She's a Barbie Girl Getting a Reality Check (Barbie review)

Let’s delve into the pink of it all, shall we? Nobody thought anyone had the capability or the right mind to make a movie about Barbie in this day and age. Greta Gerwig attempts to do the impossible by being allowed to make a movie as campy and over the top as ever while invoking messages that could improve the ideals of Barbie.

In this film, Margot Robbie plays one of the many variations of Barbie that lives in Barbieland where everything is just right while the Kens are around only to be yet another accessory to the collection. Every night is perfect and the same until Barbie questions the idea of mortality. Due to these intrusive thoughts and changes within her perfect body, she is forced to go to the real world to find the solution and become the perfect Barbie again. In the real world, she finds out that Barbie hasn't changed the world for women as all the Barbies thought and Ken is dumbstruck by the idea that there is a world run by men and opportunities for him to be the superior idea. 

In an obvious manner, Barbie emphasizes feminism, the struggles of women, and mostly, how the idea of Barbie from time to time tarnishes or threatens the idea of a woman being whatever she wants. Most movies that center on feminism can sometimes be overbearing for certain audiences for it is a sensitive topic even when it shouldn't be. Barbie may not hold back on these themes but Greta Gerwig's script smartly informs and reminds audiences of the patriarchy and problems of equality today in a way that does not seem so jarring and maniacal. Like most feminist-led plotlines, men are portrayed as antagonistic figures. Choices like this made stories like She-Hulk inaccessible to their original target audience but in this case, the Ken's resolve to their antagonist behavior is due to their positions in BarbieLand. This allegory relates to how opposite our world is to theirs. 

Alongside it being a bombastic lesson on feminism, Barbie is forced to face the reality of being a woman when she no longer perceives herself as perfect, like a child learning the horrors of real life as they grow up, Barbie goes through it within a day. Her traverse to our world not only introduces a perspective that is all pink and pretty but uncomfortable and limited. Barbie's arc allows her to learn the ways of a human by being fascinated and afraid of it all at once. Gosling's Ken also has an arc that resembles child-like innocence but in a different sense. After years of being overlooked, and underappreciated, Ken adopts toxic masculinity with no one to correct him. Men might find this character trait offensive but you cannot help but feel bad for him because of how Barbie always saw him, the idea of Ken as a liability. 

For years, movies and TV shows have made women supporting characters where their sole purpose is to please their male costars. This may be a jab towards the industry but it does state that Ken was more influenced with the patriarchy because he did not have the lessons of the real world to understand. Same can be said for the Barbies with their treatment towards the Kens. What they both have in common and how both ideas of Kens or Barbie taking over the space of an entire nation is that they only thought about themselves. This is an allegory towards what equality means that no man or woman seems to have comprehended before this and this is what makes Barbie special. 

Robbie and Gosling's handle on the portrayal of the infamous dolls were great to compensate thee complex existential arcs. Despite not being Robbie's best protrayal since I, Tonya, the camera just loves her. Her costumes and hairdos are exquisite, iconic while paying tribute to the stereotypical Barbie she is meant to be. The same cannot be said for Gosling for this is his best role yet. A turning point for Gosling's repertoire as we assume him as a serious actor. His work here finally breaks that pattern, showing off a different facet to his chops, one of them being comedy. 

Yes, this film is a comedy but it does tend to be a bit of a chore if people were to think too much of the many quips in the film. Barbie is obvious to an extent with its comedic timing but there are times when the sarcasm is dialed to an eleven that you cannot help but have to do a double take. It does make you laugh out loud for how optimistic the rest of the film is but its jabs towards the societal problems and occasionally breaking the fourth wall is what really makes this film charming but only if anyone has a grasp on the entertainment industry's current issues.. As cheery as the film comes across, it is more adult than one can think. This does not only refer to Barbie's journey as a protagonist but to the biblical undertones that Gerwig seems to have used to inspire this plotline for both Barbie and Ken being portrayed as Adam and Eve and Barbieland being the Garden of Eden. I'm not going to go further for that I might be spoiling the film but take that as it is. 

What compliments this undertone is the soundtrack's inclusion of Billie Eilish's 'What Was I Made For' which really envelopes the real meaning of the plot. The rest of the soundtrack is fun and fluffy, everything you'd expect from a Barbie compilation but the soundtrack is used cleverly especially when it comes to Dua Lipa's banger "Dance The Night' that has been teased since the teaser trailer. Unfortunately due to the focus on the other pop songs that were featured in the film, there is no score for this film. It is an interesting choice that bothered me at first but it worked.

The only worry I have about this film is that people might not look past feminism and the antagonistic patriarchy. People mature enough to see what the film is really saying may take it with a grain of salt or hopefully, take it by heart as a lesson. However, there are moviegoers these days who find ways to belittle a movie for the wrong reasons or turn it into something degrading and Barbie could become victim of that. Ferrera's speech alone about female expectations is a brave statement written by Gerwig and surprising for Warner Bros.'s to have approved it. Whether the audience handles it well is another story entirely, even if it was one of the best parts of the film. Barbie is still a fun-filled adventure no matter how many times you watch it and it does appeal to audiences that do not take things seriously. It is not perfect film but it is the film of the summer to talk about amongst friends and family.