So far, my experience with Greta Gerwig’s work has been a confidence in her ability to make me comfortable knowing she is going to treat Saorise Ronan correctly. Hearing that a Greta Gerwig film was on the way, about Barbie, without Sarosie Ronan, I was nervous. On top of that, my obvious appreciation for Barbie’s 2000s animated adventures and her 2010s masterpiece Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, this movie had an almost impossible task to meet expectations. Thankfully, it exceeded. I had such a wonderful time sitting down to watch this, surrounded by pink cowboy hat wearing girls and gays.
Barbie surprisingly follows Barbie, as she gains consciousness of mortality and the perils of body confidence. She leaves her perfect pink world, surrounded by her similarly named peers to a grimey and grey one filled with patriarchal ideals and a variety of new and confusing names to memorise. She journeys to this horror land to find the source of her issues, why she is having these dark thoughts and also why her feet are disgustingly flat. All while facing the Mattel corporation who are trying to capture and return Barbie and Ken back to Barbieland.
Considering this film has been marketed so strongly, they have done a really good job at showing just Kenough of the film in these promotions to keep some surprises for the actual film and leaving a lot to uncover. I wouldn’t describe the marketing as a misdirect of the plot, I would say its more of a vague simplification of what's going on, which I really appreciated while watching.
I was very sure that madame Gerwig was going to be able to bring some emotion to this film but was not ready for the extremes she brought to it. This film genuinely made me laugh throughout and I also cry throughout with no tonal swerves, making it a disjointed experience. I was fully Kengaged in the story didn’t find either of the extremes to be out of place. In fact, as a Dreamhouse fan, I wholeheartedly welcomed the dumb jokes weaved throughout.
None of these jokes or emotional moments would have worked without Margot Robbie being the perfect Barbie candidate. She brought such a great balance of self assurance and naivety to this role. A special shout out to Ryan Gosling who is also perfect as Ken, again channelling Ken from Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse as his sole purpose is to be noticed by Barbie.
In today’s tech talk, I will not only be talking about camera and sound, today we introduce set design. It's impossible not to talk about the set design of this film, capturing the look of a Smithers level collector’s playset. Barbieland is bright and inviting, with every colour popping off the screen and a plastic sheen that furthered the flawless aesthetic. The juxtaposition of the real world and Barbieland gives us a similar feeling to Barbie and Ken with its coldness and blandess. The addition of the Mattel HQ to the set design in an almost Blade Runner, retro futurism style gives the corporation a presence that has been established through previous portrayals of companies. This design alone evokes all the context we need on Mattel in this film without actually being explicit about it.
The camera work follows a similar approach, being quite grand and flashy with high angled crane shots and extended tracking shots, showcasing the flow and sheen of Barbieland. While the real world is quite often level with their characters, keeping us grounded with them.
Like the set design, it would be rude not to mention the music of this film, recruiting pop stars like Scientology recruits older white actors. These bespoke songs blend quite well with the film, either being directly linked with the action or at least complimenting it, in the tone and pace.
The wider perception of this movie has been interesting to watch, before it was released there was a lot of speculation on whether or not this film was going to be similar to The Truman Show or more along the rom com lines. Since the film has come out, it has been so incredible to see reactions from those who not only Kenjoyed their time but emotionally connected to this film. There have been a lot of women sharing their experiences with this film and relating to the questions and topics it brings up on body image, womanhood and ageing.
Even a character that is seemingly played for jokes, Alan has resonated with a lot of the queer community as he seems to be in the middle of the Ken and Barbie binary. He is an island between these two groups not exactly finding his feet within either.
It is so refreshing to see people connect to films like this on a broad scale as it can be a very singular experience feeling these feelings, but seeing them represented on such a big scale, provides comfort and reassurance for a lot of people.
An alternative to this, I’ve seen reactions dub this as a simple movie, one played for jokes and not to be taken seriously. The topics of patriarchy are brought up in the film and some of the reactions around it, have cemented the film as some sort of “man hating” piece of media and the “chick flick” to see instead of the real mens movie, Oppenheimer. To give these people as much argument as they are giving, in rebuttal, you’re dumb.
The ideas of Barbie are about finding your worth and of course the appreciation for life. When Barbie discovers death as a concept. She initially fights for the return of her perfect life but the immersion to our world has changed her perspective and caused her to stop and think about what she really wants and aptly, what she was made for.
As a human being of this world, I have some perspective on these thoughts, the finality of life and the singleness of our experience. I don’t think the film focuses too strongly on these ideas to get weighed down in introspection, taking away from the fun we were all having. It balances the emotions with the jokes to not leave you walking out, head down as you ponder your place in the world and if the path you’re on is really the right one, and if the choices you make will actually lead to the best life possible for you and how you really only have one chance to get it right and what if you don’t and this is it for you, you’re just going to be remembered by the ones around you and then when they die, your memory dies with it and is that important, should I be striving to make my mark for people who I’ll never meet or should I focus my attention inwards and grow the relationships I care about before they fade away while I’m chasing a dream I can’t achieve.
So, none of those kinds of thoughts crossed my mind as I left singing Barbie World. Perfection, I will watch it once a year as a double bill with Openheimer.
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