#barbiebackintheaters

[mesaylormoon]

Barbie: A Review

Now that Barbie is finally back in theaters, and it’s been half a year since it made its debut, I believe there to be no better time to publish a review. As my bio suggests, Barbie has become my entire personality and I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the biggest comedy of the year — especially now that it’s sweeping awards season.

The interesting thing about my overwhelmingly positive perception of this film is that I was vehemently opposed to seeing it, initially. The trailers made it look like a ridiculous movie for children and the over-the-top set design and overhyped anticipation where theatergoers dressed in pink led me to scoff at Barbie at every conceivable opportunity. Weeks after its premiere, however, I was made curious about what I may have been missing out on, and was secretly very excited to see what the film had in store…

Pros:

Barbie is literally the funniest movie I've seen in years -- it may even be the funniest movie I've ever seen. I laughed harder during my first screening of the film than I have at any other movie.

As every viewer has pointed out: the set design of Barbie Land is incredible. The Dreamhouses in the movie are all doused in pink and look exactly like a playset you'd beg your parents to buy

The diversity of the cast is a huge plus and reflects the manner in which Mattel creates dolls of every skin and body type to "keep up with the times"

Barbie takes full advantage of its premise and uses its narrative as a means to address the doll's harshest criticisms, as well as its most controversial dolls

Ryan Gosling is magical as Ken and Margot Robbie is a flawless representation of what a "stereotypical Barbie doll" would look like

The I'm Just Ken song/scene

Cons (Prepare yourself. These criticisms are particularly harsh):

This movie is full of big problems. One of the biggest: the conversation regarding feminism is not very potent. It lacks intersectionality, is discussed in a surface-level manner, and reads like a pop Instagram graphic, to paraphrase ModernGurlz.

Despite its level of self-awareness, Barbie (the film) is a corporate product that is ultimately meant to serve Mattel's best interest. Many of Barbie's (the doll) biggest criticisms are discussed throughout the movie, but the self-owns are so powerful the film doesn't exactly engage with any of them. As a result, Mattel is able to, in the words of CinemaSins, "feign self-awareness and laugh all the way to the bank."

Gloria and Sasha (the mother and daughter in the movie) are not very well-developed, and neither is their relationship. For a film meant to celebrate womanhood, the dynamic between these two had the potential to create more meaningful conversation about what it means to be a woman, and the opportunity falls flat

You could cut the Mattel executives from this movie and it wouldn't make a difference

Spoilers: Barbie wants to become human in the movie, but only has negative experiences during her time there (e.g., getting objectified, arrested, chased, groped, and being made to look insane). Consequently, her choice to become human by the end of the film makes no sense

Verdict: Honestly, despite Barbie (the film's) many flaws, I find the movie so entertaining and so funny I can overlook them all. To me, it is absolutely brilliant that this picture was advertised as a movie for children and threw every viewer's expectations by presenting a comedy for adults. My dad, who expected to hate the film, was much more entertained by it than he anticipated. I was beyond thrilled with my experience at this movie and I am certainly not done watching it for the millionth time.