When mainstream Hollywood has a barbed dig at the world’s patriarchy, you do a second take – especially when those barbs come from the mouths of Barbie dolls, surely the antithesis of feminism?
I wasn’t sure what to expect, indeed, I hadn’t even read any reviews and I had no idea what kind of story they could fashion about a doll (& a doll that I hadn’t engaged with much as a child – I preferred the petite Pippa dolls). But I’d been told it was a bit retro, & I’m a fan of Ryan Gosling and was confident he wouldn’t have agreed to a crap role.
So I made myself comfortable in the full recliner seat at Merry Hill, wondering what I’d let myself in for. I was surrounded by worn out mums and small children dressed in pink and I instantly began to regret my decision. This was going to be SO Disney, and I hadn’t done Disney since Dumbo – which quite frankly broke me!
If four & five year olds were gazing adoringly at the screen, I was pretty sure I was in the wrong place.
But then it happened. Full technicolour glory, spat riotously into Barbie World and I just couldn’t get my bearings. It was like the first 10 minutes of La La Land (which I absolutely loved eventually). And I began to have a Mama Mia moment. Why would Ryan associate with this air-headed nonsense? I felt myself crossing my arms, ready to make a quick exit.
Then it happened. Little girls playing with baby dolls, so beautifully captured on film, and then playing house. Mirroring the drudge of motherhood and wifery and then suddenly they all stood up and started to bash the baby dolls until they cracked and splattered at their feet.
Whoa!!
I looked around me. The four year old fidgeters were non-plussed. The worn out mums had big question marks hanging over their heads.
And I was hooked.
Memories of my feminine flirtation with Teeny Tiny Tears (I liked small things) came flooding back. I was trying to change its nappy and I wrestled the right leg off. Came clean out of the socket. And immediately I knew this wasn’t the role for me – at age four actually! I didn’t even feel any guilt or sadness, which is a terrible admission. I just tossed that doll and her leg into a cupboard and went in search of worms to capture because I was building a worm house so I could observe behaviours.
The baby dolls lay broken and Barbie’s journey from her created world through to the real world and back again – interwoven with Ken’s insecurities and lack of personality and strength – was a rollercoaster journey of extreme joy and plenty of epiphany moments. I was enraptured. The performances were incredible, the nods to the Barbie retro stuff (other dolls, clothes, houses etc) were a lovely memorial to days gone past. But the theme of women taking on the patriarchy was SO relevant it kind of punched you in the stomach.
I’m not going to be the spoiler, it really is an intelligent and emotional journey through womanhood that everyone should go on (I do think four is a bit young, but maybe something will seep into their subconscious?). And it also says a lot about men and how the ‘sexes’ as they were called back then were manufactured.
And told through the eyes of a doll which has been controversial for most of her life – the only doll that had a range of professions, that didn’t rely on a man (Ken’s role is very clear throughout) but who could outwardly exude style, elegance and beauty. The doll that had it all. The doll that little girls could play with & be inspired to other things and not just motherhood.
My mind was blown. I’m pretty sure the heavy feminist rhetoric explored in the story might go over a lot of people’s heads. I’m not sure who the target audience was, but it’s been a massive draw, I just hope that both the subliminal messages, as well as the explicit ones, plant one or two seeds in the minds of all generations who go and see the movie.
For years we’ve all wrestled with the big issues around gender. And that has superseded feminism to some extent. But these are still very real issues, and how we bring up boys versus girls, is still a real issue. Women are still picking up most of the household chores, the childcare activities and are still looking after their men as if they were their mothers!
It shouldn’t really take a plastic doll living in a plastic world, to shine a light on the things we are still getting wrong in terms of equality, centuries later. And in terms of Barbie, decades later.
But this fascinating take, superbly thought out and beautifully scripted, on role reversal and gender equality is a really unique interpretation and I really hope that Barbie’s barbed attack leaves a legacy of sorts for generations ahead of us and helps girls break free from the box of stereotypes they get trapped in from a very early age.
If you don’t fancy the film, at least read this superb monologue which is recited by one of the lead actresses. And if it doesn’t give you goosebumps, you really do have nothing in your brain.
👉Gloria’s full monologue from Barbie
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.
You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time.
You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining.
You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.
I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.”
Mags Winthrop Blog 