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Barbie: the patriarchy, the existentialism, the capitalism – discuss with spoilers

Greta Gerwig’s smash hit ode to women delves deeper than many would have expected from a film based on a problematic doll

• This article contains spoilers for Barbie

W hen the news first broke that Greta Gerwig would tackle a Barbie movie, excitement started to build long before anyone actually knew what that meant. Unlike superheroes or princesses or so much other exhumed IP, the glamorous doll doesn’t come prepackaged with narrative, leaving open the question of what she would do in a big-screen vehicle primarily greenlit off her brand recognition.

Gerwig’s thoughtful track record as a film-maker suggested that she wouldn’t take the gig unless she had something up her ruffled taffeta sleeve, leading many to theorize a meta element possibly sending Barbie into the real world, but nobody could have guessed the extent to which the director-co-writer has taken the concept and run with it. Even the trailers affirming that Barbie makes the interdimensional montage from her reality to ours with Ken in tow still conceal so much of the substance and atmosphere of a film with much more on its mind than the typical Hollywood product.

Now that Gerwig’s latest is out there painting multiplexes an eye-searing shade of pink, we can issue the strongest spoiler alert warning possible and pop Barbie’s head off to see what’s going on inside her cavernous neck hole. Read on for a discussion of the internal logic, the peppy pop politics, the cameos and everything else bundled with this shiny new cinematic playset:

It’s a Barbie world, with physics to match

Following a Kubrick-aping prologue that introduces Barbie in the place of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s monumental black obelisk, the film descends on Barbie Land, a soundstage fantasy of Dream Houses painted in hyper-saturated color. This realm is governed not by the laws of nature, but by the childlike illogic of playtime: Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie drinks from an empty cup, bounces off of plastic water and floats from her top-floor bedroom down to her car on the street as if carried by an invisible hand. The chipper, blunt dialogue sounds like the internal monologue of an eight-year-old’s imagination, declaring every day forever and ever to be the best day ever. When Ken (Ryan Gosling) hurts himself, Doctor Barbie heals him in the space of a single sentence. If Barbie and Ken were to kiss, one assumes they would do so by mashing their faces together at a diagonal.

Every aspect of the first act’s setting has been informed by the rituals and aesthetics of toys and their attendant media, harkening back to the brand-savvy of The Lego Movie. During an argument, Ken hurls Barbie’s wardrobe out through the missing fourth wall of her home, and each outfit momentarily flattens into a display-fold with logo and caption while suspended in the air. An upbeat song by Lizzo delivers exposition like a commercial jingle, narrating each of Barbie’s actions as she performs them. In this land of rictus smiles and relentless sunshine, imperfection is a cardinal sin; Barbie’s existential crisis kicks into gear as she notices a small patch of cellulite on her thigh, and that her naturally high-heeled feet now stand flat on the ground. Horror of horrors – she’s becoming a real woman.

The big, bad patriarchy

Her search for a cure directs her to the real world, where she’s shocked to find that our Earth bears little resemblance to the estrogen-fueled paradise she left behind. As in their feminist Eden, Barbie and Ken came expecting a female president, female garbage-haulers, female Nobel laureates and a coterie of adoring, pliable men just grateful to share their presence. She’s shattered to find that she isn’t the inspirational role model she imagined herself to be, but he’s delighted to discover a power structure that places him and his brethren on top, and carries this thrilling new ideology back to Barbie Land. Before you can say “Simone de Beauvoir”, he’s instituted a full-blown patriarchy with all the once-empowered Barbies brainwashed into submissive, beer-serving pleasure slaves. With a little help from walking #NotAllMen counterpoint Allan (Michael Cera), Barbie must open her sisters’ eyes to the reality that there’s more middle ground to womanhood than being an accessory to a man or a flawless exemplar of femininity.

The reactionary weirdoes decrying Barbie as peddling the “woke” agenda haven’t pulled much of a gotcha, accurately summarizing the textual substance of a film about one woman’s sudden burst of institutional consciousness. Like a college freshman taking an intro class on gender – or perhaps like a high-schooler seeing a mass-market blockbuster with a developed political streak for the first time – Barbie becomes abruptly aware of the untenable societal pressures heaped upon womankind, released in a cathartic monologue by normal-person surrogate America Ferrera. She resolves the many contradictions of the male gaze by slicing through the Gordian knot, simply concluding that whatever women want is fine, so long as everyone lets them live their lives in peace. It’s a pretty anodyne statement, though it accompanies an ending that effectively reduces men to pets. The steadfast refusal to coddle male ego may be the most unabashedly subversive notion in a project often conflicted about its opposing mandates as a critical work of art and a commercial good for sale.

Stickin’ it (kind of) to the suits

Gerwig gets out in front of her decision to take a check from Mattel by centering her new corporate overlords in the film. Barbie and Ken’s shenanigans in the real world draw the attention of the Mattel C-suite, portrayed as a conference table’s worth of largely interchangeable men led by a CEO who requests to be called “Mother” (Will Ferrell) and his CFO flunky (Jamie Demetriou). Being authority figures, they naturally assume the antagonist role as they race to get their star product back in her box, a literal display case binding her wrists and ankles positioned as metaphor for an attitude of silent compliance. Gerwig’s revisionist outlook seeks to liberate the plastic and fantastic icon, allowing her a less orderly humanity in more than just a biological sense. Warhol’s axiom about art being whatever you can get away with comes to mind in surprisingly off-brand moments such as the instant-classic punch line that ties a ribbon on the film.

And yet for all the valid critique lodged by Gerwig – that this company marketing itself to little girls has entirely male management, that they profited for many years off of unattainable body standards, that they have hastily discontinued dolls like the pregnant Midge and the ambiguous Earring Magic Ken and anything else complicating their clean, hegemonic worldview – the film can’t help its promotional origins in brand synergy. Ferrera’s character pitches the CEO on a normal-person Barbie, a character unencumbered by the expectations to be an immaculately manicured beauty nor a successful career woman. Ferrell laughs this off as a non-starter until his CFO looks up from a calculator and suggests it would actually make them money, at which point the doll is put into immediate production. Gerwig’s having a laugh at her own expense, conceding that all her subversions will be happily permitted so long as they agree with the profit margins.

Everyone’s invited to the party

The first trailer revealed that Robbie-Barbie lives as one of many such Barbies populating Barbie Land, their rank a rainbow of demographic representation including Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Sharon Rooney and Ana Cruz Kayne. (Featured soundtrack artist Dua Lipa even pops by as a trio of mermaid sisters to wobble her way through a few lines of dialogue, most of which are “Hi, Barbie!” John Cena dons a wig of flowing blonde tresses as her Kenmaid counterpart.) Likewise, Gosling’s Ken rolls with an entourage of backup Kens, though in keeping with the film’s ladies-first doctrine, the second-stringer likes of Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa get slightly less to do than the ensemble Barbies. Odd man-boy out among the fellas is Cera’s Allan, the less-macho Ken alternative initially marketed as a “friend” and shown here to enjoy giving the guys foot massages. Perhaps he’d get along with the briefly glimpsed Sugar Daddy Ken, played by a sporting Rob Brydon.

Other casting choices hint at Gerwig’s personal tastes seeping into the fabric of her film-making; the narration courtesy of Helen Mirren suggests a connected cinematic universe linking Barbie and the cult comedy series Documentary Now!. Barbie creator and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler appears with a deified glow about her in the form of Rhea Perlman, the actor’s presence a possible nod to her past gig on Cheers as sharp-tongued barmaid Carla Tortelli, the kind of flinty, funny, unapologetic woman that speaks to Gerwig. In one of the film’s most unexpectedly poignant moments, Barbie shares a brief chat with an anonymous woman on a sidewalk bench, informing her that she’s beautiful only for her to respond: “I know.” That woman is Ann Roth, legendary costume designer and frequent collaborator of Gerwig’s husband and co-writer Noah Baumbach, her celebrated body of work across more than 50 years in the industry undoubtedly a point of admiration for the director. She’s living proof that no dividing line separates fashion from high art, one of the guiding principles for the film’s sartorial euphoria.

The library of influences

It’s not hard to imagine the dead-souled version of Barbie that alienates its built-in fanbase with lowest-common-denominator laziness and creative indifference, more advertisement than entertainment. Gerwig has endeared herself to moviegoers in part for the care she’s put into the making of her grand entrée to the budgetary big leagues, much of it informed by her encyclopedia passion for cinema at large. She’s spoken in interviews about the many Technicolor marvels of the past that contributed to the vivid palette of Barbie’s blissfully non-real homeworld, everything from Golden Age musicals like The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain to transatlantic imports like The Red Shoes and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Her penchant for macro-scaled sight gags can be traced back to the oeuvres of Jacques Tati and Charlie Chaplin before him, masters of physical comedy relevant to actors mimicking the body language of posable playthings.

Other reference points work on the conceptual level; Barbie’s revelatory sight through her artificial status quo nods to The Matrix, The Truman Show, and the rest of the entries from the Onscreen Existentialism for Dummies canon. Every piece of the film speaks to some facet of Gerwig’s cinephilia, a magpie collage of favorites befitting the doodling and locker-adorning of adolescent girls. A disco number nicks fashions from Saturday Night Fever, while the kooky absurdist humor has roots in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Eclectic as these picks may be, they’re all organized under a single, fully formed sensibility. Mattel may have stamped their logo all over the film, but audiences have taken note and flocked in droves because in the auteurist sense, Gerwig has made it her own as well.

• Now you've seen it
• Margot Robbie
• Greta Gerwig
• Ryan Gosling
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– Entertainment Analysis and Reviews

Barbie (2023) Film – Empowerment & Authenticity Explored

“Barbie” (2023) is a captivating live-action fantasy comedy helmed by director Greta Gerwig and co-written by both Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. The film boasts an impressive production team, including David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Robbie Brenner as producers. Inspired by the iconic Barbie doll from Mattel, the movie stars the talented Margot Robbie in the titular role of Barbie, with Ryan Gosling charmingly portraying Ken. Additionally, the film features a stellar supporting cast, including America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.

Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Barbie” made its theatrical debut on July 21, 2023, captivating audiences with its imaginative storytelling and delightful performances. This much-anticipated adaptation of the beloved doll’s universe brings the world of Barbie to life like never before, taking viewers on a journey filled with laughter, magic, and self-discovery.

Plot Synopsis – What’s the movie barbie about?

Characters analysis, the meaning, themes and significance of the movie, ending explained.

The film “Barbie” takes a unique and self-aware approach, presenting a heartwarming yet humorous story of a doll named Barbie who ventures into the real world in search of meaning in life. The movie opens with a narration by Helen Mirren, who provides a voiceover about the inception of Barbie and how the iconic doll has influenced generations of little girls around the world.

Barbie, voiced by Margot Robbie, embarks on a soul-searching journey as she discovers her purpose and identity in the real world. Throughout the film, Greta Gerwig artfully blends comedy, emotional depth, and tongue-in-cheek dialogue to explore the complexities of being a teenage girl and the various challenges and aspirations that come with it.

As the story unfolds, Barbie encounters a range of experiences, including finding unexpected friendship, dealing with self-doubt and societal expectations, and coming to terms with her own uniqueness. The film’s emotional rollercoaster is complemented by its wit and cleverness, making it an enjoyable experience for audiences of all ages.

The movie showcases an impressive display of visual and technical brilliance, with meticulous attention to detail in costume design and production, paying homage to Barbie’s iconic evolution over the years. The cinematography, led by Rodrigo Prieto, adds a glossy and vibrant touch to the overall presentation, capturing the charm of Barbie’s universe and its inhabitants.

Critics and audiences have lauded “Barbie” for its subversive and refreshing take on the classic doll character, making it one of the most anticipated and talked-about blockbusters of the year. Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Barbie has been praised for its charisma and charm, while Ryan Gosling’s comedic performance as Ken has garnered considerable attention.

While “Barbie” does have moments of melancholy and emotional resonance, it ultimately leaves viewers with a sense of hope and inspiration, celebrating the power of embracing one’s individuality and finding meaning in life’s journey.

Overall, “Barbie” (2023) stands as a delightful and innovative addition to the world of live-action adaptations, offering a fresh and empowering perspective on the beloved doll character that has captured the hearts of millions for decades.

In the 2023 film “Barbie,” directed by Greta Gerwig, there are several characters who play significant roles in the story. Here are some of the key characters and brief descriptions of each:

• Barbie (Voiced by Margot Robbie): The titular character and the heart of the film. Barbie is a beloved doll who embarks on a journey from her fantastical world to the real world in search of meaning and purpose. Throughout the film, Barbie discovers her individuality, navigates self-doubt, and learns to embrace her uniqueness. Voiced by Margot Robbie, Barbie’s portrayal brings charm, charisma, and vulnerability to the character.
• Ken (Played by Ryan Gosling): Ken is Barbie’s iconic companion and love interest. In the film, Ken is portrayed as a hilarious “himbo,” a man who may be attractive but not particularly intelligent. Ryan Gosling’s performance brings humor and wit to the role, making Ken a memorable and endearing character.
• Helen Mirren (Narrator): Helen Mirren lends her voice to the film as the narrator. She provides insights into the history and significance of Barbie, offering a thoughtful and reflective perspective on the character’s cultural impact.

