Barbie (2023) Review ★★★★☆
Image credit: Warner Bros
What was most shocking about Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film Barbie was genuinely how funny and entertaining it was to watch. Despite months of the overwhelmingly positive PR campaigns and the release of hit singles such as Dua Lipa’s ‘Dance the Night Away,’ there has been a growing sense of concern and fear towards the eventual release date for the film. I had watched many reels, read reviews, and even heard concerns from friends that, despite the positive promotion, the Barbie movie would suffer from its own success at release and fail to be anything good. I can firmly state that, after watching the film, it has relieved all these concerns and provided a unique redirection of the Barbie series.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Barbie, directed by acclaimed director Greta Gerwig, stars leading actor and actress Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie as their respective iconic characters. The film’s premise is focused on an imaginary land of play where the Barbies and supposedly the Kens reside, with each of the Barbies controlling all elements of their lives and this imaginary society. This utopian society, however, masks a deeper divide between not just the Barbies and Kens (who are portrayed fulfilling the traditionally feminine characteristics of the past decades), but also between Barbieland and Earth. In the film, Barbie has a spiritual connection to her real-life owner, who is portrayed as a young girl who has grown up and has rejected what she perceives as an innately misogynistic issue that is Barbie (a point the film actively attempts to refute).
This relationship is threatened due to the girl’s rejection of Barbie, which is causing her to suffer ‘flat feetness,’ a syndrome that causes her feet to become flat, and a comedic commentary on the uncomfortableness of stiletto heels. Barbie meets Weird Barbie, who sends her away to the real world to find her counterpart and help solve her woes. Ken, who to this point has been competing for Barbie’s love against another Ken, joins her in this endeavour. This point of the film is interesting, as it showcases to the audience an interesting dynamic where Barbie’s self-determined attitude, sometimes boarding on naivety (such as the failure to understand her own image in human society), causes Ken’s sensitive ego severe damage and causes him to question his own masculinity, especially in the matriarchal society that is Barbieland.
Reaching the real world, Barbie and Ken are shocked by the stark contests of human society; the opening shot of them on Venice Beach in their colourful clothes compared to the dullness of the grey the humans wear is an excellent demonstration, with Barbie stating, "Why are these men staring at me?" Barbie and Ken split off. Barbie discovers that the girl, called Sasha (played by Ariana Greenblatt), had stopped playing with her ages ago, and her own mum, Gloria (played by America Ferrera), had revisited Barbie to cope with the anxieties of motherhood. It’s never made completely clear why she is so anxious in the film. Ken, however, is shocked by the active presence of men in society and mistakes this for an extreme "patriarchy" that he is disillusioned with. Meanwhile, the Mattel Corporation CEO (played by Will Ferrell) discovers that Barbie and Ken have entered the real world and actively pursues Barbie to return before things occur in the real world (unfortunately, a plot point not completely executed correctly).
Ken returns to Barbieland on his own and radically transforms it into a misogynist, patriarchal society. Barbie, Sasha, and Gloria eventually come to understand each other and, following their discovery by the Mattel CEO, also make their escape to Barbieland, which by their return had transformed. Ken, along with the other Kens, had become frustrated with the matriarchal society they lived in and had rebelled and brainwashed the Barbies into joining their ideal vision. Barbie is taken aback by this change in Ken and desperately pleads for him to stop, which fails. Sasha and Gloria discover a Barbie resistance led by Weird Barbie and take Barbie with them. They discover they can end the brainwashing of Barbies by educating them on the perils of patriarchy. The Barbies additionally go further and cause the Kens to fight amongst themselves to disrupt a referendum that proposed making Barbieland a patriarchal society.
The Barbies succeed in disrupting the referendum and establishing control of their society, with Ken realising the perils of his actions. He and Barbie make up with the Mattel CEO, enter Barbieland, and help broker a peace settlement that sees the Kens gain access to certain levels of freedom, such as one of the Kens being able to be a junior judge on the Supreme Court. The creator of Barbie, Ruth (played by Rhea Perlmann), appears as well in this scene, to the shock of everyone, and consoles Barbie, who is unsure of her purpose in the grand scheme of things. This follows an incredibly comforting and slightly sad montage of young girls and mothers playing with Barbies through the decades. The film ends on this note.
Barbie is an excellently funny and entertaining movie to watch. Despite constant promotion, it has delivered an incredible plot that, under critical analysis, shies away from the feminist messages against Barbie and aims to showcase Barbie as a tool that allows women to be whatever they want. It also portrays a more controversial message on the issue of gender equality, using a masculine lens to argue that the Kens should be able to fulfil their dreams and be taken equally seriously as the Barbies. Despite the messaging, the film does unfortunately suffer from some plot holes, especially regarding the mother-daughter relationship, which fails to play any significant role in the movie, and in regard to the human-Barbie connection that the film portrays. Overall, I would highly recommend watching for some comedic escapism.