it's barbie's world
pink things, barbie dolls, and girlhood
When I look back to a moment in my childhood, there is one thing I will never forget and that is a time when my sister and I once owned Barbies. I remember us having different kinds of Barbies in different pretty outfits. The Barbies we owned had cute little accessories and shoes, furniture in any shade of pink, and a huge dream house that completes the whole Barbie-verse.
My Papa assembled Barbie’s house himself and placed it conspicuously in our messy living room where we would play pretend for hours on end. And my, Barbie’s house definitely was a dream— Barbie herself was a dream. And at one point as a young girl, we’ve always wondered what it would be like to be her. I absolutely cannot recall a time in my childhood when Barbie wasn’t a part of it. She was blazing trails as a doll and she was doing it all in pink, no less!
As soon as the early movie promos of Barbie came out, I knew there was a lot of conversation surrounding it. Is this going to be a plotless movie? Is this gonna be one of those girly chick flicks men roll their eyes at? Is this going to be another silly backstory of how Barbie was made? Nobody exactly knew what it was meant for but when I saw Greta Gerwig’s name attached to it— as director and writer of the film? I was already all in for the ride.
Gerwig’s Barbie takes us into the candy-colored picture-perfect world of Barbies and Kens. In Barbieland, not a single stray of hair is misplaced, breakfast waffles are perfectly made, and the dancing and partying at night are choreographed perfectly. It is a female-dominated utopia where every single woman can be anything. And I mean anything really— a doctor, a lawyer, a Nobel peace prize winner, a supreme court chief justice, a construction worker, a pilot, and an astronaut? All while dressed in pretty clothes and a pretty wide-eyed smile too! And the Kens… do we even really bother about the Kens? Because in there, they’re handsome platonic side characters who are perfect compliments to the Barbies. It is a Feminist’s dream come true! Not long enough though do we start to see stereotypical Barbie going haywire. All of a sudden she gets flat feet, cellulite, and a series of thoughts concerning existential dread— feelings and phases that hit pretty close to home for any woman like you and me. Then the adventure and trouble ensue as the Real World and Barbieland begin to clash, with Barbie figuring out her place in whatever realm she chooses.
As much as I’d like to spill any more beans, I won’t. I’ll encourage you to go to the cinema to see it for yourself even if you think you’re too old for Barbie, or you’re too much of a snob to think pink is silly. Go and see it and really, take it in.
If you’ve seen Greta Gerwig’s entire filmography (Lady Bird, Little Women), you’ll know that that woman speaks the lingua franca of girlhood. And Barbie is yet another way for us to take a peek into that.
Barbie delves us into the pink world of possibilities while unapologetically explaining how both marvelous and unfortunate it is to be a woman; how sometimes it can feel obligatory to leave some parts of our childhood as we shed skin towards being a grownup; how different life is through the gaze of a female compared to the lens of a man. Being a Gerwig fan, I can say that this is new, daring, and quirky for her but I can honestly admit that the movie has left me in a puddle of tears. I never knew how Barbie could make me feel bittersweet like this. There is a bit of an ache and longing felt past the cinema but this I tell you, I have zero regrets at all.
In Barbie’s language, this is girlhood. This is what being a girl feels like. And if you have trouble fitting yourself in our shoes, then let this rose-colored film do it for you.
You’ll be amused one moment, crying the next, but there will always be a smile you will never wear thin.