For weeks, Mrs. Bulldog resisted seeing Barbie with me because she feared I'd have a negative reaction to the pro-female message, as some in the conservative media have. I assured her that not only am I not a conservative, but I have a sense of humor. One rainy Saturday afternoon, I finally got her to shift enough and we took it in. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's funny and the story is absurd in the extreme. Yes, there's an outlandishly Woke overtone of "men rule the world" as a message. It's only a part of the story. The main story really is much more subtle. Yes, it's partially about empowering women, but it's also a story about how Wokeness and Intersectionalism are dangerous, while individualism and self-awareness are critical. If you (like me) do not mind spoilers, then feel free to read on. I found Barbie to be funny, engaging, and intelligent, requiring an open mind and a willingness to engage absurdity to gain insight into deeper thoughts. Sadly for the scriptwriters, I believe they underestimate consumers and their own intelligence exposes the massive flaws in the agenda the writers hoped to push. It actually promotes capitalism (success of Ken's Mojo-Dojo Casa Home), civility and avoiding thoughts and behaviors which promote gender supremacy. Ken's hoodie, at the end, more or less sums up my view. Be yourself.
Barbie was just a comedy that tried to (poorly) push a leftist agenda and wound up undoing itself with other, better, themes while making me laugh hysterically. Ken, inadvertantly at the end, promotes individuality.
The movie begins by paying homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey and an openly ironic narrative describes how Barbie, the doll, "saved girls" and helped improve their lot in the world and in life by empowering girls to achieve. This was, arguably, the most inspired part of the production, because it parodies itself and, throughout the movie, it incorporates recreated scenes from classic films.
Is there an overriding theme or message to Barbie? Yes there is, but it is poorly done. What the theme may be, ultimately, is up to you, and I'm sure we'll all have different views. I did not see what they wanted me to see (I rarely fall for Hollywood nonsense).
I went in looking for a funny movie to make me laugh on a rainy day and got it. It is absolutely hilarious if you can sit back and let the absurdities wash over you and/or make the connections of why these absurdities are funny (either you believe them, and this makes it funny or, like me, you know they are absurdities with no basis in reality and they carry a Monty Pythonesque tone).
You can also become overly serious and get very angry at the leftist 'message' which was infused poorly throughout the entirety of the movie. From an entertainment perspective, I think that's a waste of time. While they really did try to put a series of leftist messages in, the ONLY message I got was one they didn't know they were making and must have made accidentally. Since so many people seem to have taken it so seriously, I'll address that aspect, in order to make my case on why it's only a comedy.
First, neither men nor women rule the world and we work well together if people realize life isn't only about the collective "us" we choose to align with. That opens the door to intersectionalism, division and manipulation. The movie illustrates this with a vengeance - although it is designed as a means of illustrating "fairness" (a term I neither understand nor accept in political solutions). It is the collective view which creates the divisions in Barbieland/Kendom, and leads to warfare and political strife.
Second, we shouldn't promote political in-fighting, which the Barbies do to 'regain' control of Barbieland. When they regain control, they toss the Kens a few bones out of "fairness" to make them feel "included". Politics ruined Barbieland when Ken introduced a hardcore patriarchy, but it wasn't fixed when Barbies regain control and run everything, either. Politics is promoted by the filmwriters as a 'solution' but their own story exemplifies its pathetic failures.
Third, men are not simpletons who only 'beach' (whatever that means), and women are not the only smart accomplished people. Men aren't driven by petty differences and ego any more than women are, though the movie worked hard to push those descriptions. It's so poorly presented you can tell it doesn't work, the agenda becoming a farce of itself.
Fourth, there are only 3 redeemable characters, all limited by poor personality development.
Fifth, it is very funny if you can simply let go of the political overtones which seem to have infused everything in what has become Hollywood's version of Socialist Realism.
Finally, Hollywood does Socialist Realism very poorly. Not that it was ever good, but Hollywood writers do comedy very well and Socialist Realism is nothing if not great farce.
Accept all but a few characters as over-the-top examples of highly stylized and stereotypical behaviors, to the point that Barbie herself is described as "stereotypical Barbie".
As such, stereotypical Barbie is the most relatable of the characters. She thinks she has a perfect life. When it's taken from her and she is confronted with reality, she has to adapt. She's misled, and follows, the "women first" theme - but as Barbieland is returned to the Barbies, she recognizes her mistreatment of Ken. She admits this. In doing so, she becomes a female version of everything she had just criticized in the real world. Acknowledging the benefits and flaws of both genders, but feeling her femaleness is the most important thing to latch on to for development of her personality, and leading her to realize she doesn't belong in Barbieland any more. Her humanness made real, in the final scene, she visits her gynecologist. I laughed, because it means she finally has genitalia, but a conversation I had with Mrs. Bulldog suggested "it's because she's taking control of her body." I won't argue this - we all need to control our body. I have yet to see anyone else's body I've been controlling, but apparently the idea is I must be doing so if Barbie needs to announce this emphatically. In reality, it is her own acknowledgement of her internal struggle between the perfect (asexual) life she had, versus what she'd experienced in the real world, that led her to become human, as she was experiencing a very real, natural, human trait. Now her life is just a little more complicated.
