In a room full of pink outfits and some concerningly pink-colored popcorn, we got to enjoy Greta Gerwig’s long-awaiting movie Barbie. Starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and a long list of a-list actors and celebrities, Barbie takes us on a journey to nostalgia but also on self-discovery to question our role in the Real World.
Unlike what many would think of this movie being hyped for marketing issues, let me tell you that all those reviews and excitement are very well deserved and organic. Yes, while creating a unique hot-pink plastic world we all would love to be immersed in, Barbie does poke some sharp comments on patriarchy, the corporate world, and even mainstream bland feminism.
Using satire, a great soundtrack, and an outstanding set design, Barbie isn’t afraid of subverting the very core of the doll’s label to question the gender roles both the brand and society have imposed on girls and women. The very brand’s slogan “You Can Be Anything” is used very wisely to criticize standards the brand once set on girls yet keep inspiring them today as grownups.
The movie has been deemed as anti-man by many for this strong, let’s call it, feminist message. However, that analysis is simply reductionist. Yes, the movie mocks men, the patriarchy, and most standards society keeps rewarding, but the message goes beyond that.
The very obvious jokes and scenarios are actually part of the satire and criticism of how female roles have historically been reduced in society’s eyes. This, together with how the male gaze is purposely reverted on them (especially how Kens are portrayed as accessories and even objects of desire at some point) is naturally making some of the viewers uncomfortable. But that’s the whole point of it!
Perhaps, the best adjective to describe this movie is “brave.” As mentioned, Gerwig’s film isn’t afraid of making fun of the brand itself, and Mattel itself wasn’t afraid of allowing the filmmaker to expose them as well. The movie accuses the doll of setting back the women’s movement for decades, it even calls it a “fascist” at some point. Barbie mocks the superficial messages of women empowerment the brand has had over the years but ends up using the doll’s flaws to give a deep message about one’s identity.
Without spoilers, we can only say that all in all, Barbie is a very intelligent movie that might seem simple at first glimpse, or too obviously woke, but that within that obviousness, it ends up exposing painful scars society has marked in our souls. Plus, Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie as Ken and Barbie excel on their parts, but for me, who takes the entire movie, is Allan, Ken’s Buddy, played by Michael Cera.
