore in the film was iconic.
Other details of the film that sent me over the edge were the discontinued Barbies. From Allan to pregnant Midge, to the controversial Video Girl Barbie and Sugar Daddy Ken, I appreciated the humor in some of Mattel’s less than stellar introductions to the Barbie line. I also love that they created a character called Weird Barbie in homage to all the Barbies that were destroyed by their sadistic little Sids with markers and scissors.
The entire cast of this movie was exceptional. Margot Robbie was as perfect as Barbie as I knew she would be. As for Ryan Gosling… I want to formally apologize to him for thinking he wasn’t “kenough” to be Ken. I was part of the crowd that thought the casting of Ken was a mishap, but I didn’t dare say anything because I knew, ultimately, I was going to be wrong. And oh boy, did Gosling prove me wrong! He was beyond hilarious throughout the entire film. There was never a dull moment. I’ve listened to “I’m Just Ken” a million times already.
I also appreciated Michael Cera as Allan. Allan is the residential “beta” male that helps defend the Barbies from the Kens, who are planning a full on insurrection of Barbieland. While awkward and confused about his place in Barbieland, he becomes a helpful ally as the story progresses. The scene of Allan trying to escape the overthrown pink paradise, professing how fed up he was of the Kens was golden. I nearly lost it when he channeled his inner Scott Pilgrim, and began to fight them off. I wasn’t supposed to come out of this movie with the male characters being my favorite… LOL.
Barbie just might be the most iconic movie since Mean Girls. I didn’t think anything could touch that masterpiece, but here we are. The movie kept a great pace throughout the film. I would have sat there for another hour, that’s how enthralled I was with the movie. It was both fun and witty how the film was able to comically explore social commentary on our society’s gender roles and stereotypes. Barbie was very much a pink-filled satire on feminism and misogyny.
Ken’s storyline was very unexpected, and totally threw me for a loop. It was also quite amusing, but thought provoking at the same time. Ken was always just an accessory to Barbie. She never needed Ken. Barbie was the epitome of an independent woman, and she quite literally didn’t need no man. She was never coerced into the traditional housewife role that was assigned to women. Motherhood simply was not her path in life. Barbie was free to be who she wanted to be, and took on every occupation under the sun just because she could. Ken always seemed quite useless in my eyes, even when I grew up in a closed-minded society that saw gender in a very binary way.
What I found interesting is that Ken’s role in Barbieland is a metaphor for how women are treated in the real world. Our existence was very much tied to being the subservient housewife who cooked, cleaned and cared for the children day in and out. Women had no identity outside of being a wife to their husbands. Similarly, Ken doesn’t feel like he’s enough in Barbieland because he has no idea who he is without Barbie. If Ken’s not meant to be with her, then what is his purpose in life?
It’s quite uncomfortable for some men to see Ken be emasculated in this way, but how do you think women have felt for so long? It’s not great when your whole existence is tied to your romantic partner, contorted to fit the male gaze and being who THEY want us to be. Even in today’s society, women are constantly being called selfish for not adhering to the world men programed for us. You’re self-center and unfilled in life if you choose to pursue a career and not motherhood. And so, I found it very clever to portray the roles reversed, having the Kens of Barbieland endure what women have had to struggle with for decades in the real world.
The overthrow of Barbieland also addresses how the patriarchy hurts men just as much as women. Men are taught that their self-worth is reflected in the women they date, the money and cars they acquire, and the type of masculinity they exude. Our society just allows men to fall into a shallow existence, not being able to truly express themselves or their emotions without fear of being seen as weak. Men’s insecurities and vacillation are the direct result of the patriarchy. They’re always being criticized for even remotely participating in anything that doesn’t emanate alpha masculinity and deemed too feminine. Why limit men when they can be so much more than this ridiculously stifled portrayal of a man?
Another theme explored in the film is the contradiction of Barbie representing feminism, while also contributing to the unrealistic body ideals placed on women. Should Barbie be praised or should she be villianized? Gloria represented a generation of women who saw Barbie as a role model. She was empowering to us, teaching us we could truly be anything while still embracing our femininity by living in our own pink utopia.
The opening scene truly resonated with me because I always found it so sexist that little girls were made to play with baby dolls. Barbie was always by favorite doll because she represented who I could be when I grew up. Now that I’m in my mid-thirties, I know motherhood and taking care of babies was never my calling. On the other hand, Sasha represents the younger generation of women who believe Barbie is nothing more than a Blonde bimbo who promotes an impossible body ideal in a world where girls are struggling with their body image every single day.
I know I’m bias, but I never agreed with the demonization of Barbie that started to occur when I became an adult. I don’t believe Barbie contributed to my body insecurities as much as society has as a whole. If anything, Barbie is a victim herself in regards to the way women are viewed in society. As a doll, she’s been overtly sexualized in the same matter women have. So it bears the question: Is Barbie really responsible for these impossible beauty standards?
Time and time again society has said a women’s self-worth only lies within her outer appearance. The truth is told through decades of movies, tv shows, magazines and music that primarily portrayed the ideal body type of a woman, which has been ever changing as the decades have gone by. Body types have become trends, going in and out of season as disturbing as that may sound.
There are so many reasons why you don’t look like a celebrity. From the way they pose, the lighting, the photoshopped images to the surgeries and cosmetic procedures they pretend to not have. I’ve given up trying to look like the fantasies that I see on Instagram. I no longer care about my cellulite. I don’t care about having a flat stomach anymore. My stomach is not even supposed to be flat because I’m a woman with a uterus! I’m tired of living these crazy expectations, and so I’ve started to learn to accept my body for the way that it is.
It was so real when Barbie starts to exclaim that she feels ugly and less than extraordinary. Stepping into the real world as a woman, how could you not feel this way? I think the Barbie hate is pretentious. Society has made women all about their bodies and this is why we always feel bad about them. We’ll never be “enough.” Barbie is a product of our own making. There’s a lack of accountability within our world for the sexualization and scrutiny women’s bodies go through. Of course you’d call Barbie a bimbo when you don’t think women are worth more than their bodies.
It isn’t just our bodies that are constantly under the microscope, it’s literally ANYTHING we do. When America Ferrera went into her epic monologue about the impossible standards placed on women, I wasn’t even sad. I just felt seen. Deep in my core being. I was astonished at how long the list actually was. There was nothing more true than the words she spoke. “It is literally impossible to be a woman.” I really think Barbie was attempting to point out that we should be looking within ourselves instead of blaming a doll for how poorly women have been treated since the dawn of time.
I love how Barbie was able to conjure up so many emotions during the film. It was simply perfection. I’m so happy this film blew up into such a phenomenon. It brings my little cold heart such joy watching everyone live their hot Barbie summers. The way everyone dressed up in pink to see Barbie in theaters is magical. Girl, I’ve never seen so much pink in my life and I LOVE IT. “Go woke, go broke” but Barbie made $1 billion at the box office baby! I can’t wait to see it again!
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