Sumaya

Beautiful on the Outside, Empty on the Inside; A Chaotic Blend of Shallow Feminism and Disjointed Themes. As someone who grew up loving Barbie, I was eagerly anticipating the Barbie movie, hoping for a blend of nostalgia and fun. Sadly, what I experienced was an incoherent, disjointed film that tried too hard to be deep but ended up feeling shallow and forced. Let’s start with the positives—the movie’s visual design is stunning. The set, colors, and the world of Barbie were vibrant and visually captivating, perfectly bringing Barbie Land to life. The soundtrack was catchy, adding an extra layer of enjoyment to the aesthetic appeal. For that alone, I can give the film one star. It’s clear a lot of thought went into making the Barbie world look beautiful, and it worked. However, everything else fell flat. The feminist ideas they were trying to communicate felt outdated and preachy, as if they were just throwing in old concepts without any new perspective. Instead of offering something thoughtful or relevant, the film seemed to recycle shallow feminist messages that didn’t add anything meaningful to the conversation. It felt like they were more interested in checking off boxes than in actually exploring the complexity of these ideas. The plot was another major problem. It was a chaotic jumble of themes—identity, patriarchy, empowerment, existentialism—all crammed into one movie without any real cohesion. There was no harmony between these ideas, and the story lacked a clear direction. It felt like they tried to cover too much ground and ended up saying nothing at all. And then there’s the way they handled the transition between Barbie Land and the real world. It made no sense, and not in a charming, imaginative way—it just felt lazy. Even in a fantasy movie, there should be some internal logic or at least a smooth, creative way to tie these worlds together. Instead, it was disorienting and poorly executed, which only added to the film's overall sense of confusion. In the end, Barbie (2023) feels more like a commercial wrapped in outdated social commentary. While the visuals were beautiful, the story and messages lacked substance and coherence. It was a missed opportunity to truly celebrate Barbie and her potential as an empowering figure. For all its bright colors and catchy tunes, the movie itself was hollow and disappointing.