It is the release day of Barbie, and the theatre is full of adults dressed in all pink. Among the pink-clad audience in the theatre, only one child accompanies her mother, making one wonder if Barbie is relevant in today's world. Are today’s children no longer interested in Barbies? Is the film only for adults craving nostalgia? Do today’s children even play with Barbies? Or are they too woke to give into a stereotypical woman’s image?
As one enters the pink world of Barbie land, answers to these questions unfold. Greta Gerwig, who excels at narrating stories of women and has previously helmed critically successful films like Little Women (2019) and Lady Bird (2017), not only brings to life Mattel Inc’s plastic marvel and stuns the viewers, but also humanises the story of Barbie – from the fancy stereotypical image of perfection, Barbie is now a woman in a real-world grappling with issues women face in the society, fighting for her position, experiencing emotions and dealing with patriarchy.
The film begins with Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie with natural ease and excellence, stepping out of her heels with her perfectly arched feet – an iconic scene that will be remembered for years to come. She wakes up happy in her dollhouse, takes a water-less shower, steps into her closet and gets dressed and drinks coffee from an empty cup – every detail of a child’s play is captured brilliantly onscreen. As she steps out of her house and into her happy pink Barbie land, all the Barbies live in harmony and happiness, and Kens vie for the attention of Barbies. Their day usually goes driving around in pink cars and playing on the beach, followed by a girls’ party and sleepover. As opposed to the real world, women rule Barbie land – from president to authors, doctors, and even a Nobel prize winners, Barbies are everything while Kens simply live in the world of Barbies.
One day, as the thought of mortality crosses Barbie’s mind, her perfect world starts to change and fall apart. She decides to go to the real world and Ken (Ryan Gosling) tags along. When she is exposed to the problems women face in the real world, she breaks down, and tears cloud her eyes. She realizes that the young generation of today no longer likes the idea of Barbie, and learns that her stereotypical, even fascist and a perfect image of a woman deeply scarred many little women for life.
Ken, on the other hand, finds out the real world is a man’s world and that he can finally have a voice. He takes back patriarchal ideas with him and disrupts the smooth functioning of Barbie land. Kens begin to rule the Utopian Barbie land while Barbies swoon over them and serve them.
It is when a millennial – the mother of a young girl, who would play with Barbies in her childhood—meets Barbie that things begin to smoothen for Barbie and her world. Together, they work towards reclaiming their position in the society (read Barbie land).
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie rendition is a feminist satire on patriarchy that gives one hope and a few lessons to learn from Barbie herself – she is sure she doesn't love Ken and likes to have her own identity and wants Ken to not just be known as her boyfriend but have his own place.
Mattel Inc, the toy company that makes Barbie, becomes a part of the story partly as a villain – it is a company ruled by men who make Barbies through their vision and cannot recall the last time they had a woman CEO – a satirical take on men ruling the world and objectifying women and her image through their lens. No wonder the protagonist Barbie is a perfectly toned, attractive and slim white woman – Gerwig takes a subtle dig here. And so is Ken, a white, chiseled man portrayed by Ryan Gosling. Gerwig, being herself, does not forget to bring in inclusivity in terms of body types and Barbies and Kens belonging to different nationalities.
Though Barbie and Ken may not be relevant in today’s world and the film realises it well, it makes for a perfect watch and Gerwig’s is an honest, witty and the perfect voice to tell Barbie’s story. The film’s ensemble cast is full of many delightful surprises – Emma Mackey as one of the Barbies, Dua Lipa as the mermaid Barbie and the guest appearance of the creator of Barbie herself – Ruth Handler played by Rhea Perlman who has many words of wisdom to share and her real idea of Barbie. Both Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling excel in roles tailor-made for them and one cannot imagine anyone else but them to be Barbie and Ken!
The biggest takeaway also remains the fact that the world cannot be a place ruled only by men (as in the case of the real world) or a place ruled only by women (as in the case of Barbie land). In the former, women live a sad suppressed life while in the latter, men have no identity and purpose. Gerwig opines without making it obvious that the world will be a wonderful place only if all men and women had an equal place and share.
Film: Barbie
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling
Rating: 3.5/5