BARBIELAND in the shape of a question mark
Barbie was just one of those movies for me.
I mean, I was expecting to enjoy it, for it to melt in my mouth like cotton candy, to go down sweet and easy. But I found it more like the pink in the center of a rare steak—a lil chew, muscularity, tenderness, some salt to its sweetness.
Cause here’s the thing, the movie was going to be good no matter what. The aesthetic blueprint was spectacle enough to bring in a crowd. Model the set after the Dream House, costumes after vintage dolls, throw in a pink convertible, and voila! But the eye candy was only the beginning.
The film was vivid, expressive, emotional, playful, creative. I found myself caught in a disco dance between feeling and thought. I’d tear up before I had time to think and then belly-laugh before I had time to cry. Mount Rushmore was carved with female faces, every career path was paved and cleared for Barbie, and parties were for dressing up & dancing before going home to a girls night.
Barbieland gives space for us to imagine. It isn’t hateful or violent, it’s a simple question–What If? What if our society framed women the way it framed men? What if national monuments were honoring women because they had authority in founding the country? What if a billboard of women in bikinis could be the supreme court–just as free in their skin as they are noble in their minds? What if our media didn’t drop focus on women after their dewey 20’s, so it wasn’t surprising when a grayed, wrinkly, elderly woman sitting normally on a bench was seen as beautiful? And what if it wasn’t surprising when she said “I know”?!
I loved that every woman was “Barbie”. Each one had an esteem apart from profession, from relationship status, from worldview. To be alive there as a woman is to be dignified & named equally, an across the board recognition of shared value. I loved that Barbie’s main journey was self realization, to find an understanding of her existence, to learn how to help herself heal. How thrilling for a woman on the big screen! And then to do it in such an adventurous, humorous, vulnerable way–just gorgeous.
And I loved that from the escalators ride, to the movie seat, to the restaurants after, you could TELL just from looking around who had seen it. This unspoken “on barbie day, we all wear pink.” And not based on how much money you spent to show you were included. Instead of an exclusive brand or an expensive label, we all pulled out our pinks. From the faded thriftstore tank top to the glamorous cocktail dress, if it was PINK, you belonged. You were Barbie. I LOVED it.
Stop there, Greta, and it would’ve been enough! She highlighted female experience in a savvy and bewitching manner. In 2021, only 7% of films had more female than male characters (Forbes). She already achieved making a blockbuster movie that defied writing and casting trends as well as protagonist statistics (only 31% of top-grossing films featured female protagonists). But she didn’t stop. She took it further, and modeled what it could look like for a supporting role, a significant other role (Hi Ken), to be seen and heard. Especially in the scene where he confesses his confusion at not being everything to her, and Barbies dialogue EMBOLDENS him! On his own! Apart from her!
This film says IT IS POSSIBLE to be a leading role that elevates the importance of their supporting role, even apart from their own centralized journey. This means Gerwig & team found a way to not only break the mold, but model a way forward.
It’s an act of leadership. It’s dignifying. It’s empowering. It boggles my everloving mind. I’m smitten, absolutely head over heels with this message.
And I find it…let’s say, ironic, that nearly every conversation I’ve had about Barbie with men, in nearly every press article posted in major news outlets, they say twice as many things about Ryan Gosling as Ken than any of the female tracks. Maybe it’s their way in, their way to engage with a world that is so different than the one we live in, and maybe it’s what genuinely interests them the most. But it’s exactly what the film was saying. Humanland has been taught most often and is therefore most familiar interacting with male-centered narratives.
I confess, when the conversation starts to go that way, I lean back, hop in the hot pink car of my mind, and drive far and away to Barbieland. Margot greets me with a wave, Ruth pours me a cup of tea, and Nicki Minaj picks up a mic. Safe space, happy place.
A final thought on the final word of the film- “gynecologist” made us laugh not only because we don’t hear that word on the big screen but because we never hear it said with such authoritative pride and delight! I bet I’llI never say it again without a little bit of that Barbie-infused magic.
Some more stats if you’re still here:
Eighty-five percent of films featured more male than female characters, but only 7% of films had more female than male characters.
Females made up only 34% of all speaking characters, declining from 36% in 2020.
Women comprised only 35% of major characters. For purposes of the study, major characters were those who appeared in more than one scene and were considered instrumental to the story.
Major female characters were younger than major male characters. Almost twice as many major male characters (11%) as female characters (6%) were aged 60 and above.
In the top-grossing films, 31% featured female protagonists, 57% featured male protagonists and 12% had a combination of male and female protagonists. Protagonists are the characters from whose perspective the story is told. The percentage of films with female protagonists increased slightly from 2020, when only 29% of films had a female protagonist.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2022/03/17/men-still-get-two-thirds-of-speaking-roles-in-top-grossing-films/?sh=7b9aefc659a8
