New Barbie Movie
The most highly anticipated film of the year is finally here! The new Barbie movie is a campy candy-coloured comedy with a star-studded cast and a popstar-packed soundtrack. Margot Robbie is the perfect Barbie while Ryan Gosling steals the show as Ken, with perhaps his best performance of the last decade. The impressive musical lineup features chart-toppers like Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Nicki Minaj, Ice Spice, and Billie Eilish.
Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig is known for her feminist reimagining’s (Little Women) and coming-of-age plotlines (Lady Bird) and the new Barbie movie is in keeping with her distinctive style. Barbie is completely aware of itself; offering critiques on the patriarchy, toxic masculinity, and gender roles, and it’s wrapped up neatly with a pink bow.
The film follows Barbie and Ken on a journey of self-discovery as they leave the bright pink, dreamlike utopia that is Barbie Land and visit the real world, where they are confronted with the harsh realities of life.
Apart from its obvious visual appeal, Barbie’s satirical humour is on point, with the film constantly serving its audience punchy one-liners that poke fun at the more controversial aspects of the Barbie enterprise.
There is a whole lot of heart to the new Barbie movie, despite its silliness. Barbie has a lot to say about girlhood, womanhood, and motherhood. The collective experience of watching this film in a cinema full of women, all dressed in pink, as we laughed and cried together, was definitely a healing one for my inner child.
Although Barbie may be destined for divisive reviews, its central message of self-love is sincere and lingers long after the credits roll. Barbie’s a Ken out of Ken!
The new Barbie movie is out now. Visit the official website.
Reviewed by Holly Gambles
Holly is a 4th year undergraduate student studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Media at the University of Adelaide. A social activist for gender and race issues, Holly is always advocating for equality. See more from Holly here, Breaking the Binary: Genderless Fashion.
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros
