Can the song summarize the film’s etymological meaning? Its artistic purpose, its function in contemporary culture? From the first exclusive images of the project Barbiein director’s vision Greta Gerwig and screenwriter and director Noah Baumbachwe were in awe of the film’s whimsical aesthetic, as pink in all its manifestationsfrom the phantasmagoric scenography, as well as from the composition of the artists (Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Sam Smith, Nicki Minaj, Lizzo, Charlie XCX, Thame Impala), who will take part in the original soundtrack under the lens of the pop master Mark Ronson. How does the iconic icon of femininity present itself in 2023? How to make it relevant in relation to the dogmas of modern society? The songs seem to represent the real driving force of the filmreal bearers of meaning, intentionally ironically or introspectively throwing off the veil of reality that Gerwig really wants to show.
As Ronson himself told TIME, the director showed the artists about 20 minutes of the film to give them an idea of the tone and storytelling she intended to achieve, and asked each of them to where they imagined their song would fit excellent in unfolding the story. “When she spoke to the musicians, she immediately realized that each of them had a serious relationship with the iconoclastic doll figure. I thought everyone was here because Greta Gerwig made this amazing movie and the hype around it.” Ronson tells TIME. “But I saw that, aside from the director’s reputation, Barbie’s figure itself was a crucial source of attraction. This movie was really important to a lot of people.” Soundtrack definitely one of the most significant elements in the hands of Greta Gerwig, who has carefully matched certain sequences to the numerous musical cues offered to him by the artists involved, lending a unique dimension to his intimate and cinematic vision of an iconic figure like Barbie. The songs accurately reflect the images, hidden emotions of the main characters externally plastic, similar to musical ante litteramand to make the music function more than just an accompaniment, a tool to amplify what the audience sees and experiences until it becomes its primary voice, the message to be conveyed.
Although Ronson’s work focused on the transmission of various voices barbieland worldin different versions of the iconic doll that we could almost compare to the many musicians involved, precisely thanks to one song written and produced by Billie Eilish with brother Finneas which seems to cover the seemingly hidden purpose that Gerwig and Bambauch had for their portrayal of Barbie. What was I made for? what Gerwig perfectly inserts at the moment of the story’s greatest climax, he wonders about the meaning of creation in relation to the world in which we live, the end for which everyone must be held accountable. The journey Barbie must take to return to her stereotypical form allows her to question the meaning of her creation, the educational purpose she was meant to represent for generations. But having arrived in reality, she realizes that she does not fully understand the reason for her own existence. If in today’s world women almost denigrate his image, the classic stereotype of beauty, to the point of considering him one of the reasons for a world ruled by men, then why was he created?
As the Eilish song says, from now on, Barbie starts floating in a double reality, represented both by Barbie’s Earth and the real world, in which she no longer feels genuinely and emotionally represented. The most famous doll in the world wonders about its essence, about the perception of death, leave something to mankind come from there; what was I made for? “I was such a bright ideal, but now I feel like I’m not real anymore, just something I can buy.” In confrontation with his late creator, Ruth Handlerabout her identity crisis, she admits to her that Barbie was made for be what he intended to be and in which every little girl could make her dreams come true, find her own way. Thus, the purpose is not in the reasons for which it was created, but in compared to what it actually should represent, in the ability to be anyone, as Eilish’s song says. Because in life we are defined by what we do, with whom we are connected, but fundamentally we also exist in our loneliness, not knowing what our future will be, V the charm that the unknown promises usabove all, as Gerwig analyzes through the story of Barbie, for confirmation of female identity. “Barbie is” a reflection of American popular cultural values and ideas about femininity. Over its 64-year history, the evolution of the doll has reflected the often conflicting needs and ideals held for women.”
A song conceived with such lyrics seems to fit perfectly even with Ken’s evolutionary pathmetaphorically imprisoned in its germ “just ken”, almost like an accomplice of Barbie herself, finding the strength in herself for the first time to accept herself through her only image, to feel represented regardless of Barbie, from whom she seeks constant confirmation and attention and from whom she mistakenly, as teacher Harriet Fletcher analyzes in The Conversation leads him to the idea that his own rights are being overshadowed by those of women, and he finds himself bowing to toxic male stereotypes in order to regain a sense of control. As you can see, the songs set the rhythm of the story, the evolutionary foothold of the story, making Gerwig think a movie that separates itself from the iconic Barbie figure to basically deal with us, our society through the figure of the most iconic doll. Songs become metatextual goal to emphasize the spectacle of the story, who combines weaknesses and an iconic figure that has always been discussed and told. ‘Cause basically we all wonder What was I made for?