Thanks for sharing your reactions to the movie! I saw it a couple weeks ago and appreciated it a lot. It’s great cinema, quite complex, well-acted, and very funny. My critique was that its message was a bit muddled, but I think that was on purpose. It was supposed to be entertaining, yet provocative.
I did not get from it that men and women don’t need each other, though; quite the opposite. I thought it was trying to show the dehumanization of being dependent upon the other sex for one’s worth. It showed the folly of either gender being exploitative or dismissive of the other. I believe it was trying to say that neither sex needs the other to define it or give it purpose in a superficial or external way, but that our identity and worth are intrinsic because of whom we were created to be. I believe this is true, although the movie doesn’t go far enough with that (by not defining our actual Creator).
I too was disturbed by the opening scene, but I learned that it is based upon the opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” It is supposed to show how Barbie brought a new “dawn of woman” and unleashed her instincts, both good and bad.
Bonnie, thanks for that. I understand that the sexes should not need each other in health ways -dominate or please - but I didn't come away with the idea that men and women were good for each other.
So interesting. I always love your posts. Thank you for writing on this movie. I’d have to say I’m with Bonnie for sure. The message was muddled on purpose. It doesn’t directly say men and women don’t need each other or do need each other but that we can’t find our worth in each other and when we come to this realization, it inherently makes us more complementary. Thought the film was an amazing piece of art. So well thought through and put together, biblically intelligent in its references to Genesis among other things and prophetic in its message for this culture and generation. Love the conversation. Thank you.
I haven't seen this kind of a response from any of the other reviews I've read, but I thought you nailed it, Mike. But I'd have to see it again to see whether I still agreed with you or with your first commenter.
I was reticent to see the new Barbie movie. I thought “another kids superhero movie, this one targeting pre-pubescent girls. I’m out” But it is NOT a kids movie. In fact, I feel sorry for all of the parents who took their 12 year old daughters to this movie, I am sure that were wondering how they could recover their lost cash.
There are a couple of big asks from the director, and the first one shows up pretty quickly: it’s the call out to “2001, A Space Odyssey.” By doing so, she quickly asks the audience to parallel her movie with one of Films most talked about movies. It’s a bold, maybe even brash, move. You need to make the connection that the arrival of the Barbie doll is tantamount to the arrival of the monolith. In 2001, that symbolized the transformation of the species from ape to man. The knowledge of the monolith—with its perfect form, texture and grace—symbolized the arrival of peace and knowledge, actually resulted in violence. In the same way, the Barbie doll was suppose to transform and release young girls from the bondage of motherhood and nuturing behavior, it actually resulted in the stultification of maturity by binding young women to unrealistic forms of beauty and achievement.
So already we can see the large themes that are starting to play out in the movie, and we shouldn’t be surprised when part of the answer is the call for ordinary Barbie. But we also shouldn’t be surprised that Barbie and Barbie’s world is destined for violence and destruction. And, if I can be so bold, it foreshadows Barbie’s own death. “Have any of you ever thought about dying?” And the whole movie literally grinds to a halt. This is NOT a kids movie.
The next big ask comes later in the movie; it shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. We are led to believe that the main character of the movie is Barbie, but she’s not. It’s a slow reveal; we are led for quite a while on a goose chase of Barbie’s owner. We are expecting it to belong to a teenage girl that no longer wants her. So when it’s revealed that it belongs instead to her mother, the entire movie is taken to a new level, a layer of complexity that has to be reassessed. Since now, it is this mother, Gloria, who is the protagonist of our film. What! This story has more layers than my grandma’s nacho dip! It is Gloria’s story being told through the perspective of her Barbie doll. This is so clever and so subtle that I wonder if it obfuscates the power and beauty of this movie.
All of the events that happen to Barbie are just symbolic representations of what is happening to Gloria. Gloria is a pseudo-professional trapped at Mattel, she is married to a ken doll who is culturally appropriating her ethnicity. It is Gloria who has to navigate Barbie’s re-birth into the real world because it is Gloria who has to die to these old ideals that have put her in her current life space.
And Gloria does die. At least symbolically, through Barbie. After all, Barbie meets her maker (the ghost that lives on the 17th floor) who reveals to her the truth of her existence. And having accepted it, she is resurrected. There is the Michelangelo moment of the touch of the maker, there is the breathing in of new life, and there is the integrating of Barbie and Gloria.
I know that there has been a lot of complaints about the matriarchy just taking the place of the patriarchy, and that this isn’t a real solution. And I agree, it isn’t. But it’s not what the story is about. Gloria has to deconstruct her life and her life choices and build them back up. This is why the last scene is so important—just when we think that Barbie is heading off to have the big interview for the big job we are blown away by finding out that she is going to a gynecologist visit. Symbolically, Gloria is reconstructing her femininity, and we are left with the question “What does it mean to be a real women today?”
It’s a powerful, important question. It assumes that being a women is important (and that’s a real question in our culture). But the audience is left with the task of negotiating what that means. I have typed way too long, but there is plenty left that could be talked about in this movie, so much so that I am craving to see it a second time in the comfort of my home, to pause and talk through it with my 30 year old daughter. It was she that convinced me to see it, because, well, she said “you have to see it.” Corporate greed, materialism, parenting, imagination, cultural shaping…wow, this was really a great movie. Just don’t take your kids to see it.
