My Barbie Movie Review <3
Pregnant women who are banished, children smashing baby dolls because they “don’t want to be mothers,” and Ken thinking that “manhood” consists of riding horses and creating a man cave… is “Barbie” an extremely radical feminist movie or… satire?
Here’s my take on the Barbie movie… warning, spoilers forthcoming:
The Barbie Movie is incredible satire poking fun at the Feminist Movement as a whole, and ultimately glorifying motherhood with a beautiful montage of family life in film format at the end.
I grew up playing with more American girl dolls than Barbies, so when the Barbie Movie came out I was excited to see what kind of a take they would have, but not necessarily extremely emotional or nostalgic about “Barbieland.” However, since it took me almost a month to see the movie, I had heard plenty of opinions from friends and influencers about whether or not the Barbie movie was sickly feminist.
I was starting to wonder,
How could so many people who saw the same movie have so many different takes on it?
The answer is simple: some people understood the satire, some people took the film as completely serious.
10 minutes into the movie I turned to my boyfriend and said,
This is GOOD. This movie is already making a mockery out of feminism.
So here are a few of my takeaways:
Poking Fun at Feminism: The movie portrays Barbieland as a representation of a feminist society, with children rejecting traditional gender roles and expectations. At the beginning of the movie, when the children are smashing baby dolls and saying that they “don’t have to be mothers anymore,” compared to the end where Barbie realizes that this is not what she wants, highlights how drastic feminist views can be and how women in our society don’t want the idealized “feminism” anymore.
Depiction of Unhappiness in a Feminist World: The movie portrays how the pursuit of an ideal feminist society can lead to unhappiness, particularly by showing children smashing baby dolls and rejecting motherhood. This is a great commentary on the potential consequences of certain feminist ideologies on traditional family roles.
Glorifying Motherhood: The movie's ending, where Barbie chooses family life over fame and success, is the ultimate celebration of motherhood and traditional family values. This juxtaposition serves as a commentary on the choices women face in balancing career aspirations and personal fulfillment, and how our feminist society has downtrodden motherhood to a level never expected
Depiction of Male Roles: The portrayal of Ken's response to a female-dominated society, either becoming weak and unhappy or dominant and controlling, shows that men are natural leaders and will never be truly happy in a female-run society.
Inside Jokes and Societal Commentary: The use of inside jokes and subtle references to societal issues, such as California being referred to as a “country” shows the weaving in of conservative viewpoints.
Reveal of the Barbieland Owner: The twist involving the owner of Barbieland being a white man was the ultimate commentary on power dynamics and who truly benefits from certain societal changes… *ahm* telling women that motherhood isn’t their true power but their greatest weakness.
I wouldn’t take a child to this movie- to me, it was much more of a social commentary than a kids movie- but by the end of it I was choking up about the beauty of motherhood. If you’re on the fence about seeing it… go see it. You’ve got nothing to lose, and I’d love to hear your thoughts 🫶