• America Ferrera: Known for her roles in “Ugly Betty” and “Superstore,” Ferrera plays a character who befriends Barbie in the real world, helping her navigate the challenges she encounters.
• Kate McKinnon: A versatile comedian known for her work on “Saturday Night Live,” McKinnon brings her comedic talents to the film, portraying a quirky and humorous character.
• Issa Rae: An acclaimed actress and writer, Issa Rae’s character adds depth and nuance to the story, contributing to Barbie’s emotional journey.
• Rhea Perlman and Will Ferrell: Both actors bring their comedic prowess to the film, adding laughs and humor to the narrative.
• Other Cast Members: The film features an array of other characters who interact with Barbie during her adventure, each playing a unique role in her growth and self-discovery.

It’s worth noting that Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is characterized by its self-awareness and clever humor, which extends to the portrayal of these characters. They contribute to the film’s subversive and refreshing take on the iconic doll, making “Barbie” a memorable and entertaining cinematic experience.

“Barbie” (2023) directed by Greta Gerwig carries several layers of meaning, symbolism, and significance that contribute to its overall impact and reception. Here are some key aspects to consider:

• Self-Discovery and Identity: At its core, “Barbie” explores the theme of self-discovery and identity. Barbie’s journey from her fantastical world to the real world represents a quest to find her true self and purpose. This mirrors the journey many individuals go through in adolescence and young adulthood as they navigate their identities and aspirations.
• Empowerment and Individuality: The film celebrates the power of embracing individuality and authenticity. Barbie’s character evolves beyond the stereotypical image of the doll, breaking free from societal expectations and embracing her unique qualities. This message promotes self-empowerment and encourages viewers to be true to themselves, regardless of external pressures.
• Feminism and Female Empowerment: As an iconic symbol of femininity, Barbie has often been criticized for perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards and gender roles. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” addresses this criticism head-on, subverting traditional tropes and presenting Barbie as a complex and empowered character. The film challenges societal expectations and promotes a feminist perspective on female representation and empowerment.
• Social Commentary: “Barbie” is self-aware and includes social commentary on various themes, including consumerism, pop culture, and the impact of media on body image. The film acknowledges Barbie’s historical significance and addresses the complexities of her cultural impact, both positive and negative.
• Humor and Satire: The film’s humor and satire add layers of entertainment and commentary. Through tongue-in-cheek dialogue and comedic situations, “Barbie” pokes fun at societal norms and expectations, offering a fresh perspective on a well-known character.
• Cultural Iconography and Nostalgia: “Barbie” is rich in cultural iconography, featuring nods to various eras of Barbie’s history and the impact she has had on generations of fans. This nostalgia appeals to audiences who grew up with Barbie and fosters a sense of connection and familiarity.
• Visual and Technical Brilliance: The film’s production design, costume design, and cinematography play a significant role in the storytelling. The attention to detail in recreating Barbie’s world and her iconic looks showcases the significance of the character in popular culture.

The ending of the movie “Barbie” (2023) is a poignant and emotionally resonant conclusion to Barbie’s journey of self-discovery and empowerment. Throughout the film, Barbie, voiced by Margot Robbie, ventures from her fantastical world to the real world in search of meaning and purpose. As the story unfolds, she grapples with self-doubt and societal expectations, ultimately learning to embrace her uniqueness and authenticity.

In the climax of the film, Barbie faces a crucial moment of decision. She must choose between returning to her original world, where she was initially created as a doll, or remaining in the real world, where she has discovered her true self and found meaningful connections with others.

This decision becomes a symbolic representation of personal growth and empowerment. Barbie’s choice to stay in the real world signifies her embrace of her individuality and her willingness to face the complexities and challenges that come with it. It highlights the importance of authenticity and staying true to oneself, even when it may be easier to conform to societal expectations or revert to a familiar but less fulfilling existence.

The emotional weight of the ending is amplified by the heartfelt performances of the cast, particularly Margot Robbie, who infuses Barbie’s character with vulnerability and strength. The audience witnesses Barbie’s growth from a seemingly perfect doll to a multidimensional and empowered individual.

In the concluding moments, the film leaves viewers with a sense of hope and inspiration. Barbie’s journey is not just about self-discovery, but also about finding her voice and becoming an agent of change. The movie shows that embracing one’s uniqueness can lead to a profound impact on the lives of others, inspiring them to do the same.

The movie’s visual brilliance and attention to detail in recreating Barbie’s iconic looks showcase the character’s cultural impact and nostalgic significance. The clever blend of humor and emotion in the film makes it a captivating and thought-provoking cinematic experience.

In the climax, Barbie’s choice to stay in the real world symbolizes personal growth and her acceptance of her true self. This poignant ending leaves audiences with a sense of hope and inspiration, reminding them of the importance of embracing uniqueness and empowering others to do the same.

“Barbie” (2023) is a delightful cinematic celebration of empowerment, individuality, and the journey of self-discovery. Greta Gerwig’s vision and the stellar performances of the cast bring a fresh perspective to the iconic character, making the film a memorable and empowering addition to the world of live-action adaptations.

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Teaching Barbie: Scholarly Readings to Inspire Classroom Discussion

Barbie is having a(nother) moment. Researchers have been studying the famous doll for years.

Since she was created in 1959, Mattel’s Barbie doll and her descendants have been fodder for feminist researchers, sociologists, gender theorists, and other academics. As we all probably know by now, the doll was invented by Ruth Handler, who noticed her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls and giving them adult narratives and roles. At the time, most dolls looked like infants, but Handler saw a gap in the market for adult dolls for girls, and the rest is Barbie history. Initially a teen fashion doll, Barbie has gone through six decades of transformations and rebranding , becoming a cultural icon over the years and appearing as an astronaut, doctor, physicist, and just about any other professional you can think of.

Girlhood, Gender, and Sexuality

Linda Wason-Ellam. “ ‘If Only I Was Like Barbie.’ ” Language Arts , vol. 74, no. 6, 1997, pp. 430–37.

It’s impossible to understand Barbie without acknowledging the toy plays a big part in young girls’ construction of their sense of self. This ethnographic study investigates how young girls construct gendered identities and meanings through exchanges between visual and written texts, including Mattel’s book version of Cinderella, where Barbie takes on the titular role.

Catherine Driscoll. “ CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Girl-Doll: Barbie as Puberty Manual. ” Counterpoints , vol. 245, 2005, pp. 224–41.

Bringing together two relevant cultural texts for pre-adolescent girls, Catherine Driscoll considers dominant gender discourses through analyses of Barbie dolls and puberty manuals in the early 2000s as influential manifestations of the “tween” space in public and popular representations of girlhood.

Claudia Mitchell. “ Charting Girlhood Studies .” Girlhood and the Politics of Place , edited by Claudia Mitchell and Carrie Rentschler, Berghahn Books, 2016, pp. 87–103.

A good summary of what has been accomplished or found so far in girlhood studies, which has often drawn on how girls understand gender and power dynamics through playing with Barbie.

Louise Collins, et al. “ We’re Not Barbie Girls: Tweens Transform a Feminine Icon. ” Feminist Formations , vol. 24, no. 1, 2012, pp. 102–26.

Based on the insights collected from a research workshop for middle-school girls, this article asks what girls feel, think, and hope when playing with Barbie. Drawing on the insights middle-school girls delivered when discussing and reflecting on the constructions of female bodies and feminine identities in popular culture, Collins et al suggest that consumers are not simply vessels for consumption—they can be critical engagers of the products they consume.

Michael A. Messner “ Barbie Girls versus Sea Monsters: Children Constructing Gender .” Gender and Society, vol. 14, no. 6, 2000, pp. 765–84.

How do toys help children make meaning of gender? In this article, Michael A. Messner examines this question through an analysis of children’s interactions with pop culture.

Anna Wagner-Ott. “ Analysis of Gender Identity Through Doll and Action Figure Politics in Art Education .” Studies in Art Education, vol. 43, no. 3, 2002, pp. 246–63. 

Using action figures and dolls as pedagogical tools, this article explores how art educators can engage young people in a critical dialogue to uncover preconceived ideas, attitudes, and values inherent in gendered objects.

Becky Francis. “ Gender, Toys and Learning .” Oxford Review of Education, vol. 36, no. 3, 2010, pp. 325–44.

Drawing on the claim that children learn gender through playing, Becky Francis conducts evaluated selected toys—including some Barbie accessories—to identify the gender discourses reflected in the children’s choice of toys.

Whiteness and Race

Maureen Trudelle Schwarz. “ Native American Barbie: The Marketing of Euro-American Desires. ” American Studies , vol. 46, no. 3/4, 2005, pp. 295–326.

A particular concern of Barbie critics is the brand’s focus on and centering of whiteness, which the brand has addressed through the creation of ethnically diverse versions of the doll. In this in-depth analysis of Native American Barbie dolls and what they teach girls—and society more broadly—about Native American cultures in the United States, author Maureen Trudelle Schwarz argues that Barbie sanitizes the horrors of colonialism and Indigenous oppression.

Elizabeth Chin. “ Ethnically Correct Dolls: Toying with the Race Industry .” American Anthropologist, vol. 101, no. 2, 1999, pp. 305–21.

Examining the claim that providing more diverse toys is a progressive solution to white hegemony, this anthropological study with a group of working class, Black ten-year-old children complicates the politics of representation and inclusion.

Nina Cartier. “ Black Women On-Screen as Future Texts: A New Look at Black Pop Culture Representations. ” Cinema Journal, vol. 53, no. 4, 2014, pp. 150–57.

In this article, Nina Cartier offers a short but important critique of Nicki Minaj’s Black Barbie, along with other representations of Black womanhood onscreen.

Margaret Hunter and Alhelí Cuenca. “ Nicki Minaj and the Changing Politics of Hip-Hop: Real Blackness, Real Bodies, Real Feminism? ” Feminist Formations, vol. 29, no. 2, 2017, pp. 26–46.

Examining Nicki Minaj’s body of work, particularly her embodiment of her Black Barbie persona, the authors argue that Minaj’s offers a brand of feminism that is highly marketable because it merges a language of critique and oppression.

Okafor, Chinyere G. “ Global Encounters: ‘Barbie’ in Nigerian Agbogho-Mmuo Mask Context. ” Journal of African Cultural Studies , vol. 19, no. 1, 2007, pp. 37–54.

Beyond being an American doll, the product of Barbie was exported across the world, thus spreading its message across borders. In this article, Chinyere G. Okafor writes about the doll’s impact on Nigerian beauty standards through the image of the Agbogho-mmuo mask of the Igbo ethnic group. The encounter between these two beauty standards is the site of a global image-making network, the author suggests, and its discussion allows for an analysis of the globally empowered Barbie doll and her impact on Nigerian culture.

Marketing Barbie

Marlys Pearson and Paul R. Mullins. “ Domesticating Barbie: An Archaeology of Barbie Material Culture and Domestic Ideology. ” International Journal of Historical Archaeology , vol. 3, no. 4, 1999, pp. 225–59.

Drawing on the history of Barbie since the 1950s and the distinct “single career girl” marketing strategy employed by Mattel, the authors of this article offer a systematic examination of Barbie fashions, accessories, and playsets, which they argue reveals several distinct phases in the domestic symbolism associated with the doll. By tracing the history of Barbie accessories, the authors are able to pinpoint changes in Barbie’s domestic image over the last 40 years.

Erica Rand. “ Making Barbie. ” Barbie’s Queer Accessories , Duke University Press, 1995, pp. 23–92.

Delving deep into the history of Barbie and Mattel’s uneven and deflecting history around the character, Erica Rand writes about the erasure of Ruth Handler from the history of the doll’s creation by Mattel (something that has been curiously rectified in Gerwig’s film) and the gender meanings made by the company that invented Barbie.

Postfeminism, Pop-feminism, and Other Critical Lenses for Classroom Discussions of  Barbie

Rosalind Gill. 2007. “ Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility .” European Journal of Cultural Studies 10 (2): 147–166.

To understand the complexity of Barbie, it’s important to understand the existence of postfeminism and how it manifests through media culture. In this article, Rosalind Gill suggests a few approaches to engaging with postfeminist pop culture in critical and feminist ways.

Jess Butler. “ For White Girls Only? Postfeminism and the Politics of Inclusion. ” Feminist Formations , vol. 25, no. 1, 2013, pp. 35–58.

In this article, Jess Butler delves into the lack of intersectional perspectives in the literature on postfeminism, which she argues privileges a white, middle-class heterosexual subject. By drawing on the image of pop star Nicki Minaj, Butler suggests an intersectional approach to producing knowledge about postfeminism.

Angela McRobbie. “ Postfeminism and Popular Culture: BRIDGET JONES AND THE NEW GENDER REGIME. ” Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture , edited by Yvonne Tasker and Diane Negra, Duke University Press, 2007, pp. 27–39.

In this article, Angela McRobbie analyzes the postfeminist messages of the Bridget Jones franchise to emphasize the “double entanglement” of being a woman, where a productive home and work life are desirable to complete a modern woman’s life.

Alice Leppert. “‘ Can I Please Give You Some Advice?’ ‘Clueless’ and the Teen Makeover .” Cinema Journal , vol. 53, no. 3, 2014, pp. 131–37.

While we probably won’t have to wait that long for academic critical engagements with Gerwig’s Barbie, reading critiques of similar films might help us think about it critically. In this article, Alice Leppert analyzes a common trope in teen films through the film Clueless: the teen makeover that makes the unpopular nerd into a popular girl.

