I know I'm very late to the Barbie party, but I feel very passionately about the movie and think it's a very significant piece of art for our current cultural state. Thus, I thought I would write a review of it. Let's cut to the chase: Barbie was a conservative masterpiece that encouraged both men and women to overcome the culturally-imposed mental blocks that feminism is associated with. To prove such, I will analyze various scenes from the movie and then end with the scriptural principle I see at work in the film's creation. Also, for good measure, I would also encourage you to watch this video from Eudaimonia and this one from Michael Knowles to help you better understand where I'm coming from.
Really, my point comes down to the very first scene. In a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey, we see a bunch of little girls at the beginning of time playing with baby dolls in the middle of a desert. The narrator notes that this gets boring eventually, after which a massive Barbie idol of Margot Robbie appears, wearing the outfit of the first Barbie doll. In response to this new toy, the little girls immediately smash the heads of their baby dolls in devotion to Barbie. This is the very first image we see of Barbie, and it's significant. Throughout the movie, Barbie is clearly meant as a symbol of feminism and women's empowerment, having the ability to do whatever she wants whenever she wants, and this even goes back to the beginning, where she frees the little girls from the slavery of motherhood. There are obvious parallels to abortion here, but even ignoring that, it is at least a general promise to free little girls from the slavery of motherhood.
The next few scenes are an exposition of Barbieland, which is really the epitome of a feminist utopia. The women rule everything and make every contribution in society, and the men are hapless simps. There is perfect diversity of race, body type, and even gender, with one character even being Transgender. Such a place fits every single desire of the feminist utopia. There is one important part to mention at the beginning of this exposition, where the narrator talks about Barbie's friend Midge, who was a pregnant barbie with a white picket fence and whatnot, but she was discontinued and quickly glossed over, since a pregnant Barbie is "too weird." And yet, it is shattered when "stereotypical Barbie," or Barbie proper, played by Margot Robbie, begins to think of death and experience normal parts of being a real human woman. She is unable to participate in Barbieland in its fullness and cannot dance in the endless parties because thoughts of death continue to linger. Going to a sort of shaman named Weird Barbie, she then is given a Matrix-style choice to either stay in Barbieland, symbolized by a pink heel, or to enter the real world and solve these issues, symbolized by a Birkenstock sandal. The reversal is that Barbie immediately chooses the blue pill when confronted by this situation. As soon as the veneer begins to fade on this dream of the feminist utopia, she tries to uphold it by sheer willpower, but Weird Barbie forces her to take the Birkenstock instead, saying that she never really had a choice in the first place. This mirrors the fact that such an ideology is simply untenable, as any interaction with the reality of the world shows that not only are they impossible but that they will not make anyone happy in any meaningful way.
After that, Barbie makes her way to the real world to figure out what's going on, and she is accompanied by Ken (who is literally me), played by Ryan Gosling, and he is the typical simp who cares about nothing but getting Barbie's approval. This mirrors the feminist ideal of masculinity, with the Kens continuing to chase after the Barbies and performing various courting behaviors, but they are also spineless, being unable to think for themselves or lead eachother or their Barbie in any meaningful way. It's important to point out, Gosling absolutely steals the show, and Ken is easily the best character in the entire movie. While being hilarious, he also is a very well-written character who is able to critique modern men from both sides, but we'll get more into that later.
Finally arriving in the "real world," it is a strange hodgepodge of self-evidently farsical examples of toxic masculinity mixed in with real struggles of women. Immediately, both Barbie and Ken are judged for dressing strangely, and Barbie verbally harrassed, even being faced with the classic cryptid of the "catcalling construction worker." This is an evidently conflicted scene, which clearly looks down on those judging Barbie and Ken but also plays up their ridiculous clothing for laughs. A bare-faced interpretation of the scene could show the differences between the social perceptions of men and women, with Barbie being incredibly uncomfortable but with Ken feeling validated by being noticed. However, this doesn't make much sense in context, since both parties received similar treatments from both men and women (besides the construction workers), and yet they reacted very differently. More likely than not, it is something akin to a coming-of-age moment, with Barbie and Ken having their first encounters with the real world apart from the rose-tinted lenses of Barbieland.
