Barbie and Ken move from the female-dominated world of dolls to the real world. It turned out that there were men who dominated. Fabulous Ken’s awareness of the situation. I didn’t stop laughing.
During the holidays, I accompanied my two daughters to see “Barbie”. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but oh my god, did he spend millions on publicity? Unexpectedly, I found a great movie. Not only did I have a great time, but I also enjoyed a well-told story (Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s screenplay is brilliant), full of humor and a great message.
The famous doll lives in her world, Barbieland, where all the women are some sort of Barbie that Mattel produced at some point in history. It’s a sweet place where the men, all Kens, are secondary characters. This is a very different world from ours. The original Barbie (played deftly by Margot Robbie) begins to face an existential crisis. The feet will flatten. Cellulite starts to appear. It seems that the only thing that can save her is to return to the real world. This is where he embarks on an epic journey. Ken is obviously there for her (Ryan Gosling’s performance is terrific), as her goal in life is to be the mate of the very famous blonde doll.
Is ‘Barbie’ a feminist film?
Greta Gerwig, the film’s director, thinks so. However, this matter has caused great controversy. Despite being a man, I dare to comment on this topic (I know some women don’t like us being involved in this).
I do believe we are dealing with a film with a feminist message. In his two previous films (“Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” both of which were excellent), Gerwig’s stories centered on female characters. But this time, I think the writer-director went too far. He hit a home run.
This movie reminds us how dolls have evolved over time since their introduction in 1959. It started as a scrawny, fair-skinned girl and became an iconic toy for girls. Two years later, Mattel introduced Ken, a portly blonde who would become Barbie’s eternal companion. But the role of women has changed a lot since then, and Mattel, being a good capitalist company, knows how to adapt.
In the long run, the world is increasingly turning against post-war patriarchal stereotypes. In the eighties, they introduced the first black and Latino Barbie dolls. In 1992, a man running for president. In 2016, people of different sizes: tall, short or wide. These days, there are even disabled Barbies.
The message behind the doll and throughout the film is the diversity of women and their empowerment. They are omnipotent: Presidents, Supreme Court ministers, doctors, astronauts, pilots, firefighters…
Of course, this is in stark contrast to the real world. There, men continue to rule. For example, all of Mattel’s top executives are men. Yes, they make dolls to empower women, but they’re fun. After all, the real world is still a patriarchal society. Smells like testosterone.
Neither Barbie nor Ken could believe it. Packed with humor, the film makes men and women question prejudices, stereotypes and established roles. A teen’s speech to Barbie is amazing: For decades, you’ve just made us women feel bad about ourselves.
I would venture to describe Barbie as a feminist film because it questions and criticizes the patriarchal ideology that still dominates our society. He doesn’t just talk to women. The guys also get a really fun buffet of Ken’s macho attitude when Ken returns to Barbieland and tries to emulate what he’s seen in the real world.
There are some memorable moments in the film, such as a parody of a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the moment when the fourth wall is briefly broken, or Barbie’s visit to the gynecologist. I stand by it: we’re dealing with a very clever and very interesting script. The visuals are fantastic, as is the music. A circular film. We must see it. Especially men who desperately need to start deconstructing themselves. Like those who ask if gender violence applies to men.
Leo Zuckermann is a political analyst/journalist and host of opinion television shows.