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Shauna Pomerantz et al. “ GIRLS RUN THE WORLD? Caught between Sexism and Postfeminism in School. ” Gender and Society , vol. 27, no. 2, 2013, pp. 185–207.

A study on how teenage girls understand sexism in a society that teaches them that gender is no longer a question of concern. By exploring Canadian girls’ experience with the postfeminist belief that sexism doesn’t exist, the authors suggest that postfeminist narratives make it difficult for teenage girls to identify and name gender discrimination.

Carrie Smith Smith and Maria Stehle. “ Popfeminism. ” The German Quarterly , vol. 91, no. 2, 2018, pp. 216–27.

In this short article, the authors define the concept of “pop feminism” in a capitalist society, a critical perspective to understand Barbie as part of a postfeminist, neoliberal system of power and hierarchies.

Michelle S. Bae. “ Interrogating Girl Power: Girlhood, Popular Media, and Postfeminism. ” Visual Arts Research , vol. 37, no. 2, 2011, pp. 28–40.

Challenging the usual critiques of girl power, Michelle S. Bae offers an alternative approach for interpreting the concept — which directly implicates Barbie and the toy’s history with women’s empowerment. Understanding that the dominant discourse on girl power is still located in an essentialist frame of white Western hegemony, Bae uses the original criticisms of girl power as a starting point for arguing that girl power might be interpreted as subversive to patriarchy and are marked by contradictions.

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Let’s Never Stop Questioning What Barbie Is Really About

As the secrets of the film are slowly stripped away, there’s a case for maintaining the debate over Barbie ’s true intentions.

So—wait. Do we know what Barbie ’s about? Maybe we should keep debating?

The text below is from the original article, published July 11, ahead of Barbie ’s release:

For months, the Barbie movie’s vast unknown has been one of its greatest assets. What little we understood amounted to a pair of highlighter-yellow rollerblades, dangled aloft by the spray-tanned arms of a bleached-blond Ryan Gosling: nostalgic, symbolic, a triumph of marketing honed along a (plastic) razor’s edge. Every new set photo, character poster, and teaser trailer that collected over the months leading up to Barbie ’s July 21 release has been received and dissected with the self-serious thrill of an 8-year-old planning their themed birthday party. Which, to be clear, is exactly as it should be. Questioning Barbie , like assembling an identity as a child, is a necessary pursuit. This is what movies like Barbie —and icons like the doll herself—are made for: both the indulgent pleasure and the outrageous nuance of mythologizing.

The secrets of director Greta Gerwig’s long-anticipated film are, in fact, starting to dissolve: The Los Angeles premiere prompted a round of spoiler-free first reactions (mostly positive), and the official critic review embargo is reportedly up soon. But even with the film finally accumulating eyeballs, there’s still a collective sense of protectiveness over the Barbie brouhaha. We don’t want the mania to break, not yet. There are still ample dopamine deposits to be discovered in deliberating what, precisely, Barbie has to say. After a promotional music video dropped yesterday featuring Gosling’s Ken serenading his second-rate status, one particular TikTok comment best summarized this feeling: “Every time I see a trailer for this movie I am more confused but I also want to see it more.”

Even Barbie star Issa Rae has enjoyed the opacity. As she shared in a December 2022 Hollywood Reporter story , she was perplexed when Gerwig first presented the story to her. “I’ll be 100 percent honest, when she was talking, like, it was entertaining, but I didn’t get it.” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what the fuck she was talking about, but whatever it is, I’m excited she’s behind it.’ And then reading it was, like, ‘Oh my God, I love her even more.’”

So, then, what is Barbie about? My hope is that actually watching the plot play out will only heighten the debate. The film’s IMDb logline encourages that possibility: “Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.” If Barbie’s questioning herself, why would we not want to do the same?

Thus far, we’ve had such fascinating theories on the objective of her eponymous film:

1) It’s about having an existential crisis (and also, death).

Here’s what we know for sure: In Barbie , our protagonist finds herself losing her grip over her inherent Barbie-ness. “Do you guys ever think about dying?” she asks during one of her classic blowout parties, earning stunned, judgment silence in response. Dolls don’t die ! Matters only worsen from there: Suddenly, her fake shower is freezing; she falls, rather than floats, from her rooftop into her convertible; her feet slump from their iconic arch. To remedy this imperfection, she’s instructed to explore the “real world,” so she can know “the truth about the universe.”

The problem with the “truth about the universe” is that it’s a hot mess, and people die. Barbie is not a mess, nor does she ever die. She doesn’t even age. This supposedly irreconcilable truth seems to be Gerwig’s entry point to dissecting the artifice we’ve built around Barbie as a symbol of idealized femininity. What about perfectionism remains so enticing, even when we know and acknowledge its fruitlessness? And what about the changelessness of Barbie makes her seem like the perfect woman?

2) It’s about Ken becoming a villain. Or something.

The logline attached to the full Barbie trailer lays out an intriguing path for Ken, Barbie’s eternal boyfriend: “To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.”

One TikTok theory posited that Ken didn’t belong in Barbie Land because he’s “an imposter,” owing to the unexpected casting of Gosling in the role. The “Just Ken” music video further establishes that Ken can’t extricate himself from Barbie, though she finds him only ancillary. If Barbie were to cozy up to Don’t Worry Darling , the film might depict Ken growing resentful over his lesser billing beside a more successful female partner. He might even discover the real world is a rather agreeable place for cis, white, supposedly heterosexual men like himself. (Of course, we shouldn’t assume Ken’s sexuality isn’t fluid. Or that he has a sexuality! He’s a doll!) Might he then want to stay?

Even if Barbie doesn’t lay out its “men are problematic” bent quite so literally, it’s already clear Gosling’s performance is one of the best of the film. If that’s the case, there’s one hell of a debate to be had over why Ken’s character arc is so essential to our understanding of Barbie herself.

3) It’s about the inescapable clutch of corporations.

We can’t talk about Barbie without talking about the marketing of Barbie . It is everywhere: on Krispy Kreme donuts and Ruggable rugs and OPI nail polish and GAP T-shirts and toothbrushes and luggage and pool floats and ice cream and frozen yogurt and makeup and cars and blankets and hairbrushes and heels. Her Dreamhouse is on Airbnb. Every publicist pushing sunglasses or sex toys has retooled their strategy around “Barbiecore” for the summer. I have never worn so much pink in my life.

The problem with all this consumerism is jarringly obvious, even (and perhaps especially) when it’s a great deal of fun. And with fervor comes backlash, as witnessed in critiques that Barbie is little more than a flashy commercial for toy brand Mattel. These critiques, by the way, are correct . At the same time, the Mattel CEO is an actual character in Barbie (played by Will Ferrell), and all signs point to him as a primary antagonist. Therein lies the rub: Barbie is a brand, and is therefore about branding, and is then a critique of branding, in the same breath as it further establishes that branding. You see? We could keep talking about this! Forever!

4) It’s about feminism.

Well, yeah. Duh.

5) It’s about the swan song of girlhood.

[Young girls] are “funny and brash and confident, and then they just—stop,” Gerwig told Vogue in May. “How is this journey the same thing that a teenage girl feels? All of a sudden, she thinks, Oh, I’m not good enough .” It’s clear that a big chunk of Barbie ’s aim is to explore why girls abandon not only their Barbie dolls, but some of the positive beliefs associated with them.

“We haven’t played with Barbies since we were, like, five years old,” a group of teens tell Margot Robbie’s Barbie in the film trailer. Her face falls. If girls don’t need Barbie, what does she exist for? And who (or what) do they turn to instead? What happens to a girl to make her abandon what was previously such a source of enrichment? What does it mean to age, when Barbie herself cannot?

6) It’s about ... Barbie.

Barbie is a plastic paradox. She is a narrow vision of womanhood, and she is also an everywoman. She has hundreds of jobs and has never worked a day in her life. (She is also, importantly, not alive.) She is more than 60 years old and eternally, vaguely 20-something. (Past reports indicate Mattel claims she’s 19 .) She is sexy but sexless. She’s a child’s plaything, with influence felt widely on adults.

“If you love Barbie, this movie is for you,” reads the copy in the Barbie trailer . “If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you.” There is no clearer case for why the Barbie discourse should continue long past the film’s ecstatic release. She is— as the memes tout —everything! Her movie is all of the above! We need not agree on every one of Barbie ’s precise intentions; we need only recognize why there’s so much more to dissect than an endless onslaught of pink.

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Review: ‘Barbie’ is a film by women, about women, for women.

This essay contains spoilers for “Barbie.”

When we walked into the AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City for the Thursday 3 p.m. viewing of “Barbie,” we found ourselves surrounded by pink. Women wore heels and sparkling jewelry, and young girls in sundresses clutched their Margot Robbie Collectible Barbies . We had come prepared—adorned in our own pink outfits, we happily took photos for a friend group in exchange for a few of our own. People laughed and chatted through the trailers, and broke out in whooping cheers as the movie began. Every seat was filled. The positive energy was palpable. It felt like a party.

In a nuanced approach characteristic of the director Greta Gerwig, whose previous projects “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Little Women” (2019) received critical acclaim, the Barbie movie is a hilarious, vibrant tribute to an iconic doll central to decades of imaginative play. At the same time, the film manages to be an exploration of Barbie’s cultural impact—good, bad and in-between. Through on-the-nose commentary on everything from Barbie’s representation of independent female adulthood to her unrealistic, idealized body proportions, Gerwig makes a movie as layered and paradoxical as the reputation of the doll itself.

Greta Gerwig has made a movie as layered and paradoxical as the reputation of Barbie itself.  

“Barbie” dives head-first into many controversial topics: consumer culture, growing up, parental relationships, gender dynamics and a multitude of other issues—offering commentary while managing to make the doll look great in the process. Mattel allowed the societal perceptions of Barbie to be examined, though the film ultimately reclaims Barbie, because Barbie can be whatever you want, and Barbie supports all women. Whether Barbie’s feminism is direct or ironic, the movie seemed to say, it is guilt-free to buy her.

But for a project that is arguably an action-packed, 114-minute commercial for a doll, the main thematic takeaway from “Barbie” is that life as a real woman is significantly more difficult but resolutely more worthwhile than “life in plastic” could ever be.

For those who have been anticipating the release of “Barbie,” the sold-out theaters and tremendous box office numbers (Barbie brought in $155 million on its opening weekend) come as no surprise—nor does the vibrant appearance of the audience, a result of Mattel’s marketing campaign, which included pre-film partnerships with brands like Gap and Crocs .

The promotion worked because it tapped into an existing market of people who grew up with Barbie. Created in 1959 as one of the first grown-up woman dolls for children, the affordable toy has been a controversial yet beloved plaything for decades. Like many in the audience, the two of us played with Barbies as little girls, and therefore had firsthand access to the complicated influence that such a doll—who is anything she wants to be while always looking perfect—can have on a young girl.

Using the aesthetic history of the doll as inspiration, the first portion of the movie is set in Barbie Land, where self-proclaimed “Stereotypical Barbie” (played by Margot Robbie) and the other Barbies live in a peaceful paradise, partaking in various occupations and leisure activities. Their counterparts, the Kens, do nothing except “beach” and act as platonic companions for the Barbies (when desired). These scenes are packed with clever humor and nostalgia for those who remember playing with Barbies—just like in our games, the Barbies never use stairs, only pretend to drink liquids, and say “Hi Barbie!” to every other doll in sight.

The Stereotypical Barbie’s blissful naïvete is disrupted one morning when she starts to develop self-awareness and anxiety, accompanied by dreaded flat feet and “thoughts of death.” In order to return to how things were, Barbie needs to venture into the “real world,” where she is instantly sexualized and objectified, accused of being a fascist by teenagers and jailed for assault after punching a man who catcalls her.

The main takeaway from “Barbie” is that life as a real woman is significantly more difficult but resolutely more worthwhile than “life in plastic” could ever be.

The movie follows somewhat of a hero(ine)’s journey arc, complete with a car chase and a rise to leadership, as Barbie tries to rid herself of emotional turmoil—and eventually, as she tries to save Barbie Land from Ken (Ryan Gosling), who had a much more enjoyable time in the real world and decided to bring patriarchy back to Barbie Land with him.

But while the dolls and their conflicts (full of inside jokes from Barbie history) are certainly the most fun, vibrant part of the movie, the human characters in the movie—particularly Gloria, a Mattel employee played by America Ferrera, and her daughter Sasha, played by Ariana Greenblatt—shift the focus away from an analysis of dollhood and toward an exploration of womanhood.

As Gloria and Sasha discover that they are at fault for Barbie’s weird behavior, they attempt to help the doll reachieve stability for herself and her community. In doing so, the audience is privy to a moving exploration of what it means to grow up as a woman, from the perspective of both mother and daughter.

The movie is almost painfully upfront about the struggles women face, giving voice to a certain exasperated frustration that may seem overly explicit, but for many responding to the film, just feels true. After Barbie is ready to give in to self-pity and existential dread, Gloria encourages Barbie to forgive herself for her mistakes and imperfections, expressing all the impossible expectations placed on modern women. “It’s too hard,” she says about womanhood, “It’s too contradictory.” Stereotypical Barbie stares at her wide-eyed, and Gloria’s daughter gives her a surprised smile. In giving voice to the emotions that started this journey, Gloria empowers the Barbies to reclaim Barbie Land.

The movie is for everyone to see and enjoy, but ultimately “Barbie” is truly a film by women, about women, for women. 

