Carissa Mohrman

SPOILERS AHEAD I was very excited for this movie, and I have to say, I left the theater feeling disappointed. I am someone who really enjoyed Ladybird and Little Women. The way in which Gerwig showed the experience of womanhood in those movies was natural, nuanced, and relatable. I did not feel that way about Barbie. In some ways, this movie excelled, but in other ways, it really missed the mark. Let's start with the positive aspects. Firstly, the soundtrack was amazingly crafted. We received pop bangers from Charlie XCX, Dua Lipa, and Lizzo, as well as nostalgic music that paid homage to the early days of Barbie. The set and costuming was also amazing. The colors made me want to jump out of my seat and into that world. I also thought the humor was witty and funny (but not necessarily for kids always). It was also well-casted. I mean, I can't imagine a more perfect Barbie than Margot Robbie. Now, let's discuss the reasons why I gave this movie 2 stars. First of all, Barbie learns that she must go into the real world and find the little girl who is playing with her so that she can find out what is troubling her. This could have been such a good plot setup for Barbie’s focus of the movie to be helping empower this little girl and build her relationship with her mom, at least that’s what it seemed like should happen. But that gets thrown out the window and it is actually the mom who is making sketches of “depressed Barbie” and so on. It was just a strange twist of events that isn’t very cohesive or practical. I wish the movie spent more time delving into Barbie’s emotions that she was feeling and how she wants to have a purpose. That part felt like it was thrown onto the end (although I did shed a tear). My main issue with this movie is how it aims to solve issues of patriarchy, by creating another hierarchy (of matriarchy), but it’s okay because it’s women. “It’s okay that all the Barbie’s cheated on their boyfriends at the campfire, because they had it coming for them”. To me, this is what I like to call “girlboss feminism”. It isn’t actual feminism. True feminism empowers EVERYONE. It aims to help men’s issues as well as give women equal opportunity. I will give this movie credit for the sub-plot of Ken feeling unimportant and Barbie being there for him, but I feel that this should have happened with all the Ken’s. They almost hit the mark, but then everything pretty much went back to normal anyway. The moment I felt most let-down was when all the Barbie’s were in court and won their rights back to leadership in the city. I didn’t feel happy that the women were in control again. I wanted to see everyone working together equally. There were definitely true points made that related to women’s struggles, such as Babrie getting catcalled or Gloria’s speech. However, I can’t imagine a more conservative person leaving the theater after watching this movie feeling more open minded to the ideas it aimed to present.