Barbie
Summary
Even thoughBarbiewas the heavy boxwood billet succeeder of 2023 , Hollywood ’s response to the dramedy ’s impact proves that the industry has profoundly misunderstand the movie and misread its grandness . Director Greta Gerwig’sBarbiemovie was always work to be a tricky projection . The movie ask to do justice to the cultural image of its iconic main character while also affiance with feminist critiques of Barbie . Barbiealso had to be mirthful and approachable while leave thoughtful commentary on grammatical gender , consumerism , and the purpose of free rein in a productivity - driven capitalist fellowship . The movie ’s massive pre - release hype did n’t aid with this huge ask .
However , Barbie ’s superb cast of characters , its witty script and playful steering , and the picture show ’s hit optical style allowed Gerwig to draw off this seemingly unacceptable task . Barbie ’s report saw Margot Robbie ’s unimaginative Barbie visit the Real World , encounter Mattel executive , and eventually let the cat out of the bag Ken out of ingrain patriarchate in Barbieland while also cure the human relationship between a mother and her daughter . It was queer , clever , open about its hypocritical relationship to consumer civilization , and truly poignant at clock time . Despite this , Hollywood ’s response toBarbiehas been fundamentally wrong , with the industriousness taking all the wrong lessons from its winner .
Making More Toy Movies Is The Wrong Response To Barbie’s Success
Barbie’s originality was its biggest selling point, something endless copies would lack
The first and most surprising chemical reaction toBarbie ’s succeeder came from Mattel , the toy company that own the right to the character . Mattel immediately annunciate a deluge of further toy motion picture , include an approaching American Dolls film , a Polly Pocket film by Lena Dunham , and a Rock ‘ Em Sock ‘ Em Robots movie star Vin Diesel . While it is not yet exonerated whethera potentialBarbie 2will be part of the miniature companionship ’s takeover of motion-picture show theaters , this entire scheme badly misread the reason behindBarbie ’s success . Barbiebecame a striking because Gerwig ’s film engage with the toy dog ’s history and ethnic impingement .
Barbiemight not be a extremist anti - capitalistic textual matter , but Gerwig ’s pic does worm with the import of Barbie ’s bequest and her place in the world . Barbieinterrogates how much the doll ’s sodding image has impacted coevals of baby while question how much of that legacy was earlier shaped by unfair gendered expectations . None of this is shine in Mattel hurriedly green - inflammation over a dozen projects base on existing miniature rail line to maximize net . Instead , the14 upcoming Mattel toys moviesand their competitors merely read as a desperate attempt to cynically cash in onBarbie ’s fiscal achiever .
Barbie’s Oscar Nominations Are Baffling
Nominating Gosling over Robbie and Gerwig seems almost obtuse self-parody
It is big to see thatBarbie , a mainstream comedy moving picture , was name for Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars . While the Academy is n’t above recognize funniness , its member rarely repay moving-picture show as sunny and unabashedly commercial-grade asBarbie . That say , the fact that Ryan Gosling was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Ken while neither Margot Robbie was put up for Best Actress nor Greta Gerwig for Best Director is glaring . In a move that mirror Ken ’s in - universe character arc , this decisiveness seemingly reaffirms that Gosling ’s bear work is more worth of recognition than the labor of the motion-picture show ’s main creatives .
That said , it should be noted that America Ferrera was appoint in the Best Supporting Actress function , a noteworthy and well - earned nod . Still , the repulse of her fellow cleaning lady are particularly galling because of how unlikelyBarbieis to win in any of its class . As a mainstream blockbuster that does n’t wear down its angsty side on its arm , Barbiewill struggle to beat any of its more ego - serious rival . As such , nominations were likely to be as much recognition as Robbie and Gerwig received . Instead , their manlike workfellow was singled out for praise .
Barbie 2 & Ken Spinoff Discussions Miss The Point Of The Movie
Barbie and Ken’s self-contained character arcs would be dulled by sequels and spinoffs
On the discipline of Ken , it is understandable that the popularity of Gosling ’s character has lead in discussion of a spinoff . However , Barbie ’s potential standalone Ken spinoff moviewould unwrap the movie ’s content . Until the finale , both Ken and Barbie only existed in carnal knowledge to each other and the duad eventually realized that this dynamic was determine their potential drop for internal growth . The entire point of Barbie becoming real and Ken take his own path was thatBarbie and Ken both needed to get out behind their original simplistic persona , but a spinoff or subsequence would ask them to revisit their sure-enough self .
Even Mattel Doesn’t Get Barbie’s Message
Releasing a Weird Barbie doll proves Mattel didn’t grasp Gerwig’s movie
As if to reaffirm the fact that Mattel overlook the point of their own $ 1.5 billion succeeder story , the company produced a tie - in doll thanks to the popularity of Gerwig ’s movie . However , the character that the corporation chose to promote was n’t the “ Ordinary Barbie ” proposed by America Ferrara ’s Gloria in the motion picture ’s stopping point . rather , Mattel release a Weird Barbie doll , a decision that betrays a complete misunderstanding of the movie ’s message . What made Weird Barbie compelling and relatable were the ways in which her appearance had been altered by an imaginative child ’s playacting .
Weird Barbie was recognizable to countless children who contorted their toy in impossible directions , cut their hair , and draw all over them . However , creating countless identical , mass - bring about reproduction of Weird Barbie necessarily return the character less original . In literal term , a toy that can be replicated hundreds of thou of time simply is not weird , nor is it unique as Weird Barbie is . This move turned Weird Barbie ’s unique queerness into a similar intention , further proving just how much Mattel misread the reasoning behind the pic ’s winner . Ultimately , Weird Barbie ’s appeal ca n’t be repackaged and sold , which brings up a broader issue with the industry ’s reaction toBarbie .
Hollywood Is Embracing Barbie’s Box Office - But Not Its Message
Barbie’s points have been proved all the more valid by the movie’s impact
Hollywood is trying to repeatBarbie ’s winner with everything from sequel to other toy dog movies , to tie - in products , to lame attempts at recreating the pic ’s corner government agency conflict withOppenheimer . However , the industriousness is n’t comprehend anything aboutBarbie ’s message since the moving picture ’s most salient point fly in the face of many Hollywood Maxim . Barbieis , ultimately , a movie design to kick upstairs a product . However , within that model , Gerwig and Robbie created a project that questions how viewers can find a purpose in liveliness beyond incessant consumption and whether a society that does n’t rely on rigid sex binaries can be achieved .
Barbie ’s self - aware playscript mocked both the companionship funding the cinematography and the filmmakers themselves , exhibit a fresh level of cynicism toward the idea of using motion-picture show as marketing . The movie plight thoughtfully with issues like age , self - image , the pressures that charwoman face , and gender ego - identification while keep a wide , campy gumption of body fluid . Instead of repair this impressive esthetic accomplishment , Mattel has done all it can to compact more money fromBarbie , the Oscars have advance its supporting star over its leading creative talents , and the industriousness more loosely has prove that Gerwig ’s movie is viewed only as a profit - producing opportunity , not a originative inspiration .
Cast
