This is a very personal film review.
It has been some time since I watched this movie and the discussion surrounding it. I am not a professional film critic, so I don't want to evaluate this movie like those professional writers. So I don't care about spoilers, if you're worried about spoilers, you can leave now. And if for some reason you don't want to or can't watch it, but really want to know what this movie is about, then I hope this review can help you. At the same time, I want to tell you that although this is a personal article, I still want to ensure an objective evaluation of "Barbie".
As everyone expected, this movie has caused quite a stir in various aspects. But from my subtle observation, compared to other movies that explicitly mention "women" or "feminism", the online discussion about "Barbie" is smaller than I imagined, or at least in the circle I am in. This may be related to the movie itself, and I became convinced of this after watching it.
So I watched this movie with a "spectator" mentality. I don't know if it's because I live in a small place, but there were only two girls sitting in the back of the theater, including me, so there were only three people.
Some thoughts after watching#
I know that for some male viewers, they straightforwardly told me that this is just a trash movie disguised as "feminism"! I don't know if they have actually watched the movie, maybe they are very disdainful of it. I haven't observed the opinions of female viewers too much, but I can idealize their evaluation of the movie.
But if you ask for my evaluation, although I haven't watched many movies, I want to say that this is a popcorn movie. The story structure is classic, and the creative expression and sensory experience are fresh. As for my attitude towards the movie, of course, there are:
One thing that came to my mind is "dark jokes". Dark jokes are like this— the listener needs to know the relevant background in advance, otherwise they won't get the punchline. At the same time, dark jokes need to be "dark" enough, and the audience will have different reactions to the joke:
Some people think you shouldn't tell this joke; some people take the joke seriously; some people think it's just a joke.
So if you replace "dark" with "gender topics", I can imagine this type of "joke", and "Barbie" is this kind of joke. So the attitude towards this movie depends on which category you belong to.
The second point is about the content of the movie. I thought of something on "Little Red Book". Some people would use the tag "baby food" to attract attention to their content. In terms of content, this is also like a kind of "baby food". Note that this doesn't mean the content has deteriorated, it's just that this movie dilutes and softens the realistic part like "baby food", but the essence remains unchanged.
What I remember most is that in the Barbie world, it's not just "Barbie" and "Ken", there are also types like Allen and "pregnant Barbie" that can't be sold. In the story, their discussions are almost transparent, and I think the audience can find their own interpretations in these characters.
The movie begins#
"I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic." These lyrics from a disco song from over a decade ago are the beginning of the story of the movie "Barbie".
In this Barbie world, there are female "Barbies" and male "Kens" living in it. Naturally, this world revolves around Barbie, who plays a major role in this world. Ken, on the other hand, is a subordinate to Barbie and in a weaker position. However, you can also see that this Barbie world has no connection to the real world because it only has the concepts of human society. "The beach in it is fake, the Nobel Prize is a replica, even though Barbie doesn't sweat, they can still feel uncomfortable." Everything is very plastic, or in other words, fake. But this doesn't affect the fact that the Barbie world has a complete social structure and division of labor. It's just fake.
But this is a movie, and movies need ups and downs, so this balance is broken. Barbie needs to go to the human world to solve a crisis. The "Barbie" in the Barbie world has a counterpart in the real world, which is the Barbie doll in our hands. The company that manufactures Barbie dolls makes money by selling them, and this is the significance in reality. In reality, this doll can be influenced by the changing moods of its owner, including physical effects—you know, humanoid toys can be played with until they're worn out. This influence is reflected in the Barbie in the Barbie world, and that's why Barbie needs to go to the human world.
Then the comedy and "absurd" part of the movie comes. When we say the Barbie world is fake, the human world in the movie is also portrayed as fake, not in terms of "plastic", but in terms of narrative style, like a simplification. The movie simplifies the concept of social structure, just like the biggest villain in the movie, "Barbie Company".
The Barbie Company knows what will happen when "Barbie" comes to the real world because it can affect the Barbie dolls they manufacture, and this influence is contagious. For example, if a mainstream concept is formed in the Barbie world, it will affect the sales of dolls with that style in reality. Of course, worse things could happen, so the Barbie Company naturally doesn't want "Barbie" to come to the real world. This makes the story very funny and comedic. You might find it a bit absurd, but you know it's just a storytelling trick.
The rest of the movie is the typical plot that everyone loves, and I don't want to discuss it too much because it's very simple and easy to understand. The Barbie world is like a reversal of the human society in the real world, but the division of labor is more extreme. Barbie and Ken don't sweat, bleed, or die in this world. When Ken accompanies Barbie to the human world, he experiences treatment and concepts like power that he has never experienced before in the previous world. But to obtain these, Ken realizes that he has to put in a lot of effort and hard work in the human society. So Ken brings these concepts back to the more relaxed Barbie world to create a world of his own. Then there is the plot of Barbie returning from the human world and confronting Ken. This story is so classic that I can't find the right words to describe it.
The ending of the movie#
As for whether "Barbie" is a so-called "feminist" movie, I can say with certainty: it is not. "Barbie" uses this as a gimmick, but it is not the core of the movie. This is very obvious. Just as I said at the beginning, it's like a so-called "dark joke". If you understand the reality and the ending of the movie, it tells the audience very clearly:
After going through various ups and downs, Barbie doesn't want the Barbie world to revolve solely around her, nor does she want it to become a world solely focused on Ken. I can even make a bold statement: "Barbie" tells us that our reality is a world of "gender equality" because in the end, Barbie chooses this—she chooses reality and becomes a living human.
I don't want to discuss the so-called "patriarchy" in this movie because it is not the real focus of the movie. Some people say that "Barbie" did not provide a good explanation for the conflicts between men and women in our reality, like digging an unfilled hole, a cloud hanging in the air. I don't feel that way. I think "Barbie" has provided a good explanation. At the end of the story, the founder of Barbie, Ruth, appears in the movie and tells Barbie a simple reality:
Humans only have one ending. Thoughts may be eternal, but people create so-called patriarchy and Barbie dolls just to pass the time in this long life, in order to welcome death in the end.