You better believe I played with Barbies as a kid! If anything I held on to them later than most girls when they reached a certain age. While any toy could be this, Barbies were the perfect conduit to act out pretty much anything your imagination dictates. You could play a stereotypical session of “house”, have a dramatic angst filled soap opera, or even go on dangerous treasure seeking adventures filled with steep bed cliffs and stuffed animal monsters. (On a side nerd note, I theorize that D&D was invented for adults who didn’t want to let go of their Barbie and other action figures, and wanted to keep having the adventures.) Given how integral Barbie was for many of us’s self expression as children, I imagine a live action Barbie movie is in high demand.
And finally, the long awaited moment is here! Barbie finally has her own movie! Ok, to be fair, she’s had 42 of her own movies prior to this, but this is the first live action, and more importantly, the first time it goes meta and acknowledges she’s a toy. Barbie (Margo Robbie) is a standard Barbie living in Barbieland, a Utopic alternate dimension, with all of the other variations of Barbie. Her perfect days are filled with beach visits, house parties, and girl’s nights. Her world even comes complete with every variation of Ken ever created, including her own extremely doting “boyfriend” Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling.) When she begins to question her own mortality, however, things start getting less than perfect. Upon the advice of “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKennon), she must travel to the real world and find the girl who is playing with her and giving her these morbid thoughts. Barbie was directed by Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Ladybird) and written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach.
There were a lot of potential ways a live action Barbie movie could have gone. It could have been a simple yet whimsical fish out its own dimension story just focusing Barbie navigating the real world. It could have also easily been a crass adult humor filled satire of all that is Barbie (as I was previously afraid of what it was going to be when Amy Schmer was originally casted as the main Barbie years ago.) I’m happy to say, the Barbie movie we got wasn’t exactly either of those things, and as a result, was everything I’d hoped for and more.
Honestly, I didn’t know if I went into this wanting a completely unserious crack comedy, or if I wanted a feminist art piece. I don’t know how they did it, but Gerwig and Baumbach somehow gave us the perfect storm of both. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve seen a film so ridiculously silly, yet so poignant. (Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is the closest example I could think of, but even that one isn’t quite as silly.) While the laughs came frequently throughout the film, a tiny nitpick I would have is the repetition of a few of the same jokes for just a little too long. Sometimes repetition itself is the funniest part of comedy, and for the most part, it worked for this movie too, but not 100% of the time.
Similarly, while I absolutely love the overall message of Barbie, I can’t help but to wonder if it was delivered so deliberately and without nuance that it detracts from the film. This really conflicts me honestly. On one hand I generally prefer the “show don’t tell” approach to storytelling. On the other hand, this particular message is so important that I’m willing to sacrifice the quality of subtlety I normally love if it does actually get through to as many people as possible.
On a technical level, Barbie was an absolute dream come true. The sets, the costuming — everything is a loving nod to the toys that have actually existed over the decades. The world of Barbieland is absolutely everything my young child self would have hoped for. At the same time, I’ve noticed a quieter sort of dream-like quality that Gerwig lends to all of the films she directs, and I’m glad to see through all of the hot pink set paint, there is still a lot of the director’s personal touches still shine through.
While the casting department really outdid themselves by bringing in a ridiculously talented and hilarious cast, (I don’t want to spoil everyone who pops in this movie, just being surprised by them is half the fun), I want to give a huge shoutout to our titular couple Barbie and Ken. You couldn’t ask for a better “stereotypical” Barbie and Ken than Robbie and Gosling. Gosling in particular looked like he was having the time of his life, and probably got the most laughs out of me. While Barbie is gearing up to be one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year, I can confidently say this one lives up to the hype. If you’re looking for some dumb laughs, sprinkled with a bit of deeply intelligent insight into modern day feminism, throw on your cutest outfit (pink optional but encouraged), and check it out!
