Dancing, empowerment and most of all, pink. “Barbie” has been one of the year’s most anticipated movies. From adult jokes to inspiring young girls, “Barbie” has it all. Their costumes, hair and even the way they talk reminds me of how I played with them when I was a kid. Everything looks how you would imagine, pink and girly in the best way possible. All of the actors were outstanding, whether it was Ryan Gosling playing the patriarchy loving Ken or Kate Mckinnon playing the weird barbie everyone has in their basement.
Although you’ve probably already seen Greta Gerwig’s amazing movie, I’ll give you some key plot points: It starts out exactly how you would expect. We are welcomed into Barbie Land where all the Barbies and Kens live. It is dominated by women (aka all the Barbies). The Barbies are professionals. They are doctors, lawyers, pilots and even president. The Kens have the job of Beach. Not a lifeguard, or surfer, just simply Beach. Ryan Gosling’s Ken (Barbie’s not boyfriend BOY friend) is only happy when Barbie looks at him and acknowledges him. Barbie starts dealing with irrepressible thoughts of death and has to travel to the real world with the unwanted help of Ken to figure everything out. They go on an emotional roller coaster of self discovery, what it means to be a woman, and of course Ken learns what patriarchy is and how horses possibly connect to it.
Humans and Barbies come together to give us something powerful and connect with us on level more than your typical movie. The emotional delivery by America Ferrera is outstanding and she truly describes life today as a woman perfectly. Some people have said they don’t like “Barbie” because it is too “woke”. Barbie has always been “woke” because her message has always been that girls can be anything they want. The movie just showcases that in a unique way by showing the struggles and how perfection is an unachievable goal despite society’s endless attempts to create it. “Barbie” is an empowering movie that takes the aspects of playing with Barbie as a child and growing up to a whole new level. If you haven’t seen this movie yet you are missing out.