Cecilia Yu
When stepping into the theater to see The Barbie Movie, we all dressed up in pink or as our favorite animated Barbie character. Stepping out, some had tears in their eyes, other’s hair strewn all over the place after running their fingers through it multiple times, and most seemed like they received the most shocking news of their life.
Barbie was all about watching animations of what we dream of as little kids of being: a fairy becoming a mermaid, a commoner turning into a princess, and having our true love save us from a curse. She usually had her animal sidekick; a random species with a strange name (though quite cute): Kuda the seahorse, Lila the unicorn, and Bibble the puffball (the superior sidekick). If you don’t know Bibble, you are missing out. Please go and watch Barbie: Fairytopia right now, your life is incomplete without seeing a babbling puffball hurl itself across the screen.
Anyways, what people expected was a world filled with pink and possibly magical scenarios such as turning into a mermaid, having wings, saving the prince (multiple times because women are always stronger than men), and so on. What we got was quite the opposite.
Instead of space stations and Santa Claus’s warehouse, we got an inspiring piece that talks about societal norms and how toxic they are to the female sex.
We start with Barbie and Ken enjoying their lives in the Barbie world which is beautiful, pink, and everything a girl can dream of. Everything is going well until she faces the reality of going to the human world. There, Barbie finds out she isn’t as perfect as people make her believe. In Barbieland, she was the most famous because of her style, looks, kindness, and the list goes on. But in the human world, she was criticized, and people questioned her existence.
She returns to Barbieland, wondering what is wrong with her, and why she isn’t good enough. Gloria, played by actress America Ferrera, was not one of Barbie’s big supporters in the beginning, but once Babrie suffers from a breakdown and identity crisis, she is there to let her know nothing is wrong with her, society is wrong. Gloria goes on to say that Barbie is “so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills [her] that [Barbie] doesn’t think [she’s] good enough.” Gloria points out society’s flaws, such as the idea of women being “thin, but not too thin,” or how one is supposed to “be a boss, but you can’t be mean,” or how women are supposed to “answer for men’s bad behavior” which in itself doesn’t make any sense. She goes on to talk about how messed up societal views are on women and how impossible the expectations are of them. Women should be “grateful” for what they have but know that the “system is rigged” and address it somehow but do absolutely nothing about it. Gloria goes on and on about these problems, raging about how unfair society is with the expectations of what a woman should be and how it is nearly impossible to fill such a role. Here, Gloria says everything that women feel today, and when she gives her speech, she says it unapologetically.
This talk soon placates Barbie, and after gathering her thoughts, she chooses to leave Barbieland and become a human.
The last scene is what stumps many people. Why would Greta Gerwig, the writer and director of this film, end it on Barbie saying, “I want to see a gynecologist?” Gerwig explains in the Town & Country “The Ending of Barbie Explained” article that she was “embarrassed about [her] body.” She added this little phrase at the end to have a bit of a joke moment but also show little girls that if Barbie did it, they could too, building up our next generation with the thoughts of being able to do what they want with their body.
The overarching theme throughout this storyline is whatever you think is beautiful and amazing shouldn’t be deterred because of societal views. If society says what you do is wrong, then you should do it again, and again until it is accepted and until it forces society to broaden its view and see the beauty in everything.
LAMPLIGHTER 