Barbie the movie - who would have thought that Mog, Megan, Julie, Kathy, McLassie and Sue were keen? But we were, and from the opening scene when little girls were smashing their baby dolls to smithereens to get the new Barbie (in 1959) it was a wild ride.
We followed Barbie through her day in fantasy Barbieland where Barbies were always happy and in charge of everything, including all the Kens - but it was less than satisfactory for our heroine. Something else was going on, so Barbie and Ken travel through universes to the 'real' world to try and find out. And at this point the social commentary becomes plain for us to see - in the real world, Barbie feels uncomfortable with all eyes ogling her up and down, while Ken revels in all the attention. And so the first social switcheroo begins - in the real world Ken gets to learn about and play in the patriarchy; while Barbie, against her wishes, gets put back in her box (well, almost literally). Somehow, Barbie escapes and along with Ken returns to fantasy Barbieland, followed by all the Mattel men in big offices who want to put her back in her box because there's not so much dosh to be made when she's not a doll. But now Ken has found his patriarchal mojo (in his new Mojo Dojo Casa House) and Ken's takeover of Barbieland is the second switcheroo. Ken rallies all the other Kens using music and dance (interesting!) and bravado, and the testosterone charged patriarchy is dominant in Barbieland, just like we saw in the real world.
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| Weird Barbie |
But then the art of manipulation comes in to play as the Barbies plot their return, led by Barbie and Weird Barbie (short chopped hair and always doing the splits! - it was inspired, and Mattel have just released a doll called Weird Barbie - so more dosh for Mattel!). Yes, we find ourselves at the third switcheroo - Barbies back in control after winning the Presidency and all the Supreme Court positions in Barbieland - but the Ken's have a place now too.
But wait, the film didn't end there! No spoiler but there is a final twist helped along by Barbie's creator (Ruth Handler), and it goes to choosing between Barbieland or being real (unless your take on the film was that Barbie achieved 'agency' and can now reproduce herself in Barbieland).
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| Ruth Handler 40 years on from the first Barbie |
Along with some high kitsch (including lots of horses on screens, and the fabulous image of the 10 Mattel men on a tandem bicycle heading off to Barbieland), Bollywood song and dance numbers, humour, social commentary (including by the narrator, Helen Mirren), and a few swipes at religion, there were some unforgettable scenes. Gloria's monologue on being a woman was one, and you can read it here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-veqmN8Dv5tbCVkLzi7HV4OKg9bddTbYvhqUTMI0_y4/edit?usp=sharing
It was a unique movie in many ways - about a female doll, both a fantasy and set in the real world, targeted (probably) at the 40+ female audience rather than younger girls, with social commentary on gender, all with the glitz of an old fashioned musical and including a gay doll man (Alan) and Weird Barbie who both played a part in the final switcheroo. We all wandered from the cinema a bit glazed over and were still trying to make it out over our pasta, pizza and arancini balls at Dolci afterwards.
Life is full of contradictions, and its not easy being a real human (but worth it) were possibly take home messages, but the jury is still out on whether everyone enjoyed the film and agreed on its take on life. However, we could probably all agree that its unlikely we will see the likes of this film again, unless there is the Hollywood sequel (maybe Ken the real Man?).
