It’s a Barbie World - And Ken’s Too
"When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg“My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” — Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. “Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story”
Barbie World, It’s Fantastic. And Exaggerated.
This past weekend, the highly anticipated (with superior marketing) “Barbie” movie opened to $162 million domestically and $182 million internationally. It currently holds the highest opening for 2023 and is the best opening ever for a movie directed by a woman, Greta Gerwig.
The marketing for “Barbie” was fantastic; it definitely influenced my growing interest. I had a ridiculous amount of Barbies growing up; there was at a time a Barbie named Tori who was a skateboarder. Somehow, I never had the firefighter Barbie.
As someone who has worked in marketing, I loved it. Obviously, Mattel and WB had an insane marketing budget, but it resulted in Barbiecore and pink everything, so I’m here for it. Thanks for helping my love of pink resurgence.
Me, pink’d out for Barbie!
Barbie Joys and Barbie Backlash
Anywho, back to Barbie.
Note: Spoilers ahead.
This is the Best Day Ever. And Tomorrow. And Yesterday.
This movie certainly had more emotional depth than I anticipated. But it was juxtapositioned really well with the humor elements - sometimes, they even intersected. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll make opinions, and it will make you think - Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, the cast, and everyone else hit it out of the park.
The set, the costumes, the music - *chef’s kiss.* I may or may not plan on being a Pink Jumpsuit Barbie for Halloween.
I loved that not all the Barbies were tall blondes. As someone short with more pounds than I should have, it was fantastic that there was a curvy, short Barbie. Inclusion was everywhere for the Barbies and Kens - even discontinued ones like Ken’s friend Allan and and Barbie’s pregnant friend Midge. And they were all so beautiful and perfect in Barbieland.
The casting was beyond fantastic. Our main Barbie and Ken - Stereotypical Barbie played by Margot Robbie and Beach Ken portrayed by Ryan Gosling - could not have been more perfect. Despite their relationship not being the typical Barbie and Ken girlfriend-boyfriend that many expected, they are a great duo.
Having been watching Kingsley Ben-Adir play a cruel villain in Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” for the past six weeks, watching him play a seemingly mindless, sidekick, “tell me when it’s over” Ken was a huge change and he was absolutely magnificent. Let him live out his days running an ice cream stand with his Barbie.
Ncuti Gatwa may have had a small role, but I can’t wait to see his Doctor energy as the upcoming 15th Doctor!
I love how Simu Liu’s Ken was so overconfident with nothing to his character. Just a rival to Beach Ken.
Unsurprisingly, Kate McKinnon was great as “Weird Barbie.” They better make a Weird Barbie Funko. If you had Barbies growing up, you had one that turned into a Weird Barbie.
America Ferrera also shined as Gloria, the Real World human whose sadness brought Barbie to the Real World in the first place, although it was kind of weird seeing her as a mother to a teenage daughter.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but Will Ferrell was really neither here nor there for me. I know that is what really got the plot moving back to Barbieland/Kendom, but it didn’t leave much of an impact.
Helen Mirren and Rhea Pearlman - absolute gems. Also including Michael Cera’s Allan in this category. Allan had more of an impact and a punch than I expected!
So, yea, personally, I loved it. However…
Burn, Baby (Barbie), Burn
While “Barbie” has been getting overwhelming rave reviews, as you see, there are some who are accusing it of being “woke”
Forbes writer Conor Murray explains the backlash in his article “‘Barbie’ Largely Praised For Feminist Themes—But Draws Anger From The Anti-Woke,” such as Ben Shapiro, a grown-ass man, lighting a Barbie doll on fire and posting a 43-minute rant stating that the movie’s message is: “Either you’re a third wave feminist who hates men, truly hates men, or you’re brainwashed.”
That is certainly something. Shapiro and Elon Musk complained about how often the word “patriarchy” was used - and that it was unironically (That was the point).
But I think they forget one thing about the movie: It’s about dolls in a dreamland and said dolls gaining perspective and making mistakes along the way. Honestly, one was of the best quotes in the movie was when Stereotypical Barbie couldn’t figure out why she was being ogled in the “real world” and bluntly tells the construction workers, “I do not have a vagina and he does not have a penis. We have no genitals.” They aren’t real. Stereotypical Barbie can’t hurt you.
In Barbieland, women rule everything. It is pretty much meant to be an exaggerated opposite of our world and reality. And I think that is what people are forgetting - it is showing an exaggeration. The movie is satire. That’s the humor component.
And, yeah, it does have a woman-focused target audience. May I present “Rambo,” “The Expendables,” “Road House,” and countless other movies with a target audience of men where few women have minor roles with their primary objectives being to rely on men and look good?
I’m not even criticizing that this is a thing. One of my favorite movies, “The Departed” has like three speaking female characters. The original Star Wars trilogy had like four speaking female characters. Aunt Beru, I believe, is the only one other than Leia to speak in more than one scene.
It has been a norm in Hollywood for a long time, although things are starting to change slightly. Barbie simply isn’t being subtle about doing the opposite, which has not been the norm.
Also, Ken is the character that people are talking about the most. Everyone loves him. Not saying everyone doesn’t love Barbie either, but Ken is dominating social media and the memes. He’d be ecstatic.
