Patriarchy, Feminism, and Barbie

I had zero expectations walking into the cinemas to see Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Even after a monster of a marketing campaign, some of which I was actually a part of by both using meme generators on social media and working as a camera operator for a pink carpet event that live-streamed on TikTok. All around me, the question on everybody’s lips was, “Are you going to see the Barbie movie?” The perception of what this film would be fell into two categories; blindly optimistic and apathetically judgmental. I can confidently say I was part of the former group and still ended up pleasantly surprised by the movie we got.

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to visit the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. This seemingly innocent premise fittingly left a lot to the imagination and the true story of Barbie was initially well hidden beneath its pastel pink exterior. By now most people will be aware of what Barbie is actually about but if you have managed to avoid spoilers and would rather not know I would recommend skipping this review until after experiencing it for yourself.

Unsurprisingly given its director Barbie is in fact a feminist manifesto. And a jammed-packed one at that!

I was honestly overwhelmed by how political the entire film was. Considering the brand with which these feminist messages were being broadcast it was in fact refreshing to see a major corporation such as Mattel sign off on a film that, for one, didn’t shy away from criticising itself and spoke in an incredibly left-leaning way. The brazenness of the film’s writing was honestly uncomfortable at first. And not in an “I disagree with these points” kind of way but because they were so open with using words that have become almost taboo to speak openly in our society like ‘Patriarchy.’ Even as a self-proclaimed feminist, it took me a moment to adjust to the dialogue but the writing quickly became one of the film’s biggest positives. I realised that Barbie wasn’t going to bury its point of view in subtext or behind one-liners. Often I find it hard to talk about the topics brought up in Barbie in the real world because either people don’t believe they’re real issues or they strongly disagree and just want to insult you. Hiding my point of view can often be a survival mechanism so having a film, particularly the Barbie film, be this loud was both shocking and refreshing.

I have a lot to say about the messages present within Barbie but I do want to briefly speak on the qualities of it as a film. The performances particularly from Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling (Ken) were key elements to making this film work. Without their absolute knock-out line delivery Barbie would most likely not have hit quite as hard. I also have to shout out America Ferrera (Gloria), whose monologue was by far one of the stand-out moments, and Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie who brought beautiful energy as she often does with her roles. I love seeing her flourish under female direction always. It was also so fantastic to see the diverse range of cast representing the main group of Kens and Barbies including actors such as Sharon Rooney, Hari Nef, Issa Rae, Ncuti Gatwa, and Simu Liu just to name a few. Aesthetically Barbie hits all the right notes. The costuming and production design in general was spot on recreating a sense of childhood nostalgia and whimsy in Barbie Land and bringing a sense of wonder and peril to the real world. I loved the special effects and sound design used to enhance the doll-like qualities of the characters and will take my hat off to the team that designed the sets, in particular the sequence travelling from Barbie Land to the Real World as it was a stunning call back to cinema and theatre of old.

Films work if they make you feel something and throughout watching Barbie I experienced a whole plethora of feelings on the spectrum of childlike joy to bitter sadness. In my showing, I heard the laughter of those around me but afterwards, I spoke to a few people and heard other accounts of audiences not really understanding the film at all. There are of course those who sit on the conservative side of the fence who are utterly enraged by Barbie and insist on speaking openly about their criticisms whilst unknowingly doing all the things the film pointed out as negatively affecting society. These people I’m not so worried about because Barbie would never have changed their thoughts or opinions on feminism and the patriarchy anyway. The audiences that have me concerned are the boys who watch Barbie and come away not understanding that the film was also speaking about how patriarchy negatively affects them. It’s the men who walk out of the theatre still questioning the existence of patriarchy because they’ve never treated women as lesser so how can it exist if I don’t see it? I would argue that Barbie funnily enough was actually about Ken. He goes on the biggest character arc out of anyone drawing attention to the often blindsided part of the feminist argument which is how our patriarchal society affects men. And yes there is a lot in the film about the impact on women. Gloria’s monologue for one had me tearing up in the cinema. But women are mostly clued into these issues at this point. We cannot ignore the fact that men are a part of this journey as well.

For those who think the Barbie movie was going to be like its animated predecessors, you are very wrong. This film is at its core and in every way imaginable a film about feminism, patriarchy, matriarchy, and toxic masculinity. It’s about the ways our societal structures can affect everybody of all genders. I did wonder if perhaps there was too much being packed into this film. It can jump around a lot from one thing to the next so perhaps the breakneck pacing and over-stuffed themes were why people have struggled to fully comprehend the message. At times the dialogue can also get a little heavy with the political speak but it is often cocooned in clever witty lines that leave you with a wry smile and food for thought. I have complained on the blog before about films trying to insert “woke” agendas where they aren’t needed and I stand by that opinion. This however was a film about these issues and nothing was hamfisted in for the sake of trying to appease a certain crowd or in a way that completely appeared out of context with the story; for the story was feminism.

Using the Barbie brand to tell this story was a huge risk for Mattel as it is a brand that has come under fire for contributing to some of the issues the film raises such as stereotyping, sexism, body shaming and more. The film however doesn’t shy away from pointing this out, which I really appreciated. I applaud Mattel for signing off on some of the self-burns regardless of their hesitancy. There is a bit of concern for the direction of future Mattel product movies such as Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket, particularly after the absolute box-office smash that Barbie has been around the world. If we get films with powerful stories instead of lazy cliched money grabs then this could in fact be a much more lucrative path to travel down. If we must rehash old properties and cash in on nostalgia I would much rather have it be in the way that Greta Gerwig has done it; with a concept that sparks progressive conversation whilst also being a well-written, visually enticing romp. I also sincerely hope that Barbie doesn’t end up with a sequel like the world’s media are trying to insinuate at the moment because it speaks so loudly on its own that I feel a continuation of this same idea would only weaken it.

Barbie is by far one of the most unexpected knockout films of 2023 and has only cemented Greta Gerwig as a directorial master of the 21st century. It has heart, integrity, self-awareness, and intelligence that I don’t think anybody expected from a film this pink, which says much of what the film was about in the first place. The conversations surrounding this film and the topics it covers will linger longer than the glitter embedded in the cinema carpet floors.