In the end, Barbie, having seen the gendered challenges of the real world for herself and heard from Gloria the exhaustion that comes with them, still decides to become a human—a woman.

In an emotional scene between the ghost of Ruth Handler, the creator of the doll, and Barbie herself, they discuss what it would mean for Barbie to leave dollhood behind. Handler holds Barbie’s hands and tells her to “feel.” The scene fades into a montage of videos of young girls and grown women, laughing, talking, playing and enjoying their lives. The videos feature women involved in the process of making the movie. When Barbie opens her eyes again, she has tears on her face (so did many in the audience).

For us, this felt very reminiscent of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Contemplation on the Incarnation , which asks the retreatant to imagine the three Divine Persons gazing down on the earth full of people and considering what stimuli imbue their senses. These scenes, of so many different people and emotions, flash before Barbie, and she is overwhelmed with the joys and sufferings of the world, with women at the forefront.

The movie ends with Barbie, newly human and clad in her designed-for-the-partnership pink Birkenstocks, going to the gynecologist. This joke wraps up all the references to dolls not having any genitals (which Barbie ostensibly receives when she makes the choice to become human), while, we think, stressing the importance of reproductive health and bringing to the big screen public discourse about a taboo topic. Like every part of the movie, Gerwig pushes boundaries of conversation through humor that is written to make women, in particular, feel seen.

At its core, the Barbie movie is a much needed tribute to womanhood. This is evident in one of the most subtle but moving scenes from the film, which occurs early in Barbie’s trip to the real world, when she sits at a bus stop, crying because nothing seems to be going her way. She looks over and sees an old woman, played by the famous costume designer Ann Roth (aging doesn’t exist in Barbie Land). Barbie smiles at her and says, “You’re beautiful.” The woman smiles serenely and replies simply, “I know.” In retrospect, this deeply humane and moving encounter prefaces Barbie’s decision to join the real world. It seems as if Barbie is recognizing the magnitude of everything a real woman is, and everything she later chooses to be.

The female characters Barbie meets in the real world show her that women manage to exist in a world that is so often against them, and do so best when working together. The movie is for everyone to see and enjoy, but ultimately “Barbie” is truly a film by women, about women, for women. It is a film we certainly will be seeing again.

Brigid McCabe is an editorial intern at America Media . She studies History and American Studies at Columbia University.

Laura Oldfather is an editorial intern with America Media . She studies Theology and Journalism at Fordham University. 

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Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is a Fascinating, Spectacular Philosophical Experiment

Barbie literalizes the abstract and abstracts the literal in an engaging, thought-provoking inquiry into the female experience.

Do you remember the scene in Singin’ in the Rain where Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse dance a romantic, longing modernist-ballet number? That scene is a dream sequence within a dream sequence. Gene Kelly’s character, an actor in late 20s Hollywood, is pitching a movie to a studio head and the film allows the viewer to watch the description he is conjuring. In this imaginary scene, a “young hoofer” comes to Broadway with dreams of being a star, and has them stymied for a while, along the way meeting a beautiful woman—Cyd Charisse—who is dating a gangster. He imagines falling in love with her anyway, and so the film takes us to that fantasy, which takes the form of a windy dance on a blue-and-pink-tinted soundstage.

What we’re watching is so far removed from the plot of the actual Singin’ in the Rain —which is about the Hollywood community adjusting after the advent of sound technology—but it doesn’t matter. It is a beautiful scene, a stunning bodily representation of desire and passion in the brief moment they are allowed to manifest. Movies don’t exist just to relay plots; they have tools and qualities all their own that permit experimentation, and even allow the visual exploration of abstract things like feelings, thoughts, and ideas.

It is known, via a Letterboxed profile curated by the writer-director-Greta Gerwig, that her new film Barbie takes some inspiration from Singin’ in the Rain , as well as other musicals from Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Kelly’s even more abstract An American in Paris . Gerwig’s Barbie, a dramatically hyped mainstream film about the famous Mattel doll that was created in 1959 and went on to become one of the most influential pop cultural forces in history, shares an essence with these movies.

It is an inventive, highly wildly conceptual thought experiment—not merely about the doll Barbie or even her complicated legacy and what she represents, but also about what it means to be a woman. It takes place in a similar kind of space as “the movie musical” writ large, a genre of alternate reality in which emotions and thoughts can be explored through music, song, dance, and other stuff that doesn’t happen in real life.

Barbie combines the rules of the movie musical’s imaginary netherworld with the investments of a Beckett or a Ionesco play. We’ve all seen plays where human actors play unwieldy concepts like “the city of St. Louis” or “polio” or even real material things like “bullets.” That’s the variety of inquiry Barbie is; yes, it explores the complex figure of the Barbie Doll through cinematic conventions of faux-documentary, movie-musical, and traditional Hero’s Journey narrative, but it also is simply an unreal experiment, a highly symbolic exercise where theoretical entities get to speak for themselves, and where real people get to tell anthropomorphized theoretical entities what effects they have on the human experience. The whole movie is a mise-en-abyme-heavy dream sequence, a fantasy of a dialogue between real women and womankind’s evolving, go-getting golem plaything.

I was fascinated by Barbie , which was written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, and which earnestly takes on a lot of hard work and mostly pulls it off. Compellingly, Barbie literalizes the abstract and abstracts the literal as it progresses. Gerwig’s own (presumed) thoughts and research into three-score years of Barbie frame the story, especially via the movie’s opener, a 2001: A Space Odyssey pastiche in which little girls discover the Barbie doll for the first time; the narrator (Helen Mirren) reminds us that, before Barbie, little girls could only play with  baby  dolls, pretend to be mothers; Barbie was the first grown-up doll. She was the first major girl-marketed cultural signifier insisting that a girl could be someone other than a mother. And not only that, but that she could be someone glamorous and exciting.

After this, the film follows a day in the life of a blonde Barbie, the main Barbie, the “Barbie you think of when someone says ‘think of a Barbie,'” the film calls her. She is played by Margot Robbie, who also produced the film. She lives in Barbie Land, a realm where the souls? subconscious minds? astral projections? of literal Barbie Dolls live and interact together. While their doll-bodies are being played with in the Real World, their selves live here, though they take on the characteristics of the things happening to their doll-bodies in play. This means that Barbie Land is kind of magic; outfits change spontaneously depending on the activity, Barbies float from one level of their Dream Houses to another—as if they are being played with by invisible hands.

Barbie Land is a paradise of female empowerment. The narrator reminds us how Barbie has taken on many more meanings and identities since her debut in a bathing suit in 1959, and that the Barbie concept is diverse in terms of representations of female excellence and perfection. Barbie is all women, the narrator reminds us, and she is a reminder that women can do anything. In Barbie Land, the Barbies—beautiful, accomplished, happy in all their different appearances and jobs and roles—run a supportive, productive world. There are also Kens, who do not have jobs or purposes. Barbie’s Ken (Ryan Gosling) lives for her, longs to unite more with her, wants her to love him. In interviews, Gerwig has noted that Barbie, and not Ken, is the main draw of Mattel products, and analyzed its fascinating implications: “Ken was invented after Barbie, to burnish Barbie’s position in our eyes and in the world. That kind of creation myth is the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis.”

Gerwig notes the potential for Barbie’s incredible progressiveness and takes advantage of it—telling a story about a Barbie who discovers that, in actual life, women are seen as the accessories. For the record, I don’t think the film advocates that people of any gender should be accessories to those of another gender, but Barbie still allows us to revel in the delight of an all-female paradise for a while.

Anyway, one day, our Barbie begins to experience an existential crisis—she begins to wonder about dying and freak about about “forever” and stasis. Her feet loosen from their arched position and land flat on the floor. Panicking, she goes to see an oracle-style Barbie known as Weird Barbie, maimed with crayons and perpetually in a split position after her doll self got “played with too hard.” Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) explains that Barbies are psychically connected to the children playing them, and so in order to correct these out-of-place crises, Barbie has to travel to the Real World and find that girl and help her assuage her concerns.

Barbie heads on a journey to the Real World, accompanied by Ken, who longs to prove himself to her. But when they arrive in the modern world (Los Angeles), they discover something jarring: the world is not, in fact, a feminist society in which women get to exercise (and be celebrated for) their skills and aptitudes, but… the opposite. Barbie herself grows very depressed, while Ken feels empowered, by this rift. Ken runs back to Barbie Land to tell the other Kens that “men rule the world” in reality while Barbie discovers that she’s unwittingly something of a villain there. She discovers, from a group of tween girls, that not only is Barbie not a feminist hero, but is also a controversial and outdated toy who has contributed to and participated in the creation of impossible, unhealthy, and problematic standards for women, not to mention the glorification of capitalism and the mass production environmentally-poisonous plastic. And she discovers Mattel, an FBI-style entity determined to keep the existence of the Avalon-like Barbie Land a secret.

While evading the Mattel G-Men, Barbie winds up meeting her playmate, who turns out not to be a child, but the mother of a child. She, Gloria (America Ferrera), has always loved Barbie, but her love for Barbie cannot override the frustrations and problems of her regular life, including a lack of professional and creative fulfillment (she’s a secretary at Mattel). But something happens when they’re together, and Barbie decides to bring her new friend and her Barbie-hating preteen daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) back to Barbie Land to help empower them. But when they get there, they discover that Ken has brought the idea of male supremacy back, taken over the paradise, and brainwashed all of the brilliant, accomplished Barbies into serving them and ornamenting their spaces.

Barbie isn’t a subtle movie, and that’s okay! Subtlety is overrated. It’s clear now, if it hasn’t been before, that Barbie slings many, many metaphors about the state of female existence in its current moment. Barbie is about a jealous, women-hating current that runs deep in male perspective. Ken is ultimately a bit of an incel (even though he’d be called a Chad BY the incels), and in Barbie we watch as all the progress, works, dreams of women are dismantled and erased and destroyed by men who need to feel like they control powerful women in order to feel powerful, themselves. It’s a movie that feels like it’s about Abortion Bans and the January 6th insurrection and our Post-Trump society just as it feels (sadly) timeless.

But even more insightful is what happens to Barbie when she realizes her world is a disaster. She grows depressed, begins to hate and doubt herself. She feels unattractive, unimportant, like a failure. Gerwig was influenced in writing the screenplay by the 1994 nonfiction book Reviving Ophelia, about the sudden, mass self-confidence and depression crisis that hits girls around puberty. “They’re funny and brash and confident, and then they just—stop,” she explained of the phenomenon to Vogue . “…All of a sudden, [girls think], Oh, I’m not good enough .”

Watching Barbie , this moment (when Robbie’s Barbie collapses into despair, feeling like a failure because she can’t fix the horrible things happening around her), was one of the most intuitive moments I’ve ever seen on film. Even more so is when Gloria comforts her, by acknowledging the horrible double-standards that make women feel this way, universally, delivering a heart-rending, passionate soliloquy that provides the film’s heart as well as its thesis statement. I cried a lot during the Barbie movie, but I really cried here.

Barbie not only understands what it’s like to be a woman, but has a lot of love for women, which is refreshing. It also has a lot of love for childhood, but it doesn’t allow the nostalgia for girlhood to muddle the empowerment of adult women. Barbie is a genuine masterpiece for its studies in making the intangible tangible , and this is epitomized by its magnificent production, set, and costume design.

The Barbie Dream Houses don’t have walls, just like in life. The Barbie World doesn’t come with food, just adhesive decals and plastic pieces. There is an extroardinary tactility, solidity to this world that is so reminiscent of playing with Barbies, like how McKinnon’s defaced Barbie almost always has her legs split apart. Watching the film, I remembered the feel and movement of these toys. There’s a Proust joke in Barbie , but I’m not joking when I’m saying that if Proust saw Barbie, he’d write another 1,000 pages. That’s how evocative Gerwig’s direction is. There are whole scenes in the movie that seem intended just to allow the audience to feel .

Robbie, who demonstrates tremendous physical comedy skills while also relaying depths of humanity, is wonderful as this torn Barbie. Gosling, whose relentless commitment to his character is astonishing, would be the film’s scene-stealer if Robbie wasn’t such a strong anchor. But Ferrera is the best part of the star-studded cast, a phenomenally real woman.

Barbie is so insightful in its symbolic intervention that when it returns to its Hero’s Journey/Barbie-vs. Mattel plot, it becomes a lot less satisfying. Mostly because, after watching ideas come to life, becoming reminded about the tethers to branding and commercial interests feels irrelevant and almost contradictory and even occasionally unpleasant. There’s a little too much humanization in the end, actually, partially of entities who might not deserve it, in a story that is, ultimately, about women . Things get messy and very, well, imperfect.

Still, I spent the nearly two-hours of Barbie noting how thoughtful and ambitious it was. Personally, I felt very seen and understood. I was moved and even felt a little appreciated, in a universal way. And that’s not an easy to do with a main character who is essentially a lump of plastic shaped like a person. But there is nothing fake, nothing false about Barbie . To Barbie , life may be plastic, but it’s also profound.

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‘Barbie’ is, at its core, a movie about the messy contradictions of motherhood

Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies, Arizona State University

Disclosure statement

Aviva Dove-Viebahn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Editor’s note: This article contains plot spoilers for “Barbie.”

The wildly popular “ Barbie ” movie has been touted for its celebration – and critique – of femininity.

As a mother and a media scholar , I couldn’t help but see “Barbie” through an even narrower lens: as a film that, at its core, is about mothers and daughters.

