It would be remiss of me not to begin by stating how much Barbie dolls have been a part of my life. I had only two Barbie dolls growing up – they were considered expensive so I really treasured the ones I had – and the best Christmas gift I ever received was Barbie’s dream house. Playing with my dolls helped me envision what I wanted out of my life: a Ken, a fantastic wardrobe, and a house to call my own. But playtime didn’t prepare me for the reality of being a woman, and what that entailed in modern society.
Director Greta Gerwig, with her witty, satirical script (co-written with Noah Baumbach) and smart direction, is able to use the entire concept of Barbie to flesh out the idea of gender roles, and the dissatisfaction these roles have heaped upon us.
Margot Robbie plays stereotypical Barbie. She’s blonde, blue-eyed, and her life is glossy perfection. Everyday in Barbieland is a fun time, until she starts having thoughts about death. Worried that she’s malfunctioning, a visit to weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) informs her that she needs to go to the real world and find the person who’s playing with her in order to solve the problem. Along for the ride is Ken (Ryan Gosling), who’s desperate for Barbie’s attention and is hoping that this trip would make her see him in the way he desires.
Robbie’s performance is fantastic. She’s able to go all out on the comedy as well deliver on the more emotional parts of the script. She’s a magnetic screen presence and holds her own as the lead, which is sometimes difficult to do in an ensemble like this. As much as this movie is about Barbie, I have to say that Gosling steals the show. He has great comedic timing, and commits to every single bit the movie requires of him, be it his enthusiasm about beaching, or his jealousy over the other Ken (Simu Liu) who’s vying for Barbie’s attention. He conveys so well the frustration and angst Ken feels about being sidelined in Barbie’s life. He was created to be the shadow to her sun, and while he accepts that, he also wants to be more than just her shadow. His physicality, his delivery, the singing and dancing – everything about his performance is perfection, and if there’s any justice in the world, he should get a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination at the next Academy Awards.
As much as the script goes into the ills of patriarchy, the movie isn’t man-hating at all. In fact, the film insightfully explores how living in a patriarchy has impacted both men and women. Women are forced to confront the contradictory duality of being a woman every single day, and men are made to feel insecure about their masculinity due to the constant reinforcement of what a man should be. We chase the perfection of what society says we should be, and suffer quietly because we fail to reach that ideal on a regular basis. Weirdly enough, I feel that Barbie is structured kind of like The Matrix, where we go down the rabbit hole with her to understand the truths about existence and living. At times the script can feel kind of bloated, since it’s throwing so many ideas at the wall. It would have been a far greater film if the third act had been tighter and more streamlined, since it does lose a bit of steam towards the end.
The script and ensemble is the best thing about Barbie, and of course it all comes together due to the fantastic set design and world-building. Barbieland looks amazing, and contains so many tongue-in-cheek references to the Barbie-related products Mattel has produced over the years. The costumes are incredible, and also reflect the characters’ personality and emotional state, like Ken starts wearing all black and donning a mink coat when he goes through his darker phase. Everything is absolutely fabulous, and Mattel is going to have quite the sales year thanks to this film. I myself bought Barbie merch before I went to watch the film because I am weak and succumbed to the will of capitalism.
The biggest revelation of all is the discovery that Push by Matchbox Twenty is a more complex song that I originally thought. So kudos to Gerwig for giving us a movie that makes us laugh, think and reconsider our place in the world, a movie that wants us to see that being who we are is simply good enough.
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