Another redeemable character is the ghost of Ruth Handler, the Barbie inventor. Played by Rhea Perlman, she makes valid points about the nature of humanity and life which everyone should pay attention to. Granted, this is a Barbie/female message movie and it's pushing an idea of a 'girl-power' message, but Ruth's commentary is poignant and life-affirming. As Boris Johnson commented, it's a pro-family movie. I don't disagree. I found it odd that Barbie eschewed relationships, even after she gained self-realization. She eventually found a place for relationships, but on her terms (as it should be). Ken remained a dullard, whose entire life would revolve around having a girl, 'beaching' and not having a clue what it means to have self-actualization (much like the members of the Mattel staff). Ruth, on the other hand, was very human and very realistic. For a ghost.
Finally, there is the Barbie 'owner' who Barbie was seeking. Mother of a child, just craving love and attention, she was in a bad relationship with a (naturally) stupid man and an abusive and ill-mannered teen. A seemingly precocious teen who was clearly brainwashed by her teachers in high-school, reciting boring leftist propaganda about capitalism, cultural appropriation, how Barbie represented the worst of society and marketing, and other generalized nonsense which was designed to make her seem 'smarter' than adults, which she clearly wasn't. She was just a mean, abusive, dictatorial twit who didn't understand her mother and had no interest in doing so. The mother, played by America Ferrara, was the most realistic character. Her memories of Barbie were not just from her own youth, but the good times she'd had with her daughter, now an aggressive and distant leftist android. She knew who she was, lamented her flaws, hoped to improve herself, but was unfortunately dwelling in her fears regarding death, depression and cellulite. Her fears are what brought Barbie to life and created the story.
Where the scriptwriters ultimately failed with the "women are better" storyline was with the mother. Thoroughly relatable and enjoyable, worldly-wise, forgiving and seeking love - she ultimately is the one who hatches the plot to regain Barbieland with the help of her brainwashed daughter. In doing so, she reverts to tropes and misandry. Men become simpletons and beset with petty differences and ego - as if women never have these things. I set this aside because the story, at this point, was so funny I didn't care what they were trying to say, I was focused on the absurdity of it all.
All the Barbies, upon Ken's introduction of patriarchy to Barbieland, had become mindless arm candy. Remember, these are supposedly accomplished women who are intelligent. Physicists, president, Supreme Court judges, etc. They are so smart, the mere introduction of patriarchy made them forget what it meant to be intelligent and accomplished and they simply were somehow brainwashed into being arm candy. Like the Kens had been, originally. Ironic, improbable and absurd - but funny as hell.
Ultimately, from my perspective, this was one of the best Libertarian, pro-family stories and anti-public education stories I've seen in a long time. By getting me to laugh at how stupid - and I do mean really truly stupid - leftists are, I found it engaging. It's hard to go in there, with an ounce of intelligence and common sense, and not walk out with an understanding that the absurdities utilized to push "The Agenda" failed miserably. The teen is clearly a brainwashed, entitled twit. The Kens are impossibly stupid. The Mattel executives are a leftist's absurdist ESG dream. In being so unrelatable, the viewer has the opportunity to push everything to the side and see the truth.
The truth is that individualism is critical. Self-awareness is necessary. Gender politics and intersectionalism are failures which lead to cognitive dissonance and strife. Political 'solutions' make problems worse by promoting one group over others, often in the name of 'fairness' or 'making things equal' when, in fact, nothing is equal.
Barbie is a plea for sanity, intelligence, and openness. Inasmuch as it is designed to draw attention to the flaws of "cultural requirements" (you have to be blond, tall, thin, pretty, funny, happy, etc.), it points out this is ridiculous. Individuals can never meet culture's view of what success is - even people who have supposedly done this haven't done it. They are just people. Barbie is a story designed to promote taking life lightly and easily, stop being obsessed with stupid ideas like gender, cultural themes, politics, and to promote a level of respect and civility. After seeing many conservatives rail on and on about how awful this movie is, I am not sure I saw the same movie. I get the feeling they are so wrapped up in their own nonsense, they fail to have a sense of wonder and humor over the nature of human existence. Be yourself. You do you, and you do it well.
