feminism. • Barbie: My Humble and Feminist Opinion

      Okay so about a month ago, I went to see the Barbie movie – starring both Margot Robbie (<3) and Ryan Gosling. The film is about the story of the ‘stereotypical Barbie’, who lives in Barbiland with all the other Barbies (and optionally, the Kens) that were created by the Mattel enterprise. However one day, Barbie’s life drastically changes as she experiences unprecedented accidents. And so she goes to the Real World, where she is supposed to find the little girl playing with her to fix it all.

    First of all, I have to say that I’m what my parents call an “extremist feminist”, when I consider myself only asking for basic human and women’s rights. Anyway, I especially wanted to see the movie because of the first criticisms and hypotheses about it, as it was said to be a great promising film about women, existentialism, patriarchy and feminism (and I love it). So here is my – humble – and feminist – opinion on the movie.

      On the one hand, I think ‘Barbie’ was a great film because it deals with many issues of
society, not only feminism and patriarchy. However, the message is very clear: the Barbies thought they made the Real World better, just like their world – clearly a matriarchy, but in a “positive” way, where the women are always improving themselves and their society. Even though the Kens are ‘ignored’, or I would say ‘not the priority of the Barbies’, they still live a peaceful life where they can enjoy their activities and free time.
    On the other hand, I think some subjects should have been discussed more throughout the movie, which was therefore a bit short for me. But I totally get that a 4-hour movie would have been a bit long.

      I don’t want to spoil the movie for the people who didn’t see it, but I reaaally need to talk
about it. I really liked the acting, and I think Margot Robbie really played the role perfectly. In my opinion, she really is a great actress to play the feminine role. Gosling was also super great and fit for the role, being serious enough yet also ironic at the same time. And I love that both actors have their own societal values – that’s what made them the best fit for the role.

     Finally, I also appreciated the enthusiasm around the movie, and the debates it raised. Such as on TikTok, so many stories and reviews about the movie have been shared, and people are telling about their opinions and ‘theories’ about the characters, the issues raised by the film, the development… I don’t want to spoil too much, but I think it is great to both watch the movie and then check on social media the reviews of people (especially women). I really like that ‘Barbie’ allowed the girls to reunite and let us acknowledge that we will always be there for each other. I cried during the movie for so many reasons and in so many different ways, it was great to let go and actually finally put words on things we women sometimes struggle to tell or realize.

      In a nutshell (and yes I use this conclusion sentence in every essay at university), I really
liked the movie – it was absolutely worth it, worth the 10€ and the two hours. I would love people to watch it so we can discuss it and so I can tell the jokes and references I’ve been accumulating for almost two months now. Hope you enjoy it :D

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