Theater Review: Barbie
“Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever.” -Ruth Handler
It’s always: “Come on Barbie! Let’s go party!” Never: “Hey Barbie, how was your day today?” Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach collaborate on a film for today’s generation on the 1960s Mattel toy product line, Barbie. With a runtime of just under 2 hours, Barbie is a blockbuster that bridges the generational gap between the Baby Boomer era and today’s Zoomer society. With topics addressing self-realization, legacy, and intersectionality, Barbie tackles the history and impact of the iconic toy brand in a way that is comedic and inclusive to men and women of all ages.
Storytelling
Don’t let the vibrant colors of the teasers and trailers fool you, nothing about this story is easy for Barbie. The story follows Stereotypical Barbie, one of the many variations of Barbie who resides in the fantasy world of Barbieland. Portrayed by Margot Robbie, Sterotypical Barbie faces turmoil when a sudden change in her appearance and personality becomes apparent to her fellow Barbie cohorts. Barbie is later tasked by Weird Barbie, another variation of Barbie, to find her owner who exists in the “real world” on earth to discover why her appearance and personality are being altered.
Throughout the story, Gerwig and Baumbach evoke this feeling of controlled chaos with comedic punctuation. Every punchline and end result provides a level of ease and resolve that keeps audience members interested in the next conflict thrown at Stereotypical Barbie.
“I'm interested in how life is complicated and messy and that there is nothing that's either or, either good or bad, but it's mostly it's both. It can be all these things at once. - Greta Gerwig
Barbie is a dialogue that shows the bright side and dark side of human life. From the glitz and glam of Barbieland, to the grit and grind of the real world, nothing in the story of Barbie is perfect. Gerwig and Baumbach profoundly presents this theme of coexistence… with good comes bad, with happiness comes sadness, and so on and so forth.
Although the story ends on a note of resolve and optimism, adversity is the main proponent that drives these characters to evolution. Whether it’s Ken driven to provide justice to his other Ken cohorts by implementing a patriarchial brewski beer structure in Barbieland, or Sterotypical Barbie trying to find empower women in the real world, adversity is the driving force for change and improvement.
Cinematography
From the vibrant shades of pink and baby blue in Barbieland, the visuals of Barbie scream dream world from the get-go. That is until the story progresses into the real world. The settings of Barbie do exactly what needs to be done: set the tone for the audience.
The scenes in Barbieland give a feeling of beauty and posh luxury without providing a sense of happiness or relief. Audience members feel a sense of joy and positivity fully knowing that everything isn’t what is seems. Constant greetings from your neighbors and boys constantly flirting with you from across the cul-de-sac is even far-fetched for a cartoon fantasy. But when life is plastic, who knows what normal is?
On the flip side, scenes in the real world show a more faint hue of color in their picture quality. A more ambiguous environment for Barbie and Ken to explore, yet a setting that shows hope for our protagonists. The change in setting and its approach to showing two drastically different settings was a great call from Gerwig and Baumbach. The way the two use setting and the context of the setting gives viewers a wide range of emotions without ever losing belief in Barbie. Although Barbie is thrown with a lot of conflict and is pushed to her limit, she never loses the audience’s support or optimism for her triumph.
Cast & Acting
With a star-studded cast, it can be difficult to balance the spotlight between talents that all equally deserve it. Not in the case of Barbie. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling carry a bulk of the screen time as Stereotypical Barbie and Ken respectfully. Robbie and Gosling embody the roles of Barbie and Ken that accurately depicts the themes and motifs of their original design and purpose from the 1960s. Robbie and Gosling also pull a switcharoo in demeanor so effortlessly during their setting change from Barbieland to the real world. The range of acting shows not only is a testament to how talented these actors are, but a great example of how brilliant Gerwig and Baumbach were in casting and telling this story.
With appearances from Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, and America Ferrera to name a few, Barbie is a great example of stacking a cast with everyone understanding the assignment at hand. Sure there are moments of competition between the Ken cohorts, and Alan (portrayed by Michael Cera) steals the show for a couple of minutes, but overall every actor shines through without deviating from the main story.
Final Thoughts
Barbie is a story that explores the societal challenges of self-realization and self-belonging with a number of characters evolving from a feeling of misplacement. Characters like Stereotypical Barbie and Ken find themselves in scenarios that many can argue relate to issues some may face in society today. For example, Ken’s conflict is prioritizing himself and his life: being “Kenough” for himself to love and appreciate without the validation of others. While Sterotypical Barbie’s conflict is finding purpose in her existence without being exclusive.
Overall, Barbie is a Hollywood blockbuster that teaches themes and lessons that provide a nostalgic factor for older audiences while teaching new audiences the history of the iconic toy brand. This film might not win any Academy awards anytime soon, but best believe, Tik-Tok will have no shortage of content, and Mattel will be coming up with new Barbie toy campaigns for the next few years.