I didn’t realize going in just how much of a feminist paean Barbie was going to be. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised: This is a movie aimed at girls, after all. And while it’s a celebration of the Barbie doll, it’s also a critique of the society that made such an unrealistic, idealized version of the female form so popular.
This, of course, has drummed up controversy. The movie has been called “woke” by more than a few YouTubers, Fox News hosts and various other cultural critics who wash their mouths out with soap after uttering the word ‘feminist.’ I think the reactions are overblown, even if the movie certainly doesn’t shy away from its girl power themes.
For one thing, it’s very funny. Gosling is delightful. There’s a beach-off joke that is hilarious enough on its own, but pays off even more later during an epic beach-off battle that transforms, dazzlingly, into a laugh-out-loud dance-off.
I love Robbie and she’s perfect as Stereotypical Barbie, but Gosling steals every scene.
The ribald humor is just clever enough to please older viewers while flying over younger viewers’ heads. It’s a bit of The LEGO Movie and a bit of Across The Spider-Verse and there’s just enough fourth-wall-breaking and enough subtle sex jokes to feel even, at times, a bit Shakespearean.
While this is definitely a “down with the patriarchy” movie it’s just smart enough to not let the matriarchy off the hook, either. In Barbieland, women are in total control. They control the Supreme Court, the Pink House, have all the best stuff. Every night is girls’ night. The men—aka the Kens (and Alan—played by an adorable Michael Cera who gets an epic fight scene of his own) are second-class citizens. When Barbie is asked where the Kens sleep, she isn’t even sure. All the houses belong to women.
When Ken and Barbie head to the real world and Ken sees how much better men are treated there, he brings the patriarchy back to Barbieland with him, liberating the men with his books and ideas (even if those books and ideas are all centered around horses, cars and “brewksi beers”—oh, and Ryan Gosling’s take on the Matchbox Twenty song “Push” which is both hilarious and quite good!)
Gosling, you national treasure.
One thing I think that really resonated with me—and I am often a critic of “overly woke” politics inserted unnecessarily into various movies and shows—is that this really felt like an authentic, affectionate critique of the way men and women treat one another. Ken’s love of the patriarchy is liberating! He may use it to do bad things, but his motives aren’t horrible, and we empathize with him throughout. Perhaps those critics of feminism might be well-served by a reminder that calls for equality are not mean-spirited, but rather a genuine attempt to make the world better for those who, historically, have been given a raw deal.
Besides, all the silly ways that men are poked fun of during the film are things that director Greta Gerwig admits she loves, too.
“I will say there were many notes, many notes sessions on all fronts, but the thing is that anything that have in a movie, any reference — and we reference The Godfather, Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews Band — I love all of it,” Gerwig told IndieWire. “I never put anything in a movie I don’t love, and that’s true. I don’t really have use for things that I don’t have affection for, within a movie. That was the core of it.”
We are all hyper-sensitive to everything these days. But art is often a vehicle by which we advance social causes, new ideas, promote what we believe in and the values we hold dear, and while politically driven art can misfire rather spectacularly, it can also work in the right context. Barbie does it with a wink and a smile, and I left the theater happy.
It’s not perfect, of course. I wish they’d placed a bit more emphasis on how the poor treatment of the Kens leads directly to the reactionary Ken revolution and establishment of Kendom since the movie never shies away from spelling out its themes. But overall, I enjoyed it for what it was. If anything—and I realize that I’m a broken record here—it could have been 15 to 20 minutes shorter. (Yes, I said something similar about Oppenheimer and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 and countless other films! Broken record, yes, but it’s not my fault Hollywood values quantity over quality!)
I also wonder if the film—outside of its slapstick comedy and goofy musical bits—will fly a little high over younger kids’ heads. It is, after all, a film about dolls. So many of its best jokes will simply never land with the Barbie consumer. The opening is a parody of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I bet not one kid—hell, maybe not one person under 25—got that joke in the showing I was at today. And I suppose that’s fine, too. At least Barbie did its own thing, unapologetically, and did it well.
What did you think of Barbie? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.
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