This article contains spoilers forBarbie(2023).The highly anticipatedBarbiemovie is now in theaters, and it’s giving people a lot to talk about. Director Greta Gerwig is known for exploring human relationships, identity, and the search for authenticity. Her previous work includes the critically acclaimed filmsLady Bird(2017) andLittle Women(2019), both which focus on complex female characters, their struggles, aspirations, and the challenges they face in a society that often imposes unrealistic expectations. And this time around, Gerwig partners with Mattel and manages to stay loyal to the brand while also remaining true to her own style, creating a light-hearted satirical comedy with a powerful message.
In a world where Barbie can be (and is) everything, Margot Robbie stars as, well, Barbie. Known in her world as ‘Stereotypical Barbie,’ she is the original one, the one most people think about when they hear the word ‘Barbie.’ The star-studded film follows her character as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery after an existential crisis.
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What is theBarbiemovie about?
Although theBarbiemovie covers a wide variety of underlying themes, such as feminism, identity, and motherhood, the plot itself is pretty straightforward. In this universe,Barbieland is a real place, where all the different Barbies live perfect lives, along with the Kens and other discontinued Mattel dolls. Barbies run everything, and Kens are their lesser companions. Every day in Barbieland is a perfect day. That is, until Stereotypical Barbie’s life starts changing. She experiences thoughts of death, her heels touch the ground, and she starts getting cellulite, all this previously unheard of in Barbieland.
In order for things to go back to the way they were, Barbie has to reconnect with her human owner. She andKen (Ryan Gosling)travel to the real world and have widely different experiences. Barbie looks for her owner, but is met with unwanted attention, rejection, and criticism for the unrealistic standards that the idea of Barbie placed on women. She spirals into an existential crisis and begins to question her place in the world. Meanwhile, Ken finds himself in a world where men are in control and respected, as opposed to how things are in his world. He travels back to Barbieland and brings the patriarchy home with him, a concept he doesn’t truly understand, but attempts to imitate regardless.
At its core,Barbieis a movie about identity, and its relatively simple plot is only the top layer. As the story progresses, more layers get uncovered and the underlying message gains complexity. After Barbie returns to Barbieland, now Kendom, and finds out the Kens have taken over and will change the constitution, Barbie’s adult owner Gloria (America Ferrera) delivers a speech about womanhood and how the world should be. This empowers all the Barbies todistract the Kens and restore Barbieland, while also summarizing one of the movie’s biggest lessons.
How DoesBarbieEnd?
While the Kens are too busy fighting each other and performing a Broadway-worthy musical number, the Barbies vote against changing the constitution and restore Barbieland, but this time showing an understanding towards Kens and allowing them to have some power too (as much as women have in the real world), and everything is fine again. Except for the two protagonists and their ongoing existential crises. Barbie (Robbie) then encourages Ken (Gosling) to figure out who he is as an individual, without her, assuring him that being just Ken is more than enough. This also serves as a clever twist totheBarbiemarketing campaign, where the phrase “just Ken” is used dismissively. Meanwhile Barbie, after witnessing the impact she’s made, the complexity of human relationships, and the truth about the real world, doesn’t think she can go back to her perfect life and be Stereotypical Barbie anymore. She no longer knows how her story is supposed to end.
The real world deeply impacted Barbie, and after a heart-to-heart talk with Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman), the creator of the Barbie doll, she decides to leave her life in Barbieland behind and become human. Fully aware that this decision means she will age and eventually die, Barbie chooses to do so, in order to createsomething meaningful for the world, rather than live forever as an idea. She believes that she can do more good in the real world, exploring and embracing imperfection, emotion, and understanding the true human experience, as complex as it may be. This step marks the end of her life as Barbie, but not the end of Barbie.
In the very last scene, as Barbie starts her new life as a human in the real world, she walks into an office with excitement, for what appears to be a job interview. She introduces herself as Barbara Handler, after Ruth Handler’s daughter (who she named the Barbie doll after) and, as a final twist, announces that she’s there to see her gynecologist. This not only a clever way to summarize the film’s style and humor, but also serves as a humbling nod to the human experience in one of its truest forms.
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