The Barbie Movie

  It's the afternoon of July 21, 2023, and theaters are packed with people wearing various shades of pink. On this historic day, they're all coming to see the Barbie movie. This isn't Barbie and the Diamond Castle or Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale, but The Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. This movie has been getting hype since it was first announced, and for good reason. Barbie is a classic character; for better or for worse, she's an irreplaceable part of many girls' childhoods.

 The movie opens with an archaic looking scene of little girls playing with dolls, and then a gigantic Barbie appears and they start smashing the baby dolls while the narrator describes how Barbie dolls could be more than just babies, and kids playing with them could be more than just parents. This brings it back to the Barbie tagline: "You can be anything," and it seems as if Barbie has solved all of society's problems. Of course, this is only the beginning of the movie, so there's that sort of "...or can you?" moment responding to the tagline, because it turns out the world Barbie created might not be so perfect. It's a humerus opening, and also an interesting way to draw viewers in, however, it also feels dry. The, "Since the dawn of time," beginning seems to be overused in movies, and isn't really that funny anymore.

 After this unnecessary first introduction, we meet Margot Robbie as Barbie. She looks perfect, like a doll, feet arched weirdly and smile straight as ever. The Barbie world is also accurate to what we've all played as kids; most of the contents of Barbie's fridge are just a sticker, there isn't any actual liquid in her carton of milk, and she waves at all of the other Barbies with a bright smile. It's awkward and fake looking, utterly perfect for what it's supposed to be. Tiny details like this appear all throughout the movie, and it's worthy to note the tremendous amount of effort and talent it must take to pull all of that off. The cast did an amazing job; it was like actually being transported into Barbie World. There were also plenty of Easter eggs hidden throughout the movie, such as mentions of special limited Barbie clothes and weird dolls that were discontinued. The songs throughout the movie are humorous, with witty lyrics that are almost sarcastic about life as a Barbie. The Real World is equally well-done, although this must have been slightly easier. Down to the way Gloria tries to awkwardly comfort Barbie late in the movie, everything was done perfectly.

 Though funny, lighthearted, and showcasing painstaking attention to detail, The Barbie Movie also has an important message. It begins with Barbie learning about real emotions, described as "achy but good". Later in the movie we even get the "meaning of life montage". The emotions are brought about by the realization that nothing is as perfect as it seems. Barbie realizes that in the real world there's still an incredible amount of pressure on women and girls to do and say everything right all the time. Gloria, the woman who somehow invited Barbie into the real world, goes on a rant about this that had people in the theater clapping. When we pretend everything is perfect, nothing gets changed, but when we admit that it's flawed, it can improve. The moral is that, as Gloria's daughter says, "Even if it's not perfect, we can still make it better." It's ok to not be extraordinary. It's ok to be an "ordinary Barbie". Knowing yourself is more important than knowing who everyone wants you to be. A final thing to point out is how, despite Ken's crush, the characters all manage to find fulfillment outside of romance, something rare in the media today. 

 Though the message of the movie is incredible and motivational, it also leaves something to be wanted in the male characters. Almost every boy is presented as stupid. At first, the Ken's are almost like accessories to the Barbies in Barbie World, until they start a revolution and turn the tables. This subplot runs on the incorrect assumption that all men care about is having girls serve them beer. Of course the Barbies overturn the Kens' rebellion, and everything essentially goes back to how it was before, with the Barbies running everything in Barbie World and the Kens doing nothing because they were apparently too stupid to help. There is mention of the Ken's finding fulfillment in themselves rather than in other people, but the movie doesn't leave much room for the boys to even have selves, or personalities, rather, as they're all portrayed as blanket "guys".

 With amazing world building and an important message, besides plenty of jokes, the Barbie Movie is definitely worth a watch. Though portrayal of male characters is severely lacking in quality, the other aspects of the film surely stand strong. Watching the Barbie Movie, you may scoff, but you'll definitely laugh, and you might even think a little.