Greta Gerwig loads plenty of food for thought in a hot pink pop fantasia, poking fun at patriarchy and corporate parent Mattel in her treatment of the iconic “girls can do anything” Barbie
in the title role, and “Barbie” is already starting out on the right, perfectly arched foot. So what if this high-concept comedy falls a bit flat in the final stretch?
That’s the front on which Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s script feels most daring. “Barbie” doesn’t just poke fun at Mattel; it comes right out and accuses the bestselling doll of setting back the women’s movement. As one indignant teen tells Barbie: “You’ve been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented.” This reproach stuns Robbie’s upbeat character, who wakes up every day in the always sunny, hot pink fantasy world where Barbies come in all colors and body types.
Although Robbie’s blond-haired, fair-skinned Stereotypical Barbie seems to possess some abstract notion of herself as a toy, there’s a major disconnect between inventor Ruth Handler’s best intentions and the state of things in the Real World : “Thanks to Barbie, all problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved,” Mirren sarcastically summarizes.
At the same time Barbie is experiencing her rude awakening, Ken’s busy filling his empty head with all the possibilities that “patriarchy” entails. In Barbie Land, Ken’s job is a deliberately ill-defined afterthought , whereas in the Real World, dudes rule — an idea he takes back to Barbie Land with pointedly absurd results, brainwashing all the women into behaving like obedient housewives.
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