Lucky to see Barbie with my #1 sparkle (my daughter). -Come to think of it, after seeing this I believe Barbie and Sparkle are synonymous.
Campy, pink, fun with girl power as the headline and ultimately a way of life. Lots of memories of playing Barbie with my two neighbors, dressing them up, giving them jobs that weren’t even on the packaging. We even had a few Kens in the mix and somehow evolved their stories into driving around town in the pink convertible on dates as we grew older. He is as stiff as he appears. And yes, we all (well the cool kids) had the Weird Barbie.
What director Greta Gerwig did here is nothing short of amazing, insightful and intimately precious. She dipped into our nostalgic love for a toy, blew it up, and gave it a modern feminist twist. Mix in thoughts of self doubt, awareness, and hopeful promise. She showed us a mirror and had Barbie staring right back at us.
Margot Robbie is the quintessential Barbie, and grows into the role as her real human attributes to take over. Ryan Gosling as Ken- come on, hysterical. He is Kenough. Way wittier then I expected he could be. And don’t forget Allan (Michael Cera) with just the right amount of discontent and Simu Lu as (also) Ken – the perfect bro dance partner.
One of the best scenes is Gloria’s (America Ferrera) monologue that starts with “It’s literally impossible to be a woman..” At first it feels – over the top. However, as her words sink in, it’s like little word bubbles that float over the audience and *pop* as their meanings take hold. Love knowing Gerwig wrote this, especially as this movie brings in more audiences, more money – you go girl.
Did I need all of the patriarchy shoved in my face? Don’t be silly. But for Ken to lead the charge, it poked enough fun at it that it felt like living memes rather than scripture. I also didn’t need the whole inventor of the Barbie dream scene but she brings it back around at the end.
Shout out for the song “Closer to Fine,” reminding us how important our individual journeys are. Love that this song is still relevant today – years after I had it as my license plate when I lived in Chicago: CLSR2FN.
Funny thing is that I just thought this was going to be entertaining – whacky and even a little bit ridiculous. And it was. But there was more to it somehow and the genius marketing and promotion cannot be overlooked. I’m more of a fan of Barbie today than I was when I was 9, so there’s that.