By: Becka H.
Amongst the countless other surprising things to come out of 2023, the creation of a live-action Barbie movie is one of them. Taking the 64-year-old doll and turning it into a film about the harms of the patriarchy is not only bold but hard to accomplish.
Greta Gerwig’s, Barbie, hit theaters on July 21, 2023, with fans gathering in cinemas around the globe decked out in Barbie’s signature color, pink. According to Time Magazine, Barbie is one of the biggest movies of the year earning a total of $1.38 billion as of September 3rd. Drastically passing its opposing movie, Oppenheimer.
The film focuses on the classic Barbie, portrayed by Margot Robbie, in her seemingly perfect life in Barbieland. However, Barbieland is symbolism for a patriarchal society where the Barbie’s rule the city. The Kens are ignored whilst the Barbie’s thrive. Similar to our actual society. Barbie and Ken, portrayed by Ryan Gosling, decide to venture outside of their homeland and into our human world where the roles are now reversed. Unlike how she was treated in Barbieland, Barbie is now sexualized and disrespected in the real world whilst Ken is praised for simply being a man. He becomes infatuated with the idea of men being in power and strives to bring our real world to Barbieland. Upon their arrival back home, the Kens bring the sexist ideologies from the real world back home. The once career-driven Barbie’s are now made only to serve the Kens. Instead of having an equal society, the patriarchy has just reversed in the Kens’ favor. By the end of the movie, Barbie and Ken have a heart-to-heart agreeing to work on a more equal society where everyone gets representation.
Not only was this movie meant to highlight the issues with the patriarchy, but it is also meant to enlighten men on the issues of sexism women deal with. In reversing the roles where the Kens are mistreated, it shows men in our society how it feels to be a woman in this day and age. The movie doesn’t even encompass how much women go through just to make themselves known in the world and only enlightens men on the bare minimum.
In a world that views women as mere pawns in a man’s game, it is important to have films and media that give little girls the inspiration to be more than what they were told to be. Barbie symbolizes that women can be their own bosses; they can do whatever a man can do and more.