Some Barbie History
Barbie was created in 1959. At that time, women could not have credit cards or a mortgage in their own name. Since then, Barbie has held more than 250 jobs, including several that, at the time of their release, were in industries where women faced significant barriers to entry. Ruth Handler created Barbie to inspire girls, stating “Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” Which, in today’s world, because, things, is a very interesting quote to consider.
In 1962, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Inspired, a girl named Linda Halpern wrote to President John F. Kennedy (She wrote this for an assignment about fulfilling a dream), asking what she would need to do to become an astronaut. She received a response saying that there were no plans to include women in space flights, although she was commended for her enthusiasm.
In 1965, Miss Astronaut Barbie was introduced.
In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space (Russian Valentina Tereshkova was actually the first woman to travel to space - in 1963).
Sonja Anderson’s When Barbie Broke the Glass Ceiling for Smithsonian Magazine goes into detail comparing Barbie’s achievements to our reality.
We’re Not So Different After All
The movie begins with the Barbies ruling everything while the Kens are on the sidelines as cheerleaders. As The Narrator states, Barbie has a good day every day. Ken only has a good day if Barbie looks at him. Uh-oh, inequality from the get-go.
Beach Ken’s insecurities are evident immediately. Everything he does is hoping to get Stereotypical Barbie’s attention, to see him as more than a friend.
When Barbie and Ken enter the Real World, they are shocked by what they experience. Barbie doesn’t understand why she is being harassed and why everyone doesn’t love her like they do in Barbieland, with former fan tween Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) calling Barbie a “professional bimbo” and saying that she has caused significant drawbacks in the feminist movement. As Barbie believes the creation of the Barbie doll solved women’s issues, this is quite the reality check.
Ken, meanwhile, is enjoying experiencing a world where he sees men as leaders and learning about the patriarchy - although he later admits that patriarchy is less interesting when he learns horses aren’t really involved.
In one scene, Ken is trying to convince a doctor to let him do “one appendectomy” despite not having any type of education, but because he is a man. Ken does not believe the doctor is a doctor because she is a woman and asks to speak to one. Ken has concluded that the Real World patriarchy completely dominates - as it does for women in Barbieland.
How many female doctors are assumed to be nurses, and how many male nurses are assumed to be doctors? We all know it happens. We know. But we should also know better about assuming, because you know what they say about assuming!
Despite not getting everything he wanted in the Real World, Ken returns to Barbieland and uses this newfound knowledge to get the other Kens to take over and create the Kendom, and brainwash the Barbies only to want to exist to serve the Kens. And, no surprise, ultimately, the Barbies are able to get it back.
But I think two scenes are the absolute core of the movie - and they are just saying the same thing differently: Gloria’s speech about being a woman and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance. In some ways, they both say the “quiet parts” out loud about gender roles and expectation frustrations. Gloria wants to feel less pressure to be both perfect and blend in and Ken wants to be seen as himself but also wants Barbie to see him a certain way.
Side note: Ryan Gosling for Best Supporting Actor.
Gloria, the mother who recently started playing with Barbie again to reflect on the past and happier days with her daughter (Sasha - because of course we need a feel-good familial repair subplot) in response to Stereotypical Barbie’s “existential crisis” as described by Weird Barbie when Stereotypical Barbie feels she is essentially useless (Buckle up, it’s long):
It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.
You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.
I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.
And Ken’s “I’m Just Ken” covers the Kens (mainly Beach Ken?) existential crisis:
(This video is fantastic. And the song keeps getting stuck in my head. I love it.)
Ken is enough. Kenough. Frankly, Ken is a 10. And Barbieland needs to let the Kens know that.
And, ultimately, it does. The Barbies and Kens gain some awareness to realize that maybe they’d be better off in Barbieland if there was more equality. President Barbie promises Kens they will work for equality, giving Kens positions on the junior courts with the goal of someday having Kens on the Supreme Court. She also apologizes to Weird Barbie for being ostracized by Barbieland and offers a position in her cabinet. The Barbies and Kens seemingly learn that their actions have consequences - and that they affect the feelings of others.
Stereotypical Barbie and Beach Ken also have a heart-to-heart, where Barbie apologizes for taking him for granted. She sees him as Ken, not “and Ken,” and encourages him to find out who Ken is without Barbie, knowing he has his own self-worth. When Ken tries to kiss her, and Barbie rejects him, he accepts it—accepting her boundaries! They’re okay being just friends. Ken is ready to chart his own path.
It is a damn shame that the movie didn’t end with Ken going off to find actually horses and starting a rodeo or something. Dude was all about the horses. There was a Western-y feel to the locale in Barbieland, so I think it’s doable!
The Mattel crew states that Barbie’s ending is to be with Ken, but Sasha demands that Barbie choose her ending, which ultimately is her joining the real world. PS I can’t believe more people aren’t comparing this to the Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks’ classic, Life Size!
It seems like everyone has a happy ending, and the door is WIDE OPEN for a Ken-centric movie.
It is a fun ride. We should know better by now, after four Toy Story movies that manage to emotionally drag us on a regular basis that there was a much deeper element that met the eye to this movie about the iconic doll!
