Going to watch the Barbie movie on Saturday, I wasn’t bothered by the hype or anyone else’s views. I knew I would like it because Margot Robbie always makes good choices and Greta Gerwig is a genius director.
But I still wondered if it might be too childish even for me?
Now I can reflect on the movie which has generated over a billion dollars in just a fortnight. It has nearly made twice the money of The Little Mermaid and has initiated many eye-opening conversations.
Challenging Attitudes
I suppose I half expected Barbie to challenge stereotypes. There was no way this film was ever going to be a straightforward celebration of cheesiness.
Although don’t get me wrong… There was plenty of cheese. More than enough to spread on 1000 pieces of toast.
But YES – Greta did good! She made the film fascinating. She drew parallels between Barbieland and The Real World. In Barbieland women ruled – they had a female president and women doctors, lawyers and law makers. Back in The Real World, men were in charge, as Barbie and Ken discovered when they travelled there (in the most hilarious way – by jet ski, rocket, camper van and roller blades).
Don’t Forget Ken
Poor old Ken is always just a sidekick. Played by Ryan Gosling (famous for LaLaLand), he is superficial (Ken, not Ryan), not very intelligent and depends on the gaze of Barbie to maintain a purpose and satisfaction.
When he follows Barbie to find the real girl who is playing with Barbie in distress, he recognises the toxic masculinity that involves men running companies, pumping iron and acting selfishly. Let’s not pretend it doesn’t happen BUT not all of us men are like that. Anyway, he likes what he sees and takes those traits back to Barbieland and the rest would involve spoilers.
Margot deserves an Oscar for this performance. It is nuanced, comedic and full of emotion.
There… I said it… I think her acting is up there with Cate Blanchett in this movie. She is also the producer of this and used her company – LuckyChap – to create this cheeky but thought-provoking narrative.
And Finally…
I may be biased as I have loved Margot ever since she played Donna Freedman in my favourite soap opera ‘Neighbours’. Even at the height of her fame she was happy to appear in the final episode of Neighbours last July. Thankfully Neighbours is coming back care of Amazon Freevie and Margot will always stay close to this show – her brother was recently in Neighbours as well.
With intriguing cameos and a fantastic cast which includes three members of Sex Education (Netflix), this is a fabulous movie which I would rate five stars.
Another great contribution comes from the cheeky narrator, played by Helen Mirren, by the way.
Barbie started off as cliche but ended up beating the living daylights out of stereotypes. I loved the way Barbie was able to talk to her creator and discuss her purpose which was to inspire young people. Not to be a bimbo!
I would totally recommend swallowing your pride and popping along to the cinema to watch this brilliant masterpiece.
If you want to find out my thoughts about the other big movie out right now, check out my review of Oppenheimer. Please also consider following my blog for similar future content.
I like your write up.
Thank you.
Really liked reading your thoughts, I still need to see this
Yes go and watch it. See what you think.