Barbies’ storyline
Barbie is one of the most influential and important role models in a little girl’s life. In Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie, Barbie explores the hardships and truth of the real world. She is thrown into a sexist and difficult new world. She can’t comprehend life not being perfect. She finds a mother and daughter who are fighting and changing her “stereotypical barbie” life. Barbie decides she needs to fix it. Throughout her journey Barbie faces hardships including Ken taking over Barbie land and realizing how powerful men are in the real world.
For as long as anyone can remember, Barbie has been perfect. She has a dreamhouse, a perfect boyfriend, all the clothes, and the perfect body. She has symbolized the perfect woman since 1959. The creator of Matel stated that barbie symbolizes “empowerment, diversity, and the breaking of stereotypes”. Barbie’s run their own world. The women are the presidents, the doctors, and the lawyers. They have shown little girls that they can be whatever they dream from a young age.
In the movie, Barbie, (margot robbie) and Ken, (ryan gossling) travel to the real world to find the little girl that Barbie is being played with. Their eyes are opened to a world completely opposite of their own. Men are in charge, while women are typically caretakers and far from perfect. Ken becomes empowered by this, and Barbie becomes discouraged. Barbie thought that she had made the real world perfect like her own world. She becomes depressed when she realizes this isn’t the truth. Barbie has an existential crisis when she realizes how bad the real world is.
Controversy
This movie sparked a lot of controversy within the film industry. People were upset about how they portrayed men and mocked them. I think that this movie was empowering and helped many girls in their own journeys. Men have always made women the punchline of a joke. The second the cards are reversed, men became upset. This film contained many borderline sexist jokes that we don’t normally see. This time, the men were the punchline. Critics claimed that the movie was “anti-men”. This was not the point of the movie. It was simply to empower women.
The films dialogue
Greta Gerwig was brilliant with her choice of dialogue. There are many jokes and secret meanings within the film’s dialogue. When the actors are inside Barbie land, their strange dialogue comes from what Greta thinks children would be saying if they were playing with their dolls. The jokes had audiences laughing in their theater seats. Aside from the jokes and childish talk, America Ferrera, who plays the mother of Barbie’s little girl, has a beautiful and heartfelt dialogue. In Barbie’s lowest moment, Gloria tells Barbie what it’s like to be a woman. Everyone expects women to be perfect. She tells Barbie that she doesn’t have to be stereotypical Barbie to be beautiful. She says, “It is literally impossible to be a woman”. Her beautiful words brought women to tears many times. She perfectly describes the overwhelming feelings of being a woman.
The music
The Barbie movie contains many fun, catchy, and beautiful songs. “Pink” by Lizzo, is an upbeat and fun song representing Barbie’s perfect life in Barbie land. “I’m just Ken” by Ryan Gosling, is a funny and catchy song. It creates a good laugh and some comedic relief. He sings of wanting Barbie to really look within him and not just at his tan and abs. Billie Eilish sings a beautiful song called, “What was I made for?”. This song encapsulates the questions and hardships of being a woman. When this song plays, Barbie has chosen to become a real person. She watches her life back in heartfelt memories and knows she wants to become a real person. This song has touched many hearts and was the perfect song to end a beautifully made movie.
The parallels of the two worlds
The Barbie movie has many clever and funny comparisons of the two worlds. When Ken and Barbie first arrive in the real world, they see a big poster of Miss Usa finalists. Barbie says, “look, it’s the supreme court.” This is an ironic statement because in their land, the supreme court is full of women. In the real world, there are only 4 women on the court. There are many parallels comparing the two worlds. Another one that stands out, is when the men are hitting on Barbie in the real world. She doesn’t know that this is a normal thing. She doesn’t even realize what they are doing. She becomes immediately uncomfortable and walks away.
My opinion
I personally think that the Barbie movie was a beautiful and heartwarming movie. I grew up watching Barbie movies and playing with Barbie dolls. For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted to be was Barbie. She was perfect in my eyes. As I grew up, I realized that no one can be perfect. I hung on to the hope of becoming a strong leader as Barbie was. When life got hard, I turned to my comfort and wished I was her. Knowing what I know now, and seeing
Barbie also be insecure and feel she isn’t worthy, truly changed me. It showed me that you can believe in something bigger than yourself, a perfect life. Although it isn’t possible to live a perfect life, Barbie gave us hope.
Barbie has been a constant source of joy for little girls for many decades. I think that as they grow up, they can watch Barbie go through the same struggles that they will one day go through and feel even more empowered. This movie had comedy, friendship, hardships, jokes, and overall, a beautiful message. Never let anyone tell you who you can and can’t be. It is your life; you have a purpose. This message will stick with me forever.
I loved the irony of Ken being dumb and following Barbie everywhere. In many male dominant comedies, the woman plays the role of Ken. I’m glad that they changed the roles around and let women be the powerful ones. This movie was amazing, and I would highly recommend it to anyone with an open perspective.
