By Maia Venuti
Staff Writer
Greta Gerwig’s much anticipated film, “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera and Michael Cera, was released on Friday, July 21.
The film chronicles Barbie’s daily life in Barbieland when she begins to have strange thoughts accompanied by unusual happenings in her daily routine. These issues can only be resolved by making the long trek to the real world, which she does alongside Ken.
To describe this movie as a masterpiece feels like a heavy understatement, as it met and exceeded any and all expectations that I had. From the set design to the costumes to the acting, there was not one area of this film that fell short of perfection. The accuracy and attention to the little details in bringing these Barbies to life was astounding and it is clear that the research was done into each Barbie that was portrayed.
The acting in this film was phenomenal — everyone was cast perfectly and fully embodied their respective Barbies and Kens. Margot Robbie was the perfect person to play Barbie, and she really did an excellent job at bringing such an iconic doll to life. Ryan Gosling’s performance as Ken was “LaLa Land” (2016) levels of good; his singing and dancing skills were not put to waste. America Ferrera also gave a heartwarming performance that brought out a more emotional side to the film. The best featured actor, though, was none other than Michael Cera as the one and only Allan, Ken’s buddy, who can fit into all his clothes. Everytime Cera graced the screen, it was hard to feel anything other than pure, unbridled joy.
The overall message of this film was all around heartwarming and empowering. The purpose of Barbie as a doll has always been to empower and teach girls that they are capable of anything if they just set their mind to it. She teaches that girls can do everything men can do, hence why Barbieland is entirely female run while the Kens happily exist in Barbie’s world.
The way patriarchy is discussed in the realm of Barbie is also fascinating, as the topic is present throughout a large part of the film. One of the most glaring differences between Barbieland and the real world in the film is how things are run. In Barbieland, all of the people in charge are women — Barbie is president, there are nine Barbie supreme court justices, all the doctors are Barbies and there are Barbies that even work at construction sites. However, in the real world these fields are all heavily male-dominated, with women being in the minority most of the time, if present at all.
Seeing Barbie herself come to terms with how different reality is versus Barbieland was nothing short of emotional. As a woman, it is a really harrowing and overwhelming thing to realize just how male-dominated the world is and how scary the real world can be versus the empowering rhetoric that Barbie has taught for our childhoods.
This movie was a cultural reset and has changed the standard for live action adaptations forever. Going to see this film was such a moving experience — seeing girls and women of all ages decked out in pink and sitting in a full theater to enjoy something we have all been looking forward to for so long was wonderful. The payoff for waiting so long for this movie was worth it and I cannot wait to see it again. Cinema is back.
