“It was the best day ever. So was yesterday, and so is tomorrow, and every day from now until forever.”
Barbie has been an icon for generations— No exaggeration! Barbie is a doll who has been around since March 9, 1959. This blonde curly-haired doll debuted in nothing but a black and white striped swimsuit, and immediately she did amazing in sales. Over 350,000 dolls were sold in just a year on the market. Thank God for Ruth Handle, the inventor of Barbie, or there wouldn’t have been an opportunity to talk about this amazing movie. Just as stated before, Barbie was wonderful from the start. Having multiple movies, even more dolls, and just in general being a big figure for the very pink feminine girlies, she gave young girls, from various backgrounds someone to look up to. Barbie has been a Judge, a video game developer, and even a cat burglar. She’s iconic.
‘Barbie’, directed by Greta Gerwig recently released on July 21, 2023, follows Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) as they have somewhat of an existential crisis. Barbie lives in a utopia in which everything is perfect. Everything is pink: houses, clothes, cars, everything. One day, however, Barbie didn’t feel like herself. She feels compelled to explore the real world to understand what she’s feeling. Barbie seems to be struggle for the first time, having a hard time grasping the concept of what the real world is and what feelings are, and how different things are from Barbieland. Some people went into Barbie with low expectations, but I knew exactly what to expect from this movie. I personally thought ‘Barbie’ was a cutesy, girly movie that also told a story. This movie made people think and reflect on their own lives.
I absolutely loved the ‘Barbie’ movie. If people didn’t try to compare it to being a “children’s movie” then they may have enjoyed it more. At moments, this movie sort of had the same energy or, as Barbie fans would say Kenergy, as Jim Carrey’s The Truman Show. In both, the main characters slowly begin to realize some things are out of place, out of touch, or feel wrong.
Even though it was a strong movie, the best part of the movie was its portrayal of Ken. Ken, Barbie’s sort-of boyfriend, was practically just Barbie’s accessory. Ken was created for Barbie and had no purpose without her. He was sweet and he had absolutely no problem with just being Barbie’s little accessory. In fact, in other portrayals of Ken he seemed to be utterly obsessed and in love with her, but everything changed when he went to the real world. Just like Barbie, Ken was starting to question what his worth was. He couldn’t stand being Barbie’s accessory any longer. The typical Kens in Barbieland were weak, simple, and so on, but as Ken explored, the movie revealed more of his insecurities. When he discovers patriarchy, Ken feels powerful and he takes it back to Barbieland, calling it his ‘Kendom’. To me, Ken represented that sweet boy who someone could’ve grown up with, that turned into the opposite of what anyone thought they could be.
Overall, Barbie was an amazing movie with a very meaningful message behind it. I would recommend it to everyone that I know, and I would watch it again. This movie probably isn’t for all ages, however. It may be more appropriate for a certain maturity level of 13 and above, for people who would understand the message.