The film’s plot centers on a life-size doll, known as “Stereotypical Barbie,” played by Margot Robbie , who begins to malfunction: Her feet go flat, and she can’t stop thinking about death. So she leaves her perfect plastic life to embark on a quest to restore the boundary between the real world and Barbieland. Along the way, she learns that the real world is nothing like her girl-power wonderland, where Barbies hold all the positions of power and influence and Kens are just accessories.

But its thematic heart rests in the film’s examination of the tensions around being a mother – a role often taken for granted, even as the cultural fantasies of motherhood clash with the actual sacrifices that moms make.

Motherhood as mere drudgery?

I was immediately struck by the movie’s funny but chilling observations about motherhood.

“Since the beginning of time,” unseen narrator Helen Mirren intones sardonically in the film’s first line, “since the first little girl ever existed, there have been dolls.” (Cinephiles will immediately recognize this scene and its setting as an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s famous “ dawn of man ” opening from “ 2001: A Space Odyssey .”)

Girls appear on screen, wearing drab, antiquated dresses and playing “house” with their dolls in a primitive setting, expressionless and practically drooping with boredom. The problem with these dolls is that girls “could only ever play at being mothers, which can be fun” – Mirren pauses meaningfully – “for a while.”

Then, she adds, her tone turning cynical, “Ask your mother.”

The appeal of motherhood, Mirren seems to suggest, eventually morphs into unwanted drudgery – a reality underscored moments later when the girls meet their first Barbie, who towers above them, larger than life, inspiring them to smash their mundane baby dolls.

Barbie – a doll of a young, beautiful woman – compels kids to leave the ennui of motherhood behind for the pink plastic sparkle of Barbieland, where all the Barbies live their best lives forever, embodying feminine perfection and possibility.

The framing of motherhood as thankless and undesirable echoes mid-20th-century feminist critiques of child rearing and housework. These roles not only bound women to the home but also forced them to perform repetitive tasks that didn’t reflect their abilities and derailed their ambitions.

In her 1949 book “ The Second Sex ,” French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir argued that women, to empower themselves, needed to reject the myth that motherhood represented the pinnacle of feminine achievement. American writer Betty Friedan would echo this sentiment in her 1963 book “ The Feminine Mystique ,” railing against the image of the “happy housewife heroine” who finds fulfillment in being a wife and mother.

It’s no coincidence that these ideas overlapped with the invention of Barbie in 1959. While predating the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Barbie’s creator, Ruth Handler, did design the toy to allow girls to imagine their future adult selves , rather than simply play-acting as mothers using baby dolls.

The value in ‘motherwork’

And yet, not only do many women enjoy being mothers, but motherhood also plays an essential role in society and life.

In her 1976 book “ Of Woman Born ,” feminist poet Adrienne Rich draws a distinction between the fulfilling relationship mothers can have with their children and the patriarchal institution of motherhood, which keeps women under men’s control.

Sociologist Patricia Hill Collins coined the term “motherwork ” in the mid-1990s to highlight the experiences of women of color and working-class mothers, many of whom don’t have the resources to pursue their own ambitions over caring for their families and communities. When you’re just trying to navigate the day-to-day without wealth or other forms of privilege, options like hiring a nanny or paying for graduate school aren’t feasible or a priority.

For these mothers, the survival of their children is not a given. Instead of tedium and oppression, motherwork acknowledges that mothering can be a radically important labor of love and a source of empowerment in its own right.

In “Barbie,” the mother-daughter relationship between Gloria, played by America Ferrera , and her daughter Sasha, played by Ariana Greenblatt , contains these contradictions.

After experiencing a vision of the person whose sadness seems to be the source of her malfunctions, Stereotypical Barbie initially assumes it’s Sasha’s tween angst that’s disturbed the perfection of Barbieland and drawn her into the real world. Instead, Barbie discovers it’s Gloria’s loneliness – and her nostalgia for a simpler time when she played Barbies with her daughter – that has caused the rift between reality and fantasy.

Sasha and Gloria’s adventure with Barbie – first escaping the Mattel executives who want to lock Barbie in a box and then journeying back to Barbieland to rescue the other Barbies from the Kens, who are trying to take over – repairs the relationship between mother and daughter.

Gloria remembers what it’s like to find joy in motherhood, and Sasha realizes that her mother isn’t just a bland set of values against which to rebel. Gloria is a fully fledged person with a rich inner life who, by her own estimation, is sometimes “weird and dark and crazy,” which Sasha admires.

Sasha – and all the Barbies – have something else to learn from Gloria, too.

Stunned that even someone as perfect as Barbie feels like she’s not good enough, Gloria delivers a poignant monologue encapsulating, in Barbie’s words, “the cognitive dissonance required to be a woman under patriarchy.”

Gloria, as a mom struggling to reconcile her deep love for her child with the fear that she’s constantly failing at motherhood, knows all too well how this cognitive dissonance wears women down.

In her 2018 book “ Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty ,” scholar Jacqueline Rose argues that motherhood is tied to notions of citizenship and nation and, for this reason, can become “the ultimate scapegoat for our personal and political failings.”

The ending to “Barbie” rejects the notion that mothers are to blame for their children’s mistakes. Instead, the film offers another perspective through the character of Ruth Handler, Mattel’s founder, who’s played by Rhea Perlman. Handler helps Barbie see what awaits her if she chooses to become human.

Symbolically letting go of her creation and encouraging her to forge her own path, Ruth tells Barbie that she cannot control her any more than she could control her own daughter, and that mothers should pave the way for their children, not hinder them.

“We mothers,” she explains, “stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they’ve come.”

This sentimental and self-effacing message seems at odds with the film’s nuanced portrayal of motherhood through humor and critique.

But, throughout, “Barbie” invites viewers to question even its own structure, tenets and messaging – and presents multiple perspectives on motherhood.

Mothering is hard work and sometimes may even be thankless labor. It may bore or disappoint. It can be affirming or heartbreaking or both. It involves leading and following, holding on and letting go.

Being a mother shouldn’t have to be about sacrifice or about fitting some impossible ideal. Instead, motherhood can highlight the possibilities of living in – and with – the contradictions.

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Review by Brian Eggert July 19, 2023

When Greta Gerwig signed to direct Barbie , she faced a myriad of challenges. How do you make a movie that does justice to the venerable brand, carefully overseen by Mattel? How do you make the doll, first introduced in 1959, feel relevant given today’s multifaceted discussions of gender and feminism? Can you make a movie about Barbie without it being about more than shimmering pink surfaces? How do you speak to the doll’s promotion of unrealistic and consumerist beauty standards, the perpetuation of gender stereotypes, and its damage to self-esteem? Moreover, how does making a movie about a Barbie not inadvertently carry on those negative effects? And how do you address these issues in a $100 million production without becoming a sociopolitical soapbox, and should you even address these issues? Assuming you do, who’s the audience for this movie? Will it be geared toward the same target market as the dolls, young girls between 3-12 years of age? Or a more specialized audience? Beyond all of that, Gerwig had to make a movie that somehow tackles these questions about the rather precarious icon but also connects with the summer movie crowd.

Not surprisingly, Gerwig delivers a sublimely optimistic, glittering production—until reality truncates what become complex characters. The result is a clever satire, with a riotous sense of humor and existentialism that springs from its relatable emotions—all contained in a formally ambitious candy-colored product. Barbie ends up about as good as it could be, largely thanks to Gerwig’s self-awareness as a filmmaker and storyteller. She may not adequately address every question listed above, and the plot meanders at times, but the director of Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019) leaps into a big-budget studio project with a defiant energy and unmistakably personal stamp. Given that the Barbie movie could have been a plastic and hollow commercial with no human identity, designed to unabashedly reinforce the toy brand, it’s refreshing to see a filmmaker apply her critical perspective. Gerwig treats the titular character not as an aspirational ideal but as someone whose journey represents the many challenges and contradictions of being a woman. 

The screenplay by Gerwig and collaborator-partner Noah Baumbach borrows a page from The LEGO Movie (2014), telling the story that links the toy, who inhabits a land of make-believe beholden to the almighty toymakers, and the player with said toy in the real world. Helen Mirren narrates, introducing Barbie Land, where the so-called stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) believes, “All problems of feminism and equal rights have been resolved.” Barbie lives in a blissfully idealized matriarchal world, with an all-female President and Supreme Court. Some initial gags find Barbie waking up in her dreamhouse, on a picture-perfect day, where she pantomimes showering and eating before greeting the other women in Barbie Land—all named Barbie, save for the pregnant Midge (Emerald Fennell). The male dolls, all named Ken, save for the odd Allan (Michael Cera), vie for the Barbies’ attention—none more so than the fragile-egoed alpha Ken (Ryan Gosling). Gerwig gives us a typical day-in-the-life view of Barbie, complete with a drive to the beach in her pink Corvette, only to have her interrupt an impromptu dance number by impulsively asking, “Do you guys ever think about death?” 

Gerwig explores the imaginative limits of Barbie with her production, offering inspired asides like the opening’s ode to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), where a clan of young girls toss aside their baby dolls for an adult woman toy, which is bound to destroy their self-image for years to come. Gerwig has clearly let her creative impulses run wild to inspired effect, conjuring dance sequences inspired by The Red Shoes (1948) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952), with marvelous, bubblegum-colored imagery shot brightly by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. Another sequence through a gray-walled Mattel office feels ripped from the drab cubicle underworld of Brazil (1985), therein the opposite of Barbie Land’s pink paradise. Production designer Sarah Greenwood brings all the artistry Hollywood can muster, delivering an “A” level treatment to what looks like a more expensive version of that “Barbie Girl” music video by Aqua. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran draws from actual Barbie-brand merchandise, giving well-versed fans a knowing wink of Barbie garb throughout history and underscoring the oddities for everyone else (2009’s Sugar Daddy Ken, anyone?). 

Most impressive is how Gerwig and Baumbach’s script gives these characters dimension. Robbie’s version of the doll has profound conversations that challenge simplistic notions of womanhood, questioning her role as a doll with the help of some real-life humans, Mattel employee Gloria (America Ferrera), and her adolescent daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). Although Barbie thought she was a role model, Sasha calls her a “professional bimbo,” forcing her to reassess everything. Gloria gives more than one speech about what it means to be a woman, and it’s an inspirational rallying cry for the others—almost an extension of Saoirse Ronan’s Little Women monologue: “Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty.” But even the supporting characters feel like they have more depth than their surfaces imply. Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Dua Lipa, Hari Nef, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Alexandra Shipp, Sharon Rooney, and the rest of the ensemble appear on the same wavelength as Gerwig, perfectly aligning with the unique band of humor and message about gender equality. 

Not everything about Barbie works. When our hero faces the all-male executive team behind Mattel, she meets the company’s CEO, played by Will Ferrell, who behaves like, well, Will Ferrell—albeit unleashed as a destabilizing force in the movie. Along with the other executives, the CEO chases after Barbie to put her “back in her box,” propelling much of the second act. Yet, this conflict is never satisfyingly resolved; the CEO just sort of goes away at the end, presumably returning to his office to look over fourth-quarter projections. However, the chase leads to an overwrought scene where Barbie meets her inventor, Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman), in a white void—rather like Neo confronting the architect of The Matrix, with equally mind-bending implications. Moreover, the film never reconciles how, in the real world, Barbie continues to represent an unrealistic ideal for young girls. Sure, Gerwig makes inclusionary strides by showcasing Barbies of various races, hair colors, and body sizes, offering several Barbies who don’t look like the blonde-haired, blue-eyed “stereotypical” Barbie. Even though Gerwig addresses how not everyone looks like this or feels like they belong in Barbie’s idealized world (thanks to some well-timed criticisms by the narrator), the overall critique feels toothless in reality. So while Gloria comically suggests there should be an “Irrepressible Thoughts of Death Barbie” or “Cellulite Barbie,” don’t expect Mattel to release those dolls anytime soon. 

A Mattel commercial insists that “When a girl plays with Barbie, she imagines everything she can become.” But at least one scholarly study from 2014 suggests, no matter how ingrained the you-can-be-anything message, most young girls don’t learn that from Barbie; instead, they learn about a gendered world where women are valued for their sexualized appearance. That said, it would be absurd, and wishful thinking, to imagine that Gerwig could ever make a takedown movie about Barbie with the full cooperation of the corporation—even if Mattel seems to be a good sport, given how the company and its leadership are represented onscreen. Rather, what Gerwig offers is a clear-headed assessment of the doll, with equal measures of nostalgia and playful critique; an acknowledgment that, in reality, gender discrimination is very real; and a concession that Barbies represent a fantasy world. Barbie is also just a lot of fun, amounting to one of the year’s best comedies. It may not resolve the conflicts between Barbie the capitalist entity, the sexualized object, and the powerful feminist icon, but it doesn’t have to. Gerwig uses Barbie as a way of accessing real-world themes of womanhood in a delightfully entertaining way. 

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"Barbie," the Movie: What Can We Learn?

Challenging patriarchy is good for women and men..

Posted August 7, 2023 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• "Barbie," the movie, offers multiple layers of food for thought on our society's intrinsic patriarchy.
• Toxic masculinity describes a mindset that some men adopt; it is not a statement on "all men are bad."
• Most of what we think are truths about gender roles are actually arbitrary rules.

We might associate Barbie and the colour pink with superficial, light, girlie fun, but the movie couldn’t be further from superficial.