The two then leave the beach they arrived on, trying to find the little girl playing with Barbie wrong. Along the way, Ken begins learning about the patriarchy, the male-dominated system that runs things behind the scenes. While walking into an office building, Ken is told by a businessman that women can be in the workforce but the patriarchy is really in charge, "we just hide it better." By both him an Ken's over-the-top actions and tones, this seems to be an attempted comedic moment, as Ken reacts like a young child who just discovered that santa isn't real and feels superior for knowing such a secret. He then immediately goes into a doctor's office and attempts to get a job simply for being a man. He is then confronted by a woman doctor there, who flatly tells him no, at which point he promptly leaves, entirely convinced nonetheless. Barbie was doing some soul-searching the meantime, experiencing some of the beauty of humanity in general in the eyes of an old woman, but then the two meet up once again and head towards the girl's school. Ken heads towards the library to secretly read about the patriarchy (and horses), but Barbie finds the girl at the lunch table outside. Upon meeting Barbie, the middle school girl brutally berates her for setting up unrealistic body standards for women and numerous other crimes, giving her the ultimate title of "faschist." Barbie breaks down in tears and confusion, saying to herself that she doesn't even control the means of production. This is a fascinating scene, since this little girl is the ultimate school-age liberal, effectively reading off her Instagram story that the posted to "raise awareness," and yet, she is not portrayed as the good guy. She shatters Barbie's self-worth, in some cases simply for being pretty, and even gives her a title so over-the-top that Barbie is herself confused.
Ken heads back to Barbieland with his books, but Barbie herself is rounded up and taken to Mattel headquarters, which she embraces. Mattel really is the representative of this patriarchy, which pays a great deal of lip-service to diversity and whatnot, but they are a bunch of white men. However, far from scheming masterminds, they are a bunch of bumbling, incompetent morons with no idea of what's really going on other than that they need to get Barbie back to Barbieland lest "something happen." The girl's mother, who is revealed to really be the one "playing with Barbie wrong," works as the CEO's secretary and rescues Barbie. This leads to a comical Scooby-Doo-esque chase scene through the overly-boxed Mattel headquarters. Eventually, though, they are able to escape and make it to Barbieland.
Unfortunately, Ken got back before them and established a new patriarchy, in which all the women are at the Kens' beck-and-call, and the men have taken over the Barbies' living spaces. While it is obviously much cooler, the Kendom, as it is now called, is simply a reversal of Barbieland. In this system, the Kens are absolute rulers and the Barbies are their accessories. Barbie and the family then go through a convuluted plot with Weird Barbie, the leader of an anti-Ken revolutionary party, where the girl's mother gives a Tumblr-level rants about the problems of being a woman to the Barbies "hypnotized" by the Kens. This is then the secret to breaking the Kens' spell. While this is admittedly a very banal 2010's-level social commentary, it isn't per se wrong, but I would say this is probably the weakest part of the movie. Then, before the Kens change the Barbieland constitution, they use womanly wiles to push the Kens towards war on the day of the vote. This leads to, dare I say, the greatest musical number in the history of film, the song "I'm Just Ken," but the Barbies get their way and the status quo is restored. That evening, Barbie and Ken have a heartfelt talk, which is, in my opinion, the second most insightful moment of the entire film. In this scene, Ken admits that he was never really happy and that he basically lost interest in the patriarchy once he learned it wasn't about horses. Even in his hard patriarchal exterior, Ken still didn't care about anything but Barbie and her approval. She then basically breaks up with him, apologizing for taking him for granted but telling him that he needs to find out what it really means to be "just Ken," and then maybe they'll talk.
This is a shockingly brilliant scene, as it pulls back the curtain on Ken's character. He was a man from a brutally oppressive system, which he leads a revolution against when he had the chance. And yet, it's exactly the same a Barbieland, it's just that the roles are reversed. Such a system may have given the Barbies some fleeting pleasure, but Ken is able to understand the vanity of such pleasures. Thus, Ken is something like the modern "meninists" or whatever they call themselves these days. These are men who see the sexual revolution and its consequences, but respond with a desire to have all the freedoms that women have. In feminism, they see that men have different cultural standards for sexuality (an outdated complaint, but still), but instead of lamneting the wanton sexuality of the age, they reply that women should have the same sexual freedom. In a similar way, the meninist will see that women are favored in most no-fault divorces (or perhaps in divorces generally), but when the institution continuing to destroy families, they complain that they don't get as much alimony. These men also will complain about basic human courting rituals like Homecoming, in which the men are supposed to go out of their way to woo their date. They say that if women want equality, they should have to woo the men. This is the state we find Ken in, as a man crushed by feminism but who knows nothing but feminism. Thus, in overturning the Barbieland system, all he can think to do is establish the same for men, yet Barbieland still lives within him, making him unable to embrace true masculinity. This is evident in one line of his theme, where he says, "What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me?" This is not a classical patriarchy. Rather, this is a man who sees the inconsistency of feminism's claims towards "equality" while creating greater inequality. Classical patriarchy, on the other hand, sees the complementarity of the sexes as a fundamental truth and confesses that men have a duty towards the one they're courting. This is what Ken doesn't understand, as he knows nothing but power.
