I wanted to review the movie Barbie, which I saw a week after it opened at the Spectrum Theatre. The problem is that it may be unreviewable.
I liked it. A LOT, actually. It’s a movie that took shots at some of Mattel’s less successful items in the Barbie line while addressing the issue of the doll as a symbol of unattainable beauty.
The Vanity Fair article said Barbie Is About as Good as a Barbie Movie Could Ever Be.
The first paragraph: “The film, about the preeminent fashion doll, has to serve the interests of its masters, in this case, the Mattel corporation, while also cheating out to the audience to convince them that what they are watching is not just some two-hour ad. The film must be extra conscious of what Barbie is—critical of it, even—while also celebrating one of the most famous toys ever made. What choice did Gerwig have, then, but to go weird?”
I think the movie had to thread a very tight needle, and mostly, it succeeded, even if, as The Hollywood Reporter suggested, it “delivers the fun but fudges the politics.”
From Medium: “Barbie is “wonderfully strange,” and also “political satire, a product placement film that simultaneously praises and criticizes its product, a mother-daughter relationship, an investigation of gender and its presentation, and a road trip film about the quest for identity and purpose,” writes Sahifa Syifa. “It’s an existential dystopia disguised as a child’s fantasy.”
No pleasing some people
So, as much as it tried, it couldn’t be all things to all viewers. It wasn’t the feminist film one reviewer hoped for, or it was too much. It was a movie for children, or it was too mature for children, or it should have been geared more toward adults [which would have been economic suicide.]
The reviews were 89% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. The negative reviews were pretty consistent. Collin Garbarino of WORLD: “Instead of offering a reflection of what it means to be a human living alongside other humans, Gerwig falls into a cliched form of existentialism in which life is essentially meaningless, and it’s up to us to assert our own meaning.”
I don’t think so. Director/co-writer Greta Gerwig has said, “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. And I think that felt like a rich place to start from.”
Fun
Here’s something from W magazine: “Go on YouTube and you’ll find plenty of right-wing wannabe pundits decrying the Barbie movie as the latest example of the attack on American values by ‘woke mind virus.’ Visit Twitter, and you’ll find self-identified Communists calling it capitalist trash and the exemplification of ‘girl boss’ nonsense.
“Go to an actual movie theater, however, and you’ll find Americans of all stripes simply enjoying a fun movie. While the film certainly has a broadly feminist perspective, it seems like any attempts to turn it into a political football fell flat on their way to record-breaking ticket sales. It may very well end up as the biggest movie of the year. It feels indicative of a wider trend: maybe everyone is a little bit sick of almost everything in pop culture becoming fodder for a political fight?”
Credits
I should note that the set in Barbie’s World by Sarah Greenwood is fabulous. The cast -Issa Rae as President Barbie, Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu as two of the Kens, Michael Sera as Allan, Rhea Perlman as Ruth, and Helen Mirren as the narrator, were all great.
I think, though, that is Gloria (America Ferrara), the put-upon Mattel employee with a moody tween daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), who is ultimately the film’s star. It’s her feelings that informed the feeling of stereotype Barbie (Margot Robbie). She also has the best monologue, which you shouldn’t read until you see the film.
Speaking of dialogue: Greta Gerwig Shared Why She Ended ‘Barbie’ With That Iconic Last Line.