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In the summer of 2023, the world was painted pink. From movie theaters to social media feeds, all we saw was “Barbie.” Greta Gerwig, who directed the film, is also an actress, screen writer, and playwright based in New York.
The film, starring actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, became an instant blockbuster and a global talking point. According to CNBC, “Barbie” was the highest grossing film of 2023, earning more than $1.4 billion after hitting theaters. The movie was praised as a feminist statement. It was also celebrated for its humor and its critique of patriarchal structures. But after its massive commercial success and the passing of two years, questions arise: Was the movie truly about feminism and was it truly for women?
On the surface, “Barbie” is an empowering pro-feminist film. The movie begins in Barbieland, a world full of Barbie dolls living their best plastic life. Notably, women hold every position of power, reversing traditional gender roles with the Kens – Barbie’s male counterparts – existing solely as accessories to the Barbies’ success.
The film’s inciting incident entails Barbie starting to have an internal crisis, having thoughts which were not accepted in the Barbie world and noticing “malfunctions” such as flat feet. Barbie is sent to Weird Barbie, who asks her to choose between the real word or Barbie Land. Barbie chooses her home with no hesitation, but she is forced into the real world to find purpose and figure out her life. In her travels, Barbie is accompanied by Ken.
Upon arriving in the real world, Barbie encounters sexual harassment. As she strolls along the beach with her colorful clothes and Ken by her side, she immediately gets physically and verbally harassed by many men. In contrast to her home where she was celebrated among her other barbies, the real world showcases people that see Barbie as just a woman with a body.
Throughout the movie, Barbie faces many forms of harassment from not being accepted by the women around her, and higher ups wanting to keep her in a box, as if to showcase her. She was treated like a doll as opposed to a person with meaningful emotions.
A pivotal moment in “Barbie” is the speech delivered by America Ferrera. The speech is a powerful and critical part of the film as it creates solidarity within feminist movements and concerns. The speech is a representation of the expectations placed on women. Ferrera claims that women are expected to be a certain way that is often contradictory if not downright impossible to achieve.
For example, her character says, “You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin.” Then stating that, “You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas.”
The speech also challenges societal notions such as the stereotype of women being inherently more emotional. The speech is about how the world wants women to be one thing while contradicting it by telling us we can’t talk about the bad, and must only show the good side. The pressure to be perfect and nice while avoiding appearing as mean and emotional. Ultimately, the speech’s climax critiques how women are put at fault for everything, even for the things that we had no part in doing and that there exists the same contradiction even for Barbie, a doll and character merely representing a woman.
Barbie was and still is a powerful cultural artifact. For many women, the film was a genuinely validating and amazing experience to see their daily struggles reflected on screen. The film ultimately sparked crucial conversations about gender, patriarchy, and the pressure on women in modern society. But it was just one step forward in bringing these complex ideas to a massive mainstream audience. The film, while preoccupied with humor and imperfect, still moved the conversation of women’s expectations and feminism in the right direction.
