An imaginative and enigmatic childhood favourite brought to life

Greta Gerwig’s sensational summer blockbuster ‘Barbie’ combines wry, self-deprecating humour with splashes of existentialism that leave audiences caught between belly-aching laughter and ‘gotcha’ moments of stark self-awareness, proving that there’s more to the film than its superficially glittery-pink appearance.

The film’s major commercial success is largely owed to the extensive hype garnered across social media by fans – from the alleged ‘global pink paint shortage’ to the infamous ‘Barbenheimer’ meme, the film received unimaginable levels of publicity before it even premiered.

At first glance, ‘Barbie‘ might be perceived as a children’s movie, given its attachment to the eponymous children’s toy, and Margot Robbie’s performance as a quirky, and interminably optimistic character, which may to some, be considered unappealing, targeting a demographic of adolescents.

The film itself, however, proves to be more complex than anything a child could readily relate to, ruminating on themes of patriarchy and feminism, and ultimately, where a woman’s place is in the world.

The film’s central plot revolves around lead actress Margot Robbie as Barbie, in her journey to the real world after experiencing strange events (a cold shower, a patch of cellulite, and pervasive thoughts about death).

Her ‘stereotypical Barbie’ journey to the real world brings her to a disconcerting realisation that while in Barbieland, society functions matriarchally, but the real world is a reverse parallel of this.

Barbie must now learn to cope with her own feelings of displacement in the real world, while also having to accept that her own image was not entirely beneficial to the progression of women’s rights in the real world, despite previously regarding herself as a feminist icon, and ‘saviour’ to all women.

The movie acknowledges Barbie’s unrealistic and exaggerated bodily proportions, which serve to hinder real women, while Barbie was intended to promote the image of a successful woman, she also served to uphold a harmful beauty standard, propagating the idea that for a woman to be successful she must also be beautiful, and appealing to men.

Still, it is insisted that Barbie was never intended to represent a woman who fits the expectations imposed on her in society.

At the Mattel headquarters, the room full of male CEOs encourage her to step back into her toy box (representative of all women’s ‘expected place’ in society). Obliviously, they continue to persuade her that everything will be alright once she does so; Barbie sees that this, in the end, does not align with her goal of restoring Barbieland to normality, and chooses instead to escape the building and return to Barbieland by her own means.

In terms of personal enjoyment, while the film does succeed in its goal to entertain, with its impeccable attention to detail, and incredibly vibrant set designs, the movie itself seems to lack some crucial depth to its plot.

‘Barbie’ never takes itself too seriously, and this hyper self-awareness gives a sort of eerie, superficiality to the movie, that feels almost ingenuine. That being said, the film never fails to do its duty in entertaining.

There is not a moment in the film’s entirety where the audience’s attention is lost, a compliment that can be attributed both to the magnificent eye-feast that is the film’s cinematography, and the stellar, attention-grabbing performances of the cast.