Thanks for sharing your reactions to the movie! I saw it a couple weeks ago and appreciated it a lot. It’s great cinema, quite complex, well-acted, and very funny. My critique was that its message was a bit muddled, but I think that was on purpose. It was supposed to be entertaining, yet provocative.
I did not get from it that men and women don’t need each other, though; quite the opposite. I thought it was trying to show the dehumanization of being dependent upon the other sex for one’s worth. It showed the folly of either gender being exploitative or dismissive of the other. I believe it was trying to say that neither sex needs the other to define it or give it purpose in a superficial or external way, but that our identity and worth are intrinsic because of whom we were created to be. I believe this is true, although the movie doesn’t go far enough with that (by not defining our actual Creator).
I too was disturbed by the opening scene, but I learned that it is based upon the opening scene of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” It is supposed to show how Barbie brought a new “dawn of woman” and unleashed her instincts, both good and bad.
Bonnie, thanks for that. I understand that the sexes should not need each other in health ways -dominate or please - but I didn't come away with the idea that men and women were good for each other.
So interesting. I always love your posts. Thank you for writing on this movie. I’d have to say I’m with Bonnie for sure. The message was muddled on purpose. It doesn’t directly say men and women don’t need each other or do need each other but that we can’t find our worth in each other and when we come to this realization, it inherently makes us more complementary. Thought the film was an amazing piece of art. So well thought through and put together, biblically intelligent in its references to Genesis among other things and prophetic in its message for this culture and generation. Love the conversation. Thank you.
Bonnie for the win!
I haven't seen this kind of a response from any of the other reviews I've read, but I thought you nailed it, Mike. But I'd have to see it again to see whether I still agreed with you or with your first commenter.
Now I want to see the movie with my wife. One of my daughter's watched it and gave me a critique. Thanks Michael for your full critique of the movie.
It is worth seeing.
I was reticent to see the new Barbie movie. I thought “another kids superhero movie, this one targeting pre-pubescent girls. I’m out” But it is NOT a kids movie. In fact, I feel sorry for all of the parents who took their 12 year old daughters to this movie, I am sure that were wondering how they could recover their lost cash.
There are a couple of big asks from the director, and the first one shows up pretty quickly: it’s the call out to “2001, A Space Odyssey.” By doing so, she quickly asks the audience to parallel her movie with one of Films most talked about movies. It’s a bold, maybe even brash, move. You need to make the connection that the arrival of the Barbie doll is tantamount to the arrival of the monolith. In 2001, that symbolized the transformation of the species from ape to man. The knowledge of the monolith—with its perfect form, texture and grace—symbolized the arrival of peace and knowledge, actually resulted in violence. In the same way, the Barbie doll was suppose to transform and release young girls from the bondage of motherhood and nuturing behavior, it actually resulted in the stultification of maturity by binding young women to unrealistic forms of beauty and achievement.
So already we can see the large themes that are starting to play out in the movie, and we shouldn’t be surprised when part of the answer is the call for ordinary Barbie. But we also shouldn’t be surprised that Barbie and Barbie’s world is destined for violence and destruction. And, if I can be so bold, it foreshadows Barbie’s own death. “Have any of you ever thought about dying?” And the whole movie literally grinds to a halt. This is NOT a kids movie.
The next big ask comes later in the movie; it shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. We are led to believe that the main character of the movie is Barbie, but she’s not. It’s a slow reveal; we are led for quite a while on a goose chase of Barbie’s owner. We are expecting it to belong to a teenage girl that no longer wants her. So when it’s revealed that it belongs instead to her mother, the entire movie is taken to a new level, a layer of complexity that has to be reassessed. Since now, it is this mother, Gloria, who is the protagonist of our film. What! This story has more layers than my grandma’s nacho dip! It is Gloria’s story being told through the perspective of her Barbie doll. This is so clever and so subtle that I wonder if it obfuscates the power and beauty of this movie.
All of the events that happen to Barbie are just symbolic representations of what is happening to Gloria. Gloria is a pseudo-professional trapped at Mattel, she is married to a ken doll who is culturally appropriating her ethnicity. It is Gloria who has to navigate Barbie’s re-birth into the real world because it is Gloria who has to die to these old ideals that have put her in her current life space.
And Gloria does die. At least symbolically, through Barbie. After all, Barbie meets her maker (the ghost that lives on the 17th floor) who reveals to her the truth of her existence. And having accepted it, she is resurrected. There is the Michelangelo moment of the touch of the maker, there is the breathing in of new life, and there is the integrating of Barbie and Gloria.
I know that there has been a lot of complaints about the matriarchy just taking the place of the patriarchy, and that this isn’t a real solution. And I agree, it isn’t. But it’s not what the story is about. Gloria has to deconstruct her life and her life choices and build them back up. This is why the last scene is so important—just when we think that Barbie is heading off to have the big interview for the big job we are blown away by finding out that she is going to a gynecologist visit. Symbolically, Gloria is reconstructing her femininity, and we are left with the question “What does it mean to be a real women today?”
It’s a powerful, important question. It assumes that being a women is important (and that’s a real question in our culture). But the audience is left with the task of negotiating what that means. I have typed way too long, but there is plenty left that could be talked about in this movie, so much so that I am craving to see it a second time in the comfort of my home, to pause and talk through it with my 30 year old daughter. It was she that convinced me to see it, because, well, she said “you have to see it.” Corporate greed, materialism, parenting, imagination, cultural shaping…wow, this was really a great movie. Just don’t take your kids to see it.