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As a kid, I was never allowed to have Barbies because my mom thought that they set unrealistic beauty standards. She didn’t want me to feel bad for not being as skinny or perfect as a Barbie. As a result, I never felt a real connection to Barbie, or any of the Barbie movies growing up. Since I never had that personal connection, I viewed them as cheesy and shallow.
But, despite my lack of knowledge of the previous Barbie movies and “Barbie’s Dream House,” I had been looking forward to this movie since the announcement of its release, and it did not disappoint.
That’s one of the many amazing things about the movie: Director Greta Gerwig was able to turn a movie about dolls into a movie for everyone. A movie for all ages, a movie for the ages.
She was able to completely transform the stereotypical perception of Barbie into something much deeper, a symbol of female empowerment.
The film is set in Barbie Land, a fictional world where all Barbies live. In this alternate reality, full of different Barbies and Kens, Barbies run everything. All of the doctors, the president, the Supreme Court Justices, even the construction workers are women. However, the Kens don’t seem to have any occupations or dream houses like the Barbies.
The movie focuses on stereotypical Barbie played by Margot Robbie who lives the perfect day every day in Barbie Land, until one day everything changes when she starts having irrepressible thoughts of death. This worrisome “defect” sends Barbie on an adventure to the real world with the mission of returning her life to normal.
While on her journey, Barbie has a wake up call. Much to her surprise she realizes that the real world is nothing like Barbie Land, but the exact opposite. She finds a world where men hold all of the power and she is constantly talked down to.
Robbie does an amazing job of bringing a literal doll to life. It’s incredible how much emotion she was able to invoke in audiences as a doll coming to life in the real world. Although the real world is far from perfect, Barbie sees the beauty in everyday humanity and finds herself unable to fit back into the fake reality of Barbie Land. In the end, she chooses to accept all of the challenges and hardships of being a human and return to the real world permanently.
Although Robbie gives a dazzling performance, she isn’t the only one worth mentioning. Her co-star Ryan Gosling (Ken) shined just as bright, but for different reasons. His job wasn’t to get the audience to empathize with him, but to depict the hypocrisy of the patriarchy, which he does extremely well.
Not only was this movie emotional and relevant, but it was funny as well. While tears were shed, laughter was much more common. There were many moments when the entire theater was giggling, usually because of Ken.
It’s no wonder that the Barbie movie broke so many records, such as having the best US opening ever for a film directed by a woman. Therefore, proving that it actually achieved its goal of empowering women. It’s a movie by women, about women, for women.
I think the Barbie movie is an important movie for everyone to see. It clearly depicts the everyday challenges that women face in their day to day lives in a funny, ironic way. If you haven’t already, you should head to the theater as soon as possible to see it.