The doll Barbie is the quintessential representation of femininity in its full pride, sexiness, and fashionable taste. Of course, the Barbie stereotype in itself may be problematic. The doll has been criticised, as the movie points out, to encourage unrealistic expectations of the female body, but, on the other hand, it enhances how powerful femininity can be.

In the movie, Barbieland is where all kinds of Barbies have positions of power: doctors, lawyers, the president, and so on. The main character is the “stereotypical” Barbie: the tall, thin, and blond one. Ken, however, is “just Ken,” meaning he is part of the furniture, interchangeable with all the other Kens, and not able to exist without the gaze of Barbie. Indeed, the movie cleverly spins the “real world” on its head: the male gaze being positioned as the validation of women’s existence is one of the hallmarks of patriarchy in our society, and the everyday lived experience of many women.

When Barbie and Ken arrive in the “real world,” they expected a happy world, but they soon realised they looked out of place based on the clothes they were wearing (too pink and flamboyant).

When Ken discovered patriarchy in the “real world,” it resonated with him instantly because he could see himself in those men, and he felt that he suddenly belonged. An important part of our sense of well-being as humans is to feel we belong.

But, of course, one of the messages of this movie is that most women in the real world struggle to belong anywhere, as poignantly expressed by Gloria’s monologue (played brilliantly by America Ferrera) later in the movie: No matter what women decide to do, it is somehow never quite right or good enough. It’s impossible for a woman to just be.

Patriarchy, Toxic Masculinity, and Femmephobia

Patriarchy was easy for Ken to take on, and he subsequently changed Barbieland to Kendom, where the Kens had the power and the Barbies served them. This scene highlighted two important things: how patriarchy is flimsy, based on nothing but feeling fragile about their sense of masculinity, and how toxic masculinity can be quickly contagious in an attempt to feel powerful (or reacting against powerlessness) and how it harms women as well as men.

The term “toxic masculinity” is often misunderstood as a statement against men. Challenging toxic masculinity is not saying “all men are toxic.” In my article on toxic masculinity , I discuss that the term describes a mindset that men (and some women) can adopt that is detrimental to the well-being of women and men. This mindset is based on unhelpful societal narratives that aren’t “truths,” only beliefs. The other part to it is what is termed “femmephobia”: the systemic devaluation and regulation of femininity across bodies, identities, and various social locations (Hoskin & Serafini, 2023). Much of the negative reviews of "Barbie" may come from an offence to see men influenced by women and/or “femininised.” These strong feelings of offence may come from unexplored and subconscious femmephobia for some, and very conscious femmephobia for others.

All that we think we “know” about men and women aren’t “truths”; they are simply beliefs. Most of what our society is based on in terms of gender roles, rules, and responsibilities is arbitrary. Some of those narratives date back to early Christianity, colonisation, and capitalism (for example, blue for boys and pink for girls was a marketing strategy to sell more baby clothes). This was highlighted in the scene between Barbie and Ruth, her creator, toward the end of the movie. Ruth says that it is complicated to be human because our emotions can be uncomfortable, and we make things up such as patriarchy and Barbie dolls to feel better about our human discomfort. This scene elevated the movie to an existential meaning about who we are and what we do.

Barbie helps us re-think those societal narratives and makes us conscious that those rules are only beliefs. We can do for ourselves much of what Barbies had to do to save Barbieland from Kendom: de-programming our intrinsic patriarchal beliefs.

The existential messages of the movie don’t stop at the women challenging patriarchy. It also addresses how patriarchy is harmful for men, too, disabling them from getting to know themselves. It was important for Ken to be heard and not be taken for granted by Barbie. Ken needed to find his own place without trumping on Barbie’s, nor living a life based on patriarchy and imposed roles (“Kenough”). The scene in which Ken gets in touch with his emotions, allows himself to cry, and makes a commitment to get to know himself is a wonderful representation of what relationship psychotherapists call “differentiation.”

Above all, what we can all learn from the multiple messages of "Barbie," the movie, is how we can live side by side, respectfully, with our differences. Some people’s differences may be uncomfortable for some of us to be with, but it is important to sit with our discomfort (it is human) and still allow everybody the equal space to exist as they wish.

Hoskin, R.A., Serafini, T. (2023). Critically feminizing family science: Using femme theory to generate novel approaches for the study of families and relationships. Journal of Family Theory & Review. Vol15, issue 2, 292–312.

Silva Neves is a COSRT-accredited and UKCP-registered psychosexual and relationship psychotherapist in London.

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A Feminist Analysis of the Barbie Movie

Barbie lives in Barbieland, which for some is a feminist utopia in which women can do anything: be president, have highly professional careers (the entire Supreme Court are female) as well as wear high heels and throw all night parties. 

However all is not well in Barbieland: Barbie starts having nightmares and thinking about death, because the people in the real world are sad. So Barbie, accompanied by Ken, visits the real world to find her human family and solve their problems. 

In the real world, Barbie is shocked by ‘the patriarchy’. She finds herself subjected to objectification and harassment. When she finds her family, the teenage daughter thinks Barbie is nothing more than a professional bimbo who makes women feel bad about herself. 

It turns out this teenage girl is the source of sadness. She has stopped playing with her Barbie dolls because she blames them for men hating women and women hating women. 

Ken, on the other hand, feels empowered by ‘the patriarchy. In contrast to his emasculated life on the beach in Barbieland, in the real world He ends up thinking he can do anything just because he is a man. At one point he barges into a hospital thinking he can perform surgery, without any qualifications or experience. 

Back in Barbieland Ken changes things. The Supreme Court are demoted to a cheerleading squad, the president ends up serving men drinks. Every night is a ‘boys’ night and every barbie exists just to be ogled for male pleasure.

When Barbie returns she eventually manages to rally the barbies to overthrow their oppressors. Ken and Barbie apologies and the Barbies accept that a new society needs to be established with better rules for kens. 

In a hideous postmodern/ commercial twist Barbie meets with the spirit of the Mattel founder. She finds out she is uncertain of her role in the world because there is no set role. The film ends with Barbie returning to the real world: her story carries on ‘evolving’. 

Barbieland: Analysis 

At one level this film is a feminist commentary in line with what we might call Bimbo Feminism. This holds that women can embrace femininity and succeed professionally. 

It is also a criticism of Patriarchy and especially the manosphere. When Ken returns to Barbieland he convinces the Kens that their rights have been eroded by women. They adopt toxic forms of masculinity in order to reassert their power.  

This is also a movie about male as well as female roles. It is about how Kens (men) struggle to cope with increasing female power, many falling back on toxic masculinities. 

The movie is also a commentary on the uncertainty of gender identities and how they are open to interpretation. 

It also maybe gets us thinking about what use masculinity is at all going forwards: perhaps the future is one of abandoning heteronormativity entirely?

It seems to fit in well with postmodern feminism.

The Conversation: Greta Gerwing’s Barbie Movie is a ‘feminist-bimbo’ classic .

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Come on Barbie, let’s go party:  The Barbie movie is a raw analysis of the female experience

• Ella Van Leuven
• August 28, 2023

Spoiler warning: This article reveals important plot points for “Barbie”.

With the biggest opening weekend of 2023, and the biggest ever opening weekend for a female-directed film, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is making waves in both the film industry and society. 

“Barbie” isn’t just a movie about the dolls that were a part of so many girls’ childhoods. “Barbie” analyzes expectations for women, the patriarchy and the female experience as a whole. Throughout the film, Gerwig does a beautiful job of discussing the expectations that are placed on women by both society and themselves. 

The film quickly addresses that Barbie was never meant to be a role model for how women are supposed to look, she is a representation of everything a woman can be. The opening sequence discusses the fact that Barbie was the first non-baby doll for young girls. Barbie has the power to encourage girls to be anything they want to be —- the president, an astronaut, a chef, or anything in between.

The movie follows “Stereotypical Barbie”, played by Margot Robbie, as she goes on a journey of self-discovery and redefines her views of the world around her. After Stereotypical Barbie starts noticing horrifying changes to her normally perfect appearance, including flat feet and cellulite, she and Ken (Ryan Gosling) make their way to the real world to both save herself and discover her true purpose. 

On their journey through the real world, Barbie and Ken meet Gloria (America Ferrera) and Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), a mother and her daughter who join them on their mission to save Barbie, and eventually all of Barbieland. 

One of the most memorable moments of the film is Gloria’s monologue, in which she addresses how truly impossible it feels to be a woman. She tells Barbie, “I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.” Not only does society set impossible expectations for women, we also set impossible expectations for ourselves. 

Gloria’s speech is the first time many women have had these feelings put into words. Her monologue allows many women to feel truly seen in the struggles they face every day. 

While some argue that Gerwig’s film is “anti-men”, the film is truly a criticism of the detrimental effects of patriarchy and how it affects women everywhere. The film enacts a genius reversal of the roles that men and women are typically given in both film and the real world. 

In the beginning of the film, the Kens’ very existence depends upon the Barbies giving them attention. Just as women have been portrayed in film for so long, the Kens are shallow and generally don’t have a lot going on in their heads. 

When Ryan Gosling’s Ken visits the real world, he has his first experience with patriarchy, encountering a world where men run everything and women are often treated as “less than” and objectified.

Ken takes this information back to the other Kens, and while Barbie is still in the real world, he transforms Barbieland into Kendom, a patriarchal society based largely off of horses and beer. Ken transforms “Barbie’s Dreamhouse” into his “Mojo Dojo Casa House”, and he and the other Kens quickly move to take over the government and warp all the values of Barbieland.

There is a pointed difference in how Barbieland treats the Kens and how Kendom treats the Barbies. While the Barbies just let the Kens follow them around withholding invitations to girls’ night, the Kens put the Barbies into a patriarchal trance, making them wear maid costumes and forcing them to wait on the Kens hand and foot.

Once Barbieland is restored to its former state, the Barbies don’t flip the roles and force the Kens to serve them. Rather, Barbie apologizes for taking Ken for granted, pushing him to discover his own purpose apart from being in love with her.

Through its comic portrayal, with Ken eventually telling Barbie, “To be honest, when I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I lost interest anyway,” the film makes important points about how deeply harmful patriarchy is to women everywhere. Although Kendom feels exaggerated and includes a lot of comedic elements, it’s a very real criticism of how women are treated in the real world.

The Barbies are saved by powerful female friendships, and the film effectively snaps its audience out of the “patriarchy trance”, just like Gloria snaps the Barbies out of the trance the Kens placed upon them.  “Barbie” isn’t just a visually stunning movie about dolls. The film delivers a raw analysis of the female experience, helping women everywhere to feel seen in their daily struggle to simply exist. Through the film, Gerwig tells us that we are all Barbie, pushing women to see themselves as the powerful and independent beings we truly are.

This Post Has 2 Comments

Thank you for putting so many confusing thoughts for me into the written word. I was floored at the deep social commentary that I believed the movie exposed, rather than the fluff i had been told it was. Being a boomer, born in 1960, Barbie was a large part of my childhood and surely encouraged me to aim higher than my mother did, although she was very successful. God knows it is very hard to be a woman in a patriarchy and I did love Gloria’s monologue about the struggle of women.

This commentary perfectly clarifies my experience of watching Barbie—and never having had one instead opting for all forms of sports. ( Not to mention that I was probably too old to play with dolls when Barbie first appeared!). I would have liked to have been able to articulate so well what the film is telling us. Now I need to see it again.

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An Analysis of the New Barbie Movie: Reimagining Childhood Iconography and Its Impact

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Published: 08/09/2023

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In the realm of iconic cultural figures, few names hold as much recognition and influence as Barbie. For decades, this plastic fashionista has played a crucial role in shaping the imagination and aspirations of generations of young girls. In 2023, the release of the “Barbie” movie aimed to breathe new life into the character, presenting her in a contemporary cinematic light. While dismissing the “Barbie” movie as mere entertainment might be tempting, a closer examination reveals a tapestry of themes, characters, and artistic choices that have implications beyond the surface. This essay delves into the intricate layers of the movie, examining its narrative, target audience, cast, and specific characters, particularly Barbie and Ken. This analysis will unearth this record-breaking movie’s significance in modernizing an age-old character while pondering its implications for the broader cultural landscape.

What Is the Barbie Movie About?

The long-anticipated “Barbie” movie was advertised to the public at the end of 2022 when its trailer was presented before several screenings of “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The film itself ventures beyond the realm of a typical childhood tale, offering a captivating narrative that combines elements of adventure, self-discovery, and empowerment. Set in the fictional realm of “Barbieland,” the story follows Barbie, a fashion-conscious young woman who is magically transported to a world where her choices shape her destiny. Barbie embarks on a journey of introspection, transcending her reputation as a mere fashion icon. As the seemingly straightforward narrative unfolds, the audience witnesses Barbie navigating diverse challenges, each demanding her to tap into hidden strengths and adaptability. Her evolution from a fashionable toy to a multidimensional character mirrors society’s ongoing quest for broader, more nuanced representations in popular culture.

Barbie Movie Cast

The “Barbie” movie, directed by Greta Gerwig, boasts a diverse and talented cast, showcasing the entertainment industry’s push toward inclusivity and representation. The casting choices encompass a spectrum of ethnicities, backgrounds, and experiences, fostering a sense of authenticity in the characters’ interactions and personalities. For instance, while the main character is played by Margot Robbi, many other Barbies are non-white or characteristically slim. This intentional casting aligns with the modern emphasis on reflecting the real world within the realm of entertainment. At the same time, the cast features such famous figures as Dua Lipa and John Cena. The cast members’ performances breathe life into the characters, granting them depth and relatability that extends beyond their toy origins.

