“Do you guys ever think about dying?”
It’s the record scratch heard around Barbie Land, as Barbie (Margot Robbie) asks her fellow Barbies a very non-stereotypical question amid their dreamhouse dance party.
The question sets up a wholly unexpected and intriguing concept from Writer/Director Greta Gerwig, who wrote the film with partner Noah Baumbach. What if Barbie’s dollness was somehow being affected by humanness? The result is a movie that is hilariously meta and camp while pulling at nostalgic heartstrings.
Barbie lives in Barbie Land, a feminist utopia where Barbies rule and Kens drool. The Barbies are confident and accomplished at their jobs—lawyer (Sharon Rooney), physicist (Emma Mackey), reporter (Rita Aryu), doctor (Hari Nef), and author (Alexandra Shipp)—and they support and celebrate one another. They have President Barbie (Issa Rae), a Pink House, and an all-Barbie Supreme Court.
And then there are the Kens. As the film’s narrator (Helen Mirren) explains, they merely exist to be seen by Barbie. And Ken (Ryan Gosling) wants nothing more than for Robbie’s Barbie to notice him as much as he notices her.
But when Barbie starts “malfunctioning” with thoughts of death, flat feet, and a patch of cellulite, Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) informs her that she has to go to The Real World and locate the girl who’s playing with her. Tagging along is Ken, who finds himself bombarded with male-centered imagery in The Real World and is very much here for it. Barbie deals with the rude awakening that she and the other Barbies didn’t quite impact The Real World as they thought they had.
Gerwig has a knack for telling stories that center on women who are in the midst of transitional moments in their lives. She successfully navigates the idea of Barbie being affected by The Real World onscreen as the doll narrowly avoids being contained in her box by the Mattel CEO (Will Ferrell) and raises questions surrounding her purpose. Gerwig manages to take a doll that’s both wildly beloved and controversial and make her relatable.
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