“She can be anyone. He’s just Ken.” The film’s slogan provides inspiration for our deep analysis: because Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, behind her pop-feminist manifesto, outlines the perfect gender equation, using Ken’s mumbling as the story’s fulcrum.
For plastic and sparkles, Barbie From Greta Gerwig it’s a much more complex film than we’d like, but still accessible to a wide audience. A complex and profound work that should not be simplified by treating it (only) as a film about the concept of an ugly and bad patriarchy battered by deliberate and dazzling feminist rhetoric. For this reason, which is especially impressive, we want to (re-)see the film through the eyes of the male protagonist. This muscular doll is destined to live in the shadow of the “fragile blonde” myth. Because the author Lady Bird (if you think about it, there are a few hints that can be traced in both films) uses the legendary doll Mattel to balance the climax between genres by seamlessly switching focus between Barbie and Ken, so that both – though with the right characteristics and therefore with the right individuality – are part of the same universe. Thus, the inspiration for this study came from the film’s witty slogan: “She can be anyone. He’s just Ken.”.
A handful of words that foreshadowed the general mood and what Gerwig then turned into an exceptional contemporary movie (the script was signed by him along with Noah Baumbach). Myself Barbie it can be considered a new great classic (as we explained to you in the review), due to its structure, brilliance and explosive interpretation. Because the core between dreaming and awareness is locked in possession. Obsession that Ken (Ryan Gosling) refers to patriarchy, a concept discovered by Barbie’s companion (Margot Robbie) in the real world. Obsession and insight: muscles, horses, male power, the emblem of society and culture in Stars & Stripes. Here, the background hum becomes political noise, balanced so that every hiss fits the director’s intellectually coherent script.
“She can be anyone. He’s just Ken.”
In fact, Ken is still in love with the seed that spawned the unbalanced modern world and absurdly spawned misunderstandings around the doll par excellence (misunderstandings that continue and indeed are exacerbated by the success of the film, which would have required more effort). by the audience). And then somehow patriarchy – Barbie’s answer to unrequited love. But what is love for a doll? What is doll love? As in any fairy tale, the real world pays attention to Ken. Unthinkable, given the completely unbalanced vision that exists in the idyllic Barbielandwhere every night “girls party”Where “Every Ken Is Just…Ken” and where is everyone “Barbie can be anyone, but Ken can only be on the beach”. Because if Barbie is a fairy tale, between tribute and underlings, Greta Gerwig obviously has a Barbie point of view. And therefore, in order for everything to be balanced, even the real world is unbalanced and incoherent, petty and opportunistic.
Barbie floats amid the imbalance. Beautiful, perfect, flawless. Iconic in its silhouette, destined for success and a smile. There can be no room for uncertainty, no, I can be tolerated “thoughts of death”. Doubts, those are not. Barbie wasn’t made to be human. In short, she can’t help but be the center of attention, however it is Ken’s coup that unconsciously sets Barbie free. In fact, Ken’s point of view is constantly present., despite the fact that he is wonderfully hidden behind a deliberate caricature, and also neuralgic in his ridiculous and irresistible appearance. A Barbie movie seen through Ken’s clear eyes (by the way, Ryan Gosling is perfect in his image of a big child) could be mistaken for a divertissement (pink), in which the male figure is reduced to a caricature of himself. There is nothing more wrong here: a caricature is a mask, a superstructure that unites people and toys. After the structure has fallen, the substance remains.
Barbie: Greta Gerwig, Mattel, and the (Nearly) Impossible Mission
Union full of meaning
Then follows a narrative structure that undermines the concept of rhetoric and the very concept of caricature: the main character Ken, as confused and naive as he is hopelessly in love with Barbie, does not accept being a mere tinsel, like the main character Barbie. does she no longer want to be a slave to induced perfection. Barbie and Ken, in the language of Greta Gerwig pop music, are the same, but different in the way that will lead them to freedom.. Translating the concept into yet another language, body language: Barbie’s smile turns into a grimace, Ken into a smirk. Both, however, have not (yet) found the right size. After all, freedom is a complex, elusive state of mind. And freedom is also a hallmark of Greta Gerwig’s writings: Francis Ha, Lady Bird, Small woman. And now, Barbie. The icon has been revised in all directions, revealing itself to such maturity as Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird! – strives to fly high, and also strives for emancipation and characterization.
However, Ken’s flamboyant presence, on which we will focus our attention to explain the film, is a preparation for the Barbie persona: between humor and quotes, Greta Gerwig manages to fuse the two legends, bringing the genre. mumblecore, the emblem of a low budget production, intersects with a high concept title. Something unthinkable but dazzling in its latest demonstration. Because intentions matter in terms of storytelling, and then it’s the audience’s tendency to discover the concept of a work by accepting and understanding it (Ken included). What can be terrifying (as Ken feared), being mistaken for a relentless feminism that undermines and threatens the status quo of men (as Ken threatened), is instead an equation so simple it seems perfect: no Barbie and no Ken , but there is Barbie and there is Ken. Subtle connection, full of meaning.