Is the Barbie Movie for Kids?

While the “Barbie” movie undoubtedly retains its appeal to its traditional young audience, it skillfully caters to a broader demographic. Through intricate storytelling and thoughtful character development, the film invites both children and adults to embark on an engaging, emotional journey. Subtle humor and sophisticated references sprinkle the narrative, providing a layer of enjoyment tailored to a mature audience. This shift indicates a broader trend in the entertainment industry, where creators recognize the value of creating content that resonates with different age groups, promoting shared experiences within families, and fostering cross-generational dialogue.

The Image of Barbie

Barbie’s visual representation in the movie encapsulates a contemporary aesthetic that aligns with the evolving beauty standards of today’s world. The main character’s physical attributes remain aspirational, yet the film consciously tones down the exaggerated proportions that were a hallmark of her earlier incarnations. Along with it, the movie presents Barbies of various races, ages, and body types. This adjustment speaks to the ongoing discourse surrounding body positivity and promoting healthier beauty ideals. By presenting a more realistic image of Barbie, the movie reshapes perceptions of beauty and promotes a healthier body image for young viewers.

Beyond physical appearances, the movie crafts Barbie’s image as a symbol of empowerment and determination. Her journey from a fashion-forward icon to a multidimensional character underscores the idea that women can be both stylish and strong. Barbie’s evolution into a capable problem-solver and leader reflects a larger societal shift in recognizing women’s multifaceted capabilities and challenging stereotypes that often limit their potential.

In a striking visual transformation, Barbie is depicted engaging in physically demanding activities and showcasing her prowess in ways that defy traditional gender roles. Her image as a fearless explorer, scientist, or inventor amplifies her role as a source of inspiration for young girls aspiring to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This image underscores the importance of providing diverse role models in media to break down barriers and encourage girls to explore fields historically dominated by men.

The Image of Ken in Barbie Movie

Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, is the quintessential male counterpart to Barbie. His character experiences a noteworthy transformation in the 2023 movie. No longer confined to a secondary or supportive role (as seen in his song “I’m Just Ken”), this character evolves into a complex character with his motivations, aspirations, and character arc. Far from being a mere accessory to Barbie, Ken is presented as an equal partner who values collaboration and teamwork. His character subverts stereotypes, sending a positive message about healthy relationships and the importance of mutual respect. This development reflects shifting gender dynamics and the industry’s recognition of the importance of portraying well-rounded male characters. The exploration of Ken’s emotions and growth not only contributes to the movie’s narrative depth but also challenges traditional notions of masculinity, inspiring conversations about gender roles and expectations.

Socio-Cultural Implications of the Barbie Movie

Beyond the silver screen, the 2023 “Barbie” movie carries significant socio-cultural implications. Its deliberate efforts to modernize a cultural icon serve as a commentary on society’s evolving values and expectations. The film becomes a lens through which viewers can contemplate the changing perceptions of femininity, beauty standards, and gender roles. As Barbie navigates challenges and growth, her journey becomes a metaphor for the ongoing journey towards empowerment and self-discovery, transcending generations and cultures.

Remarkably, despite record-breaking box office and high viewer rating, the “Barbie” movie has sparked discussions and controversies that highlight its broader cultural impact. While celebrated for its positive messages, the film has also faced criticism for perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards. This duality encapsulates the multifaceted nature of Barbie’s influence, forcing us to confront the complexities of media representation and its implications for young minds. Moreover, the “Barbie” movie has paved the way for merchandise, spin-offs, and a larger franchise that extends beyond cinema, cementing Barbie’s status as a cultural icon and sparking conversations about consumerism, branding, and marketing to children.

Nostalgia and Reinvention

The “Barbie” movie’s juxtaposition of nostalgia and reinvention highlights its unique position as both a homage to its origins and a step toward the future. By preserving the core essence of the character while also injecting contemporary themes, the film bridges the gap between generations. It invites the older audience to reconnect with their childhood memories while introducing the character to a new wave of admirers. This interplay between the past and the present showcases the enduring power of cultural icons to adapt and resonate across time.

The 2023 “Barbie” movie is a testament to the dynamic nature of cultural symbols. Through its engaging narrative, diverse cast, and reimagined characters, the film transcends its plastic origins, shaping a new narrative that resonates with modern sensibilities. It reflects the entertainment industry’s commitment to inclusivity, challenges traditional gender roles, and navigates the delicate balance between nostalgia and innovation. As a piece of cinematic artistry, the movie exemplifies the potential of cultural reimagining to create relevant and thought-provoking content for both new and established audiences. In a world of constant change, the “Barbie” movie asserts that even the most iconic figures can evolve, inspiring fresh interpretations and new dialogues across generations.

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The hype around 'Barbie' is huge, but so is the debate. Here are 6 reasons the movie is sparking discussion on social media.

• "Barbie" has been in theatres less than a week, after debuting to much hype. 
• Since the movie was released in cinemas on July 21, it has sparked debate on social media.
• Its feminist messaging in particular has been criticized from multiple angles.

The "Barbie" movie dropped in theatres to huge hype, bringing in $162 million in its opening weekend . It's barely been out a week and it's been described as a "full-fledged box office phenomenon" as hoards of viewers around the world flocked to cinemas. 

It's also caused a whole lot of discussion on social media.

For some people, the movie surpassed expectations; for others, it fell flat; and several aspects of the movie have caused controversy and sparked a lot of debate.

Here's what people are talking about the most. (Warning: may contain spoilers.)

In a movie that is supposed to be centered around women, a man is one of the most popular characters.

Allan, a doll who was introduced to the Barbie franchise in 1964 as Ken's friend, is played by Michael Cera in the movie.

He has been referred to as the "unsung hero" of the film in an article by KQED , and as the movie's "sly secret weapon" by Mashable .

"One of the most relatable parts of 'Barbie' was watching Allan quietly struggling with heteronormativity the whole movie," TikToker @nathanmychael wrote in a video . Many viewers agreed with his statement. 

@nathanmychael crying to barbie was not on my 2023 bingo card #barbie #barbiemovie #barbiemovies #margotrobbie #ryangosling #gretagerwig #ken #allan #billieeilish #gay #lgbt #lgbtq #bi #queer #pov #fyp #relatable #newmovie #la #losangeles ♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"] - Billie Eilish

But not everyone is happy with the amount of attention Allan is getting. 

"It's a movie about feminism where pretty much all of the main characters are women and somehow everyone's favorite character is still a man," TikTok user @kindsoberfullydressed  wrote in a video, which has received over 1.6 million views.

@kindsoberfullydressed #i❤️micheal #MrCera ♬ Barbie Girl - Lady Aqua

Despite this criticism, they added that Allan is their favorite character from the movie too. "I'm literally part of the problem."

Barbie apologizes to Ken, but no one apologizes to Barbie.

At the end of the movie, Barbie, who is played by Margot Robbie, apologizes to Ken, who is played by Ryan Gosling, for not being romantically interested in him. 

Many people have criticized the apology for reinforcing the idea that it's "mean" for women to draw boundaries with a man , and that they are "expected to play therapist."

"Barbie was the one responsible for picking Ken back up again even though he hurt Barbie just as much if not more," TikTok user @cheesebloque wrote in a video . 

@cheesebloque I AM DISTRAUGHT #gretagerwig #barbiemovie #mattel #barbie #ken #feminism #fyp ♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture "Barbie"] - Billie Eilish

Ken isn't the only person who hurt Barbie throughout the movie. At one point, a teenage character called Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) hurls a stream of insults at Barbie, culminating in calling her a "fascist" and making Barbie cry.

"I don't understand why they moved on from that it fr just shattered my heart," one TikToker wrote . Others agreed that they noticed that nobody had apologized to Barbie throughout the entire movie. 

@myispace that wasnt very women supporting women of Sasha #barbie ♬ original sound - <3

One viewer commented that while Sasha was mean, she was a good representation of a young teenage girl. Others suggested that Sasha's apology to Barbie wasn't in her words, but rather through her actions when she turned the car around and went back to save Barbieland.

Some men say the movie is "anti-men."

Some men, including broadcaster Piers Morgan, have argued that the movie carries a "misandrist message."

"If I made a movie that treated women the way Barbie treats men, feminists would want me executed," Morgan wrote in an article published in the New York Post on July 24. 

In r/MensRights, a subreddit with over 350,000 members, one user complained that the movie "seriously kept putting men down, making them look like second-class citizens." 

They said that when they tried to find a movie that had a similar message about women, they couldn't find one. 

But Twitter user @ardcntIy argued that the entire plot of the movie focuses on the problems that occur because men are not taught how to deal with their emotions, which leads them to "cling to the patriarchy." 

—bee (@ardcntIy) July 21, 2023

The movie's feminist message has been disputed by some viewers, who think it's surface level.

Some have said that "Barvie" fails to recognize that experiences differ significantly for different groups of women and that the movie does not address the multiple forms of inequality that exist outside of gender, such as race, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. 

In one video , user @kxmberly_tsitsi accused Hollywood of being "out of touch" with feminism and women's experiences. 

She wrote, "It doesn't properly criticize patriarchy and the message it pushes would've been groundbreaking in the 60s but in 2023 it falls flat and completely ignores any intersectionality.

@kxmberly_tsitsi i had fun watching Barbie but the message was sadly very weak - idk maybe im being too harsh? #barbie #review ♬ what was i made for billie eilish - aidenwatson

But another TikToker argued that while she believes the movie is not doing anything "radical or revolutionary," it is a good introduction to feminism for many. 

"Based on the last year or two years that we have lived through, it is very clear that some people either missed Feminism 101, or are very much in need of a refresher," she wrote in a video .

@jordxn.simone its like wanting doctorate level talks with a community that just learned gender studies is even a class #barbie #barbiegirl #barbiemovies ♬ original sound - jordan

While the ideas presented in the movie may not seem "radical" for some audience members, they could be revolutionary for younger members of the audience. 

In a tweet , user @aishamadeit wrote that America Ferrera's character Gloria's monologue , which some have argued is a very basic representation of feminism, would have hyped her up to "run through a brick wall at 16."

—Aisha (@aishamadeit) July 24, 2023

Some believe the movie's central themes and characters are underdeveloped.

The movie explores multiple themes, including the implications of death, feminism and patriarchy, perfectionism, and identity and individuality. But some people criticized the film for having too many undeveloped storylines. 

At the end of the movie, the creator of Barbie, Ruth Handler, who is played by Rhea Pearlman, tells Barbie, "We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they've come." 

In an article in The Daily Beast , entertainment critic Coleman Spilde referred to this as the movie's "most profound line."

But Twitter user @ModernGurlzz , who is known for her film analysis content that she posts on her YouTube channel , where she has over 650,000 subscribers, tweeted that while this line is very meaningful "in theory," it doesn't work given that the movie "utterly neglects to discuss motherhood in a meaningful manner at any other point."

She said that the rift in Gloria and her daughter Sasha's relationship is supposed to serve as a catalyst for Barbie's identity crisis, but both characters are "underdeveloped" and don't interact in a believable mother-daughter way.

—ModernGurlz (@ModernGurlzz) July 25, 2023

The movie focuses a lot on Ken.

In an interview published in the Los Angeles Times , "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig said that she thought many men felt "released by Ken's journey."

But some people are saying that the movie is too focused on Ken questioning his identity. 

One user tweeted that Barbie "felt like a side character" throughout the movie and that Ken felt like the main character, writing, "I hated how everything was made about making him feel better."

Others argued that it is important to address the issues that cause men to lean into patriarchal views, often as a result of feeling lonely and alienated in society. 

The movie's viral tagline, "She's everything. He's just Ken," may have set some viewers up for failure, assuming it would barely focus on Ken, however others thought it was subverting our expectations intentionally.

"She doesn't have to be everything, and he doesn't have to be nothing," wrote one Twitter user , calling the execution of the idea a "pretty nifty move."

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How Inclusive Brands Fuel Growth

• Omar Rodríguez-Vilá,
• Dionne Nickerson,
• Sundar Bharadwaj

Years before the Barbie movie phenomenon, leaders at Mattel became concerned that consumer perceptions of the famous doll were out of sync with demographic trends. The company conducted in-depth research to understand how customers felt about Barbie and to determine whether more-inclusive versions presented a strong market opportunity. The findings led to a new inclusion strategy that affected all areas of the brand—product design, distribution, and commercial activities—and coincided with a period of significant growth. Barbie revenues increased 63% from 2015 to 2022—before the boost from the film.

Research shows that in most industries the perception of inclusion can materially change customers’ likelihood to purchase and willingness to recommend products and services.

This article presents a framework for increasing marketplace inclusion in three areas: seeing the market, which is about market definition, market intelligence, and strategies for growth; serving the market, which involves developing products, packaging, and other commercial practices; and being in the market, which looks at advocacy and the customer experience.

They unlock new sources of value by meeting the needs of underrecognized customers.

Idea in Brief

The opportunity.

Research shows that the perception of inclusion can materially change customers’ likelihood to purchase and willingness to recommend products and services.

The Problem

Despite the many business and societal benefits of marketplace inclusion, there is a systematic lack of it across industries.

