Barbie (2023)

This movie means a LOT to a lot of people. And while it didn't make as huge of an emotional connection with me because of my gender, I see exactly why women love it, and I admire it for that. Really, I think the experience is a bit insular and male viewers will NOT get the same thing from the movie. But who the hell said every movie has to be accessible to men? And isn't that one of the points the movie is making?

No, this was not the transformative experience for me it was for many girls and women who saw it. And that's 100% okay, and it's not something to drag the movie over. I see the appeal of the message and how it does resonate even if I'm not the best person to receive it.

Or maybe I am and just don't know it yet. I took special notice that after all of the horrible things Ken did, at the very end Barbie empowers him as an individual. And the tongue in cheek happy endings for the Kens is that eventually in Barbieland they currently enjoy the same level of power as women do in our Universe.

While I think Sasha's rant about Barbie is true on some level, the truth is Barbie was the least of the feminist movement's problems and what they were up against. I'm not saying the doll's impact was as positive as Stereotypical Barbie believed it was, but it was a symptom of the toxicity of the patriarchy, not the root cause.

There was a couple of jokes I need to compliment. People are raving over the philosophical discussions and feminist themes (Barbie telling the old woman she is beautiful is one of the purest moments of joy of the film) but the movie opening on a parody of The Dawn Of Man from 2001: A Space Odyssey, suggests that whatever the following movie was gonna be, it would not be underwhelming. Good or bad, the girl smashing the doll, tossing it up into the air and it turning into the Barbie logo meant the film was gonna swing for the fences. Good to know.

The other joke I snickered at probably is because I don't like Margot Robbie. Not as an actress, but as a person. She's said some stuff in interviews that has pissed me off. But I love the moment when Barbie says she feels ugly, Helen Mirren as the Narrator pauses the film and gives a real world casting note: Probably not the most believable moment for Margot Robbie to play. And I'm like, "Damn straight!"

Barbie walking down the boardwalk and describing the looks she was getting as sort of "violent" is pretty freaking apt. Stereotypical Barbie is not portrayed as a rocket scientist. But I love the precise ways she is unnerved by our world and that she is able to verbalize them so clearly.

First rule of patriarchy, Ken. We don't talk about patriarchy. Good bit.

Weird Barbie rocks. I know everybody thinks so already, but I'll get on the bandwagon there with everyone else, little late or not.

Probably the main reason I didn't ultimately connect with the film was sort of one of the morals of the movie (which was nice learning the thing I objected to was objectionable). But it was still a bit of a slog at the beginning to go through Barbie World and the dance party. I felt in my heart of hearts the characters were existing in a special level of Hell. And eventually that's the idea, but it didn't make it easier to take at the time.

Again, I'm not a little girl. I imagine they would find that scene hilarious on every level.

Do you know what makes me glum about America Ferrera's amazing speech about the expectations about how women should look and act? She used to be a healthy-sized woman in Ugly Betty and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And she's lost SO much weight, probably because that's how a woman her age can still get cast in projects like this. Part of me would have loved seeing her in this same exact role before the weight loss. It woukd have meant more to me, speaking as someone who struggles with weight. And her bits about how women are expected to be thin but not too thin would have made more sense then too.

I'm not sure if the gynecologist thing was the right joke to end the movie on, but considering the heady themes and positive messages, it would be a pretty tall order coming up with a better and more perfect wrap-up. They had to end the movie somehow, and I guess that's a memorable way to do it.

This is the right movie for 2023's political climate. And I am very glad it made the impact that it did. I thought it was pretty great. 4 1/2 stars.