Rebuilding Rob

At long last, I have finally watched the other half of the Barbenheiner duo: Barbie. To say that a live action will be based upon the long running pop culture icon has been a long time in the making is a gross understatement. There’s a lot to unpack with this movie.

I’m a surface, it is a feature like movie based on iconic, enduring toy line. In fact, Mattel has already indicated that they have nearly a dozen other toy based movie ideas in the pipeline. There’s been this push, ever since the 90s, to make big screen adaptations of either classic TV shows or toys for that matter. Inevitably, part of that push seems to be bringing the TV shows or toys into the “real world” Barbie is no exception.

Let me talk a little bit about the casting here. Are there any two better actors in Hollywood to play Barbie and Ken, respectively, then Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling? It’s ironic because they’re both pretty faces on the surface. However, just as other able to demonstrate in some of their other works, you can tell that they are both immensely talented performers.

The story begins with a Barbie and Ken – and evidently all of the Barbies, Ken’s and all of their ancillary characters from the toyline – living their best life in Barbie World; a place which apparently is on planet earth and is yet separate from “ the real world“.

Barbie gets “a message“ and finds herself compelled to answer, a call from a girl in the real world. So she makes the trip leaving Barbie world. Toy character goes into real world. Check. Little does Barbie realize, Ken hitches a ride with her. when they get to California, they realize that it is nothing like Barbie world. The real world is seemingly controlled by men, and both characters learn some harsh lessons about “the patriarchy“. Yep. This movie is about two plastic dolls, undergoing their own respective existential crises. This movie is definitely not intended for the 8-year-old little girls who are playing with their Barbie dolls today.

Ken decides to return to Barbie world with his newfound knowledge of the Real World patriarchy (and horses). Meanwhile Barbie and her newfound real world friends head back to Barbie World to respite the status quo.

I’ve heard this movie called “subversive“ and yes, it absolutely takes a big swing at the patriarchy and the male dominated real world that we live in. Interestingly, enough. Barbie also addresses, Uber-empowered girls myth created by the toy line. And in the end, the big solution is returning the both worlds to their status quo. That is to say that the real world goes back to being The Real World and Barbie World is once again a matriarchy.

I think an underlying message that this movie missed out on is that in the movie, Ken is just as vapid, just as brainless as everyone believes that the Barbie toy is in the real word. That’s what makes the song “I’m just Ken “so great. For all that the movie says about women being held back in “the patriarchy” it likewise portrays men as the embodied out their own age – old generalizations neither gender really knows anything about the other. And despite appearances, neither gender has it “all”

Of course, these are just the musings of a dude who hung up on his own gender and mental health issues of the day. Maybe this could be material for a Ken sequel? As I said, there is a lot going on in Barbie. I’m sure that at least half of it went over my head. This movie is a much deeper story than one would think on the surface. But in some cases, I think it fails to stick the landing.

AS A SIDE NOTE, one of the viewing options for Barbie is to watch the movie with ASL. An ASL interpreter appears on the screen and out the entire story and sign. I’m told that this is something that Max is experimenting with. If people watching this format, then perhaps Max will start to offer more movies in this format for the hearing-impaired.

FINAL TAKE: Barbie is not what you would expect. It definitely is not for young kids. While the movie makes some pretty bold statements, I think it also misses the mark in a few instances. It is a real thought provoker.

Barbie is currently streaming on Max.

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• A shocker, I know 
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• Rob’s World Tour – international edition
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The article “Rob Reviews: Barbie“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.