The Approach

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie grossed more than $1 billion at the box office in about two weeks. Only 53 films have ever hit that mark (adjusted for inflation). The 2023 movie, which features themes of women’s empowerment, multiculturalism, and inclusiveness, was a divergence from the narrow social and demographic representation of the original tall, thin, white doll that Mattel introduced in 1959.

• OR Omar Rodríguez-Vilá is a professor of marketing practice at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and the academic director of education at its Business & Society Institute.
• DN Dionne Nickerson is an assistant professor of marketing at the Goizueta Business School.
• SB Sundar Bharadwaj is the Coca-Cola Company Chair of Marketing at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. LinkedIn: Sundar Bharadwaj

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Barbie, the Book

A bookstore event for the newly published “Barbie: The World Tour” brought out the die-hards.

By Alex Vadukul

Some 200 Barbie fans braved a hard rain on Wednesday evening as they made their way to the Rizzoli bookstore in Manhattan for the release of a coffee-table book celebrating the doll’s fashion history.

Inside, some took off their raincoats to reveal pink skirts, scarves, sweaters and blazers. Before a panel discussion began, they helped themselves to pink velvet cupcakes and rosé.

Two friends in the crowd, Carol Torre and Anahy Antara, reflected on their fandom.

“I don’t really know much about the book,” Ms. Torre, an accountant, said. “I’m just here because I love Barbie.”

“I’ve been hitting thrift shops to try to pull off Barbie’s style ever since the movie came out,” Ms. Antara, a university administrator, added. “The truth is, lots of us still want to be Barbie. Sure, I’m all for bra-burning and feminism, but I still want to be like her.”

Published by Rizzoli and authored by Margot Robbie and her stylist, Andrew Mukamal , “ Barbie: The World Tour ” explores the Mattel doll as a style icon. Its pages are filled with portraits of Ms. Robbie, the star of Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster film, wearing outfits including a Givenchy dress inspired by Gay Parisienne Barbie , and a Miu Miu ensemble recalling Evening Splendor Barbie .

Fabien Baron art-directed the project, and the fashion spreads were photographed by Craig McDean . The book also includes handwritten tributes on Barbie’s cultural influence from designers like Donatella Versace and Manolo Blahnik.

The evening’s talk, moderated by the journalist Esther Zuckerman, featured Mr. Mukamal, Mr. Baron and Mr. McDean.

Mr. Mukamal said the book was conceived as a way to show off looks that never made it to red carpets, because of the monthslong actors’ strike that cut into Ms. Robbie’s global press tour for “ Barbie .”

“That lit the fire under Margot and I to say, ‘OK, well, we have all these looks that we’ve prepared, all these designers and brands that have lent their genius to our vision,’” Mr. Mukamal said. “‘How can we do something to make sure that this is all visible and commemorated somewhere?’”

After reminiscing about cutting the hair of Barbie dolls with his sister as a boy, Mr. Baron said that he had included archival snippets of the doll’s history in the book as a way to give it a “collage vibe.” “Rather than just having pictures of Margot,” he said, “I wanted it to feel like a diary, something that she could have penned herself. That’s why there’s handwriting everywhere.”

During the Q. and A. session, one fan asked why the book didn’t include outfits from the “ Dolls of the World ” Barbie collection.

“There’s a lot of room for misinterpretation if, say, Margot is wearing a kimono or something,” Mr. Mukamal said. “Barbie is transformative enough, but there’s people out there who might interpret that a little bit incorrectly.”

Then the three panelists — who all wore black — sat at a table covered in pink sequins to sign books.

In the crowd was Sally Singer , a former Vogue editor and the newly minted president of Art + Commerce at William Morris Endeavor’s fashion division.

“Some of the most eccentric people I know are Barbie fans, and many people on the fringes of fashion have always used Barbie as an incubator for their creativity,” Ms. Singer said. “I’ve always seen her as a kind of companion to self-creative, singular and avant-garde people.”

Michelle Mackliff, a fashion consultant, had brought along a Barbie doll from her own collection that was still in its box: a 1995 Donna Karan New York limited edition Bloomingdale’s Barbie. As she waited in line to have her book signed, other fans gathered to ogle the chicly outfitted doll, which held a miniature Big Brown Bag from the Manhattan department store.

“I’ve been thinking lots recently about why I love Barbie so much,” Ms. Mackliff said. “I guess it’s because I first started dreaming about what was possible with my life because of her. She was my first feminist symbol.”

“I still remember getting my first Barbie as a girl for Christmas when I was growing up in Ecuador,” she added. “And you know what? I still have that doll to this day.”

Alex Vadukul is a features writer for the Styles section of The Times, specializing in stories about New York City. More about Alex Vadukul

Explore Our Style Coverage

The latest in fashion, trends, love and more..

How ‘Carefluencers’ Got Big:  On TikTok and Instagram, people are sharing what it’s like to take care of relatives who have reached their final years .

The Buzz on Boat Shoes:  The category of footwear  created when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president is being reinterpreted and rediscovered.

Are You a ‘Spring’ or a ‘Winter’?:  Seasonal color analysis, a fad from the 1980s  seeking to identify a person’s most flattering color palette, is drawing views and exasperation on TikTok.

Barbie, the Book:  A bookstore event for the newly published “Barbie: The World Tour” brought out the die-hards.

Loving Sticks:  Those who appreciate “ something as basic as a stick ” are sharing their enthusiasm through a newly popular Instagram account.

What Happened to the Wrap Dress?:  A pandemic, the demise of “girlboss” culture and new values around what’s “flattering” have made the classic design seem outdated to some .

After Shakira Said That Her Young Sons Thought That “Barbie” Was “Emasculating,” People Are Begging Parents To “Raise More Secure Men”

“I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men,” Shakira said in a controversial new interview.

BuzzFeed Staff

When Barbie was released in July 2023, social media was immediately flooded with discourse as people reacted to the highly-anticipated movie.

The film grossed over $1 billion in its first three weeks of release, and writer and director Greta Gerwig became the first female solo director in history to have a billion-dollar movie.

But while its cultural impact and staggering box office success is indisputable, some were left disappointed by Barbie’s storyline, which focused heavily on Ken. 

Ryan Gosling stole the show as Margot Robbie ’s Barbie’s male counterpart, with the plot focusing on both of them learning about the patriarchy for the first time after they left Barbie Land and entered the Real World.

Others also criticized Barbie for being “ feminism 101 ,” with America Ferrera’s famous speech about all of the things that women are expected to be towards the end of the movie being branded “ basic ” and “ surface level .”

And the Barbie discourse erupted once again earlier this year when Margot and Greta didn’t receive Best Actress or Best Director Oscar nominations, but Ryan Gosling did receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination, as well as a nod in the Best Original Song category.

“Nominating Ken but not Barbie is so on the nose it hurts,” one viral tweet read at the time, with Hillary Clinton even entering the conversation to throw her support  behind the two snubbed women. 

By this point, people were getting fatigued by the conversation, and the outrage was branded “ the very epitome of white feminism ” as it was pointed out that Greta and Margot not being recognized by the academy was overshadowing Latinx actor America’s achievement after she was nominated in Best Supporting Actress. 

It's also worth mentioning that the academy recognized Margot’s role as a producer in the Best Picture category, and Greta was nominated alongside Noah Baumbach for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Now, almost nine months after Barbie’s release, the debate around its feminist themes has once again gained traction due to Shakira ’s claim that watching the film had been an “ emasculating ” experience for her two sons.

The singer shares 11-year-old Milan and nine-year-old Sasha with her ex-partner Gerard Piqué.

In case you missed it, Shakira made a series of eyebrow-raising comments about Barbie in a new interview with Allure that was published on Monday.

When asked about her thoughts on the blockbuster, she said: “My sons absolutely hated it. They felt that it was emasculating. And I agree, to a certain extent. I'm raising two boys. I want 'em to feel powerful too [while] respecting women. I like pop culture when it attempts to empower women without robbing men of their possibility to be men, to also protect and provide.”

“I believe in giving women all the tools and the trust that we can do it all without losing our essence, without losing our femininity,” Shakira continued. “I think that men have a purpose in society and women have another purpose as well. We complement each other, and that complement should not be lost.”

“Just because a woman can do it all doesn’t mean she should?” the star then asked. “Why not share the load with people who deserve to carry it, who have a duty to carry it as well?”

Suffice to say, people had a lot of opinions on Shakira’s comments and took to social media to share their thoughts.

Discussing what the star had said on a Reddit forum, one popular comment simply reads: “You don't have to like Barbie as a movie (I loved it personally) but this is still one of the worst takes I've ever heard. Girl bye.”

Others were confused about what parts of the storyline were “emasculating” to young men, with one person asking: “emasculating? Why, bc Ken had an emotion and didn't end the movie as god? What's going on with your sons Shakira.”

“It's baffling ngl because Barbie's narrative dedicated soooo much time to Ken and his storyline/character development and went out of it's way to sympathize with his internal struggles and insecurities, and people still got mad,” another echoed.

While somebody else retorted: “Raise more secure men. I loved the movie."

It was also pointed out that Shakira’s quotes validated the entry-level feminism that previously saw Barbie receive backlash, with one popular comment reading: “When I watched it I thought that the feminist message was a bit basic and superficial, but it seems that actually that message is needed a lot.”

“There was a lot of discourse about the movie’s message around the Oscars and how it was too surface level to be meaningful or impactful but idk,” another user wrote. “I agree that it’s incredibly introductory, and yet there are people that walked away from it feeling like it was emasculating and man-hating. To me that says a lot. Everyone starts somewhere and if the Barbie movie is someone’s start, I can’t write it off just because my feminism is much more developed. It’s all very interesting to say the least."

This sentiment was echoed over on X, formerly Twitter, where one viral tweet about Shakira’s comments reads: “this is why barbie is a necessary movie for many women to be introduced to feminism 101 as they still suffer from internalised misogyny.”

“Whenever people complain about modern society ‘tearing men down’ and ‘emasculating’ them, it always comes back to wanting to maintain the prestige attached to masculinity,” somebody else tweeted . “It's always about pretending that gender roles are natural and not about power and access to resources.”

While another claimed : “If your sons hated a freaking Barbie movie because they felt ‘emasculated’ then you have failed to raise them correctly, like that’s on you beautiful.”

“Shakira: My boys need all movies (including female drive ones named Barbie) to portray Masculinity & Femininity the way they’ve done for the past 100 years or else they’ll feel small and irrelevant,” one more wrote . 

“she really decided to set herself up for disaster with this horrendous take,” another user wrote . Somebody else tweeted : “her sons are 11 and 9 they do NOT use words like ‘emasculating.’”

Shakira has not publicly responded to the backlash to her comments, but we will let you know if she does!

Topics in this article

'Barbie' star Margot Robbie to produce 'Monopoly' movie; new 'Blair Witch' in the works

LAS VEGAS – A " Monopoly " movie will pass "go" and head directly to theaters, courtesy of Margot Robbie .

A film based on the classic board game is moving forward with the "Barbie" star's production company, LuckyChap, set to produce. Lionsgate revealed Robbie's involvement in the project Wednesday at CinemaCon , the convention for movie theaters and studios. Hasbro Entertainment will also produce the movie.

"Monopoly is a top property − pun fully intended," LuckyChap said in a statement shared with USA TODAY. "Like all of the best IP, this game has resonated worldwide for generations, and we are so excited to bring this game to life alongside the wonderful teams involved at Lionsgate and Hasbro."

Adam Fogelson, chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement that LuckyChap is joining the Monopoly movie "with a clear point of view," adding, "We are tremendously excited to be working with the entire LuckyChap team on what we all believe can be their next blockbuster." Hasbro Entertainment head of film Zev Foreman also said that Monopoly "provides an incredible platform for storytelling opportunities."

The project will pair Robbie with Hasbro after she previously teamed up with Mattel on " Barbie ," the highest-grossing film of 2023. In addition to starring, Robbie also produced "Barbie" via LuckyChap Entertainment, which she founded with her husband, Tom Ackerley.

"Monopoly" will be another game-based project for Robbie: The news comes weeks after it was reported that she will produce a movie based on the video-game series "The Sims."

Horror master Jason Blum is going back to the forest for a new 'Blair Witch Project'

In addition, Lionsgate announced that horror producer Jason Blum is heading up a new version of "The Blair Witch Project," director Dustin Daniel Cretton ("Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings") is overseeing a big-screen adaptation of the "Naruto" manga series, and Henry Cavill is headlining a new "Highlander" from "John Wick" filmmaker Chad Stahelski.

"I’m a huge admirer of 'The Blair Witch Project,' which brought the idea of found footage horror to mainstream audiences and became a true cultural phenomenon,” Blum said in a statement. " "Blair Witch" is the first of a series of reimaginings from the Lionsgate horror library that Blumhouse will be producing.

“I don’t think there would have been a 'Paranormal Activity' had there not first been a 'Blair Witch,' so this feels like a truly special opportunity and I’m excited to see where it leads.”

The studio also showcased first trailers for a number of releases coming soon, including the Dave Bautista action movie "The Killer's Game," the Mel Gibson air thriller "Flight Risk" (with Mark Wahlberg as a psycho killer), the Halle Berry horror movie "Never Let Go," the Aziz Ansari/Seth Rogen comedy "Good Fortune" and the "John Wick" spinoff "Ballerina" with Ana de Armas.