Part of the reason that I feel so strongly about Ken is that I've seen his archetype in many men around me. Feminism has become the dominant stream of thought in the culture and is virtually ubiquitous in the modern mind. What's more, I can even see Ken within myself. I too have to suppress the "insistence on my own way" (1 Cor. 13), which modern culture enforces.
Another significant part to mention about the ending is one line, where the narrator says that the Barbies gave the Kens a some more rights so that "they are just like women in the real world." This is a very significant statement, because it shows Barbieland in a new light. While it is supposed to be a perfect utopia where nothing bad ever happens, the narrator acknowledges that Barbieland does have injustice, namely towards the Kens. While it could be read in the sense of men getting their "just desserts" for injustices against women, this wouldn't fit with the movie's sympathetic view of Ken and his plight. Even while being the "villain" to be stopped, Barbie apologizes to him and the Barbies acknowledge that they have not treated the Kens perfectly. The line about feminine political power in the "real world" could either be a legitemate political critique or a reference to the patriarchal "real world" of the Barbie movie. In either case, it's simply nonsensical, as women have equal political power in the voting booth in our world, and the Barbie patriarchy is either impotent (Mattel, the businessman) or nonexistent (the doctor).
However, this is not the ending, of course. The Mattel execs come, seeing Barbieland restored. They realize they pretty much have no need to be there and get ready to leave. However, before leaving, the mom rants to the execs about wanting a Barbie that doesn't need to be super special or do everything but just "be a mom." In a way, this sort of bookends the theme from the beginning about motherhood as an intrinsic part of womanhood which Barbieland overlooks. Then the executives reject it as ridiculous until someone in the back mentions it would make money. This is an indication that the feminist utopia of Barbieland is simply a construct for these executives to make more money.
There is still one problem in Barbieland, however: Barbie took the red pill. She has grown up and is not fit for Barbieland anymore. As a result, the creator of Barbie, working as a god of Barbieland, shows up. She then gives Barbie the choice between staying in Barbieland or becoming a real human. This is the absolute most important part of the movie, as we see the Barbie universe from a divine perspective. Eudaimonia brilliantly points out a comparison between the Homer's tale of Odysseus and Calypso. You'll have to watch his video, linked above, for the comparison, but the point here is that Barbie is given a choice between the immortal fiction and truth mixed with pain. To really catch the gravity of this discussion for our understanding of the whole movie, I will quote directly from the ending scene:
Being a human can be pretty uncomfortable. You know that, right? I do. Humans make up things like patriarchy and Barbie just to deal with how uncomfortable it is.
What!? The patriarchy is made up!? Barbie god said it herself! The doctor was right the whole time! There is no patriarchy, and the business men and Mattel executives supposedly upholding it are simply fools with a greater view of themselves. The only real patriarchy shows up in the Kendom, but even Ken's is all is merely a mirror image of Barbieland all in the same imaginary world.
After this shocking exchange, Barbie god says that she can't allow Barbie to make such a decision uninformed, so she shows Barbie what it means to be human. Even more shockingly, the first half of the scenes played are merely home video-style clips of mothers and their children. It does show a few clips of of a woman graduating or skydiving along with one of her getting married, but then it immediately moves on to a few of older women enjoying life. It seems like there's an overemphasis on motherhood and family life in Barbie's visions, after which she immediately sheds tears and accepts humanity. It's important to note: there is no praising of Barbieland in this moment, except that it is deathless and easy. What's more, the fact that Barbieland is left is its own condemnation. If Barbieland is really paradise, then either Barbie should stay in Barbieland a little bit wiser than before or else she should go to earth to try and make the real world more like Barbieland. But this doesn't happen! Instead, the real "patriarchal" world is better than Barbieland could ever be! The final scene, which really is the cherry on top, shows the mother and daughter taking Barbie somewhere, with Barbie a bit dressed up and appearing to be going in for a job interview. They encourage her, saying that she's got this, and then Barbie goes in to see the receptionist. When she asks what Barbie's here for, she says, "I'm here to see my gynecologist." On a surface level, this seems to just be a joke that Barbie has never had to do such because she's was merely a doll without such parts (a fact referenced earlier in the film). However, even moreso, we see the image of motherhood close out the movie fully, with Barbie's new desire in life to be a mother like Barbie god could be for her, even taking her name. Thus, we see in the message of Barbie the raising of motherhood in contrast to feminism, a
I know this has been a lot. I have currently written more about Barbie than most of my posts have ended up being, but this movie has been living rent-free in my head since I watched it, so I had to get this down somewhere. In a further post, I will be going toe-to-toe with the strongest arguments against my interpretation, and doing so from the story of the prophet Balaam.
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