By Marc S. Sanders
Having just returned from donning my pink t-shirt to watch Greta Gerwig’s box office smash Barbie, I am certainly relieved that I watched the film with my wife. Just when I thought I understood everything I was watching in the movie, my better half explained to me that my perception was wrong. Yet, I still believe Barbie was a magnificent experience that allowed me to reminisce about my pre-teen years occupied with my favorite toys (Kenner’s Star Wars figures and playsets). I applaud this film for going even deeper than that though. Barbie reflects on the patterns between men and women primarily in the fields of career, objectivity, and social stature. As pink as the film is, and it is pinker than a truck load of Pepto Bismol, it is also observant and telling.
Someone commented on a Facebook post when I announced that I was seeing the film that Barbie is a “woke” movie. I am so sick of that term, honestly, and it has nothing to do with which side of the political aisle I sit on, because I no longer sit on any side. While watching Margot Robbie as the main “Barbie” of a whole community of “Barbies” in Barbie Land, I never recognized said “wokeness.” Only afterwards did my wife have to explain where it likely exists within the film. I still don’t think it’s a fair observation though. Barbie and Ken dolls, Skipper and even the pregnant Midge doll and the lonely Allan doll and all their accessories are marketed by Mattel to a demographic for young girls. Greta Gerwig’s script though questions what could threaten a Barbie Land. Frankly, the only thing imaginable (besides opening the film on the same day as a biographical film about the man who invented the atomic bomb), is if the world of Barbie was no longer Barbie & Ken, but rather Ken & Barbie and a male dominated finish conquered Barbie Land following Ken (Ryan Gosling) reading up on some books about horses and machoism. Very inventive, as well as comedically endearing to watch how Barbie and all the other Barbies undo what’s been done by Ken and all the other Ken variations.
A second storyline is really what rang true to me. America Ferrara portrays Gloria, a mother in the Real World who has lost a bond with her daughter Sasha played by Arianna Greenblatt. Sasha has long outgrown spending time with Gloria and playing with Barbies together. Sasha is a typical moody teenager. This is crushing to Gloria and real-world thoughts enter the mother’s mind by the will of nature, including the uncertainty of death and even worse…cellulite. Barbie (Margot Robbie) realizes the effect it has on her and with guidance from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) embarks on a journey to the Real World to right what is wrong with the girl who plays with her. Barbie is in for a surprise though.
One day I will weave into one of my original plays about the time I showed my father my brand-new Star Wars TIE Fighter ship. I demonstrated for him how the wings pop off. His response was an artificial “Oh wow!” and then a return to his dinner with further discussion about his workday. At six years old, I could even identify how uninterested he was. This moment from so many years ago came back to me as I observed Ferrara’s emptiness. The mother has lost her daughter, the same way my young self lost my father.
Toys can draw out nurturing emotions of happiness, and perhaps disappointments, when we are young and imaginative. As adults, a desire for a recapture of youth can blossom. My generation yearns for the toys they played with and are even willing to pay enormous amounts of money for that tangible memory with what are now considered antiques. Toys have always been a part of my life. I was never an athlete. I got much more pleasure out of playing with my action figures and my made-up car chases and shootouts in my bedroom.
Gerwig’s script, co-written with Noah Baumbach, is quite intuitive. Barbie and Ken (Robbie, along with wonderfully sweet and naïve Ryan Gosling) try to perfect what is imperfect about themselves and end up making things drastically worse for their respective existence within the Barbie World. Barbie may fear bad breath and try to escape death, but how will that affect the pink, plastic world she stems from? Ken tries to learn more from the Real World to enhance his noticeability with Barbie and deal with his insecurities against the other theatrical Kens he exists with. Does learning change Ken into a better version of himself, though? Experience and exposure to foreign situations are necessary to enhance oneself but go a little too far and it might become a reminder to be careful what you wish for.
Mattel is even spoofed by means of Will Farrell and his posse of dark suit executives and the office’s grey cubicles representing white collar corporate America. What Barbie and Ken have unleashed could have drastic consequences on the commodity of their bestselling dolls and playsets. Honestly, I was waiting for an appearance by He-Man to enter the fold. How would this carry over to the Masters Of The Universe??????
Barbie is more complex than the cheerful advertisements, the toy brand or even the bubbly appearances from Robbie, Gosling, McKinnon and the rest of the cast may appear to be. I’ve already heard it described as strange, and definitely not a movie for kids. There’s a reason it is PG-13. Mature themes are at play amid the sunniness of President Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Supreme Court Justice Barbie, Mermaid Ken and Beach Ken. Greta Gerwig didn’t want to settle for a just a happy go lucky fantasy. The Barbie doll has existed for over fifty years and by now, nearly a quarter of the way into a new century, she better serve more purpose than a perfect smile, arched feet, and cheerful shades of pinks and yellows. Gerwig sought to uncover the role Barbie has for girls and women at age 5, 8, 15, 30, 50 and on and on.
I must recognize some of the attractions contained in the picture. An inspired opening of the film had me rolling as Barbie answered the call of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. (Makes me sad that I was the only one laughing in a full theater.) Gerwig also took wise advantage of the multitalented Gosling with a collection of musical song and dance numbers. I never really cared for the song “Push” by Matchbox Twenty, until Ryan Gosling and his Ken mates applied it as a substitute to Robbie’s Barbie and her Barbie gals’ adoration for “Closer To Fine” by the Indigo Girls. Gosling puts such energy into his performance. He’s certainly the go-to actor for musical films like Barbie and La La Land. Those days on The Mickey Mouse Club truly paid off.
Barbie is a vibrant and very smart film. I’m just not sure everyone will respond to it like I did. It is no surprise that moviegoers resent that it is not catered for young children or that there’s an oddness to some of the stories. You may not care for it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find it to be “woke,” but I hope you’d look deeper than that. I appreciate it on a personal level however, remembering back to my time as a kid with a toy or two that were more than just pieces of molded plastic. Rather, my Boba Fett and Han Solo figures were often the best friends to spend time with and it’s only sad that dad may have missed out on what was truly special for his son. Still, even Barbie reminds me that none of us are perfect and that’s okay.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 