Before going to see the Barbie movie my main question was: what is the agenda going to be? I had never seen a more aggressive or effective marketing campaign and was sooo interested in this movie that otherwise, I probably would have skipped.
So here’s a tracking of my journey through the film.
The opening caught me entirely off guard as it was frame-for-frame the original teaser trailer. Because I had already seen it quite a few times I was shocked to say the least. I can’t remember ever watching a movie where the teaser trailer was just ripped directly from it and, while an effective trailer and marketing tactic, in the movie it felt repetitive and out of place with the rest.
The next thing I realized was the voiceover tendency to overexplain EVERYTHING. Especially things that had been talked about in promotional and behind-the-scenes materials. (Barbie floating down from her house or Midge) Little of it was even necessary and if they wanted to do it then they shouldn’t have already explained these things in promos. In the end, it came off as treating the audience like they were incapable of inferring anything for themselves.
The first thing I remember liking was the line from Lawyer Barbie about using both feelings and logic and not being diminished by either. But by the 20-minute mark, it was feeling like all the best Barbieland gags and lines had been in the trailers, taking away from their delivery and punch in the movie itself. For example, the first thing to get an overall reaction from the crowd was the “thinking about dying” joke where the laugh was pretty lackluster.
Then there were weird things that began to rub me the wrong way. The line about “never wearing heels if her feet weren’t shaped that way” felt like a jab (possibly unintentional) at the kind of women who just love high heels. So, in this movie that couldn’t stop saying patriarchy every 5 seconds and should have been about women supporting each other, suddenly we are poking at some kinds of women to try and identify with others.
From a story perspective, things felt odd because there was no inciting incident for Barbie. Out of nowhere she just starts thinking differently and changing. We learn later America Ferrera’s character is supposedly the reason for this, but that’s not how stories work. For all of us going on the journey with Barbie these changes were unjustified.
However, the next thing I REALLY liked was Weird Barbie. Now to be open I do love Kate Mickinnon in general, but Weird Barbie doing the splits had me smiling for the first time in the film. The cellulite joke was also great and this was also the first moment where the plot seemed interesting. The reveal was good and I was ready to put the beginning behind me.
Barbieland was stylistically great but I wished they had leaned into it a bit more as the animations felt fast and sporadic. Still the transition through the portal was really fun (though it had already been revealed in the trailers) and my first real reflexive laugh that wasn’t tainted by having already heard the joke was Barbie’s “I don’t have a vagina,” mostly for the reaction of the other characters and because of the shock factor.
The number of times the word patriarchy is said in this movie is frankly incredible. They really don’t want you to miss what it’s about as if the (P)Matriarchal parallel of Barbieland wasn’t enough (even if they are sort of in denial about it later). Ken’s assimilation of the patriarchy is at once showcasing his innocent naivety and ability to be brainwashed easily (which if Ken is supposed to be the female equivalent in (P)Matriarchal Barbieland what is that supposed to say about women under patriaries?)
This thought was followed by the most beautiful moment of the film which, if you haven’t guessed, is Barbie’s encounter with the elderly woman on the bench. This was by far my favorite moment and the closest I felt the film got to talking about something fresh and new by addressing the beauty of aging and how it is so rare to see today.
This was in contrast to two things that left me bug-eyed. How the Mattel corporation allowed itself to be portrayed (a cold heartless company that is completely male-dominated) and the middle schoolers calling Barbie a fascist. It was so much worse than anything their competition, Disney has said or done with its earlier titles.
The “Patriarchy” more like toxic masculinity that takes hold of Barbieland was super weird, again portraying women as powerless and impossible to think for themselves even when they had already been in power. Ken’s arc was done very well though, with the hurt behind his transformation conveyed excellently.
Allen became my favorite character but was done so little with, to the point of disappearing by the end. The voice-over continued to be annoying and America Ferrerra’s monologue was sooo long and all-encompassing that it ended up being unfocused word vomit that didn’t have anything to SAY about the patriarchy or the wider discussion of equality. Again we were just being hit over the head with “Patriarchy is Bad”, something that I think is generally acknowledged in the west today. It added nothing new.
Ken’s battle was a masterclass in absurdism but I didn’t care for the dance portion. As someone who loves old musicals but is always frustrated by that one pointless number that has nothing to do with the plot, this felt like that. That however is just personal taste. The crisis point for Ken was gripping but then his resolution was left hanging. He still doesn’t seem to have a purpose and Barbie is leaving him so. . .is he Kenough? I guess not? We’re not going to find out anyway.
All the talk of Stereotypical Barbie made me feel like maybe this was just a marketing ploy by Mattel after all; like they were announcing the retirement of Stereotypical Barbie because the brand is moving in a new direction. With the failure to commit to adding anything new to the gender equality discussion, I wouldn’t be surprised.
The last montage was also so strange. Ruth tells Barbie, “I can’t in good conscience let you go without knowing. . .” Then proceeds to show Barbie a feel-good montage of all the wonders of being human. What was the point of that line? She just wanted Barbie to know that life is good? That doesn’t make sense. Why not show the full spectrum, at least of life and death and loss if not war and poverty and hate. It was bizarre and could have been fixed by just leaving out that line. The montage of course wouldn’t be cut because how else would they manipulate our emotions to try and make us think we were getting a good, fulfilling ending?
Sorry, too salty? I really wanted to like this movie. The last line ended on a gag that got a laugh so at least there was that.
For something that I expected to be epic from the promo material, I think I genuinely laughed three times and spent probably half the film rolling my eyes or playing spot the trailer clip. However in the end the one thing that bothered me the most, is that neither Barbie (representing the old (P)Matriarchy) or Ken (with his toxic masculine “patriarchy”) fully expresses the wrongness of how they treated the other or their respective systems. Neither of their versions of Barbieland was good or in any way equal but that is barely acknowledged.
Instead, we were left with platitudes, a feel-good montage of B-roll, and a joke that again teased what this movie might have been if they had committed to a pure comedy instead of trying to preach a stale message. Yes, Barbie, we get that the patriarchy is bad, but you weren’t so great yourself.
