Like just about every other cinephile, I eagerly awaited the July 21 "Barbenheimer" event of the summer. I'd pop over to the pool and lower my sunglasses and wink to my imaginary besties just like Margot Robbie's 1950s original doll imitation.
Throughout July, I was absolutely giddy, and I made my brother and boyfriend promise to attend the premiere with me.
Friday the 21st came along and became a haze of summer heat and pink heart-shaped sunglasses with matching plastic hoops and novelty T-shirts.
Children, teens, grown men and women of all ages and life stages raced to ticket lines while a chorus of “Hi, Barbie” echoed among the chatter of people eagerly waiting to see one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer.
“The Barbie Movie” features the story of “Stereotypical Barbie,” played by Australian actress Margot Robbie, and her journey to discover the human experience.
She begins encountering strange changes which lead her out of Barbie Land and into the real world, where, hilariously, she discovers that dolls haven’t solved all the world’s problems. Ken, played by a tanned, muscled and “beached up” Ryan Gosling, explores the benefits of a patriarchal society and brings those ideals back to the Dream House. With the help of some friends, Barbie must learn what it means to be a human woman and find her own strength and confidence to take back her home.
The film is an explosion of nostalgic wonder and joy. The set is toylike and the characters behave with childlike wonder and farcical charisma. They, sometimes literally, sparkle.
And while millions of people sat in hot pink heart shaped glasses and giggled in one theater, across the hall, viewers came in masses to witness a cinematic masterpiece running just over three hours long. Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” also released July 21, and it would be the first ever movie shot in IMAX black and white film.
“Oppenheimer” is a historical biopic following the story of its namesake. Cillian Murphy, the Manhattan Project, and a thrilling tension between Oppenheimer and U.S. Atomic Commissioner Lewis Straus, played by Robert Downy Jr., lead audiences through an artfully produced history lesson.
According to NBC, since its release, “Oppenheimer” has hit $912 million dollars in the global box office, making it the highest-grossing biopic of all time. “The Barbie Movie” has grossed over $1 billion dollars globally, making it the highest grossing movie of the year and the most successful release in Warner Bros. history, ever, according to the Los Angeles times.
These numbers alone suggest that viewers are willing to leave their homes to see a great movie. It’s well done movies that will bring families out of the convenience of streaming services and back into reclined seats while munching on overpriced popcorn.
The Barbenheimer phenomenon proved that audiences crave accurate representation, clever storytelling and quality production.
It's not really about which one did better, as they're relatively incomparable. It's more about a reignited love for well-produced, well-written, well-costumed, acted, directed and executed cinema.
That being said - Barbie was the film of the summer for me.
I played with Barbies as a kid. I even had the pregnant Midge doll that was the butt of the joke in the film. I never realized she wasn't Barbie herself and that she was a friend of Barbie's. As a kid, I didn't really understand the cannon lore of the universe - I was too busy imagining my own lore.
To me, all of the dolls were "Barbie" because she could do anything. Be anyone. Barbie was a concept that meant "girlpower."
I used to make up names and see myself in all of the dolls. I loved buying new outfits and giving them storylines and plots of their own. I kept them in impeccable condition - the concept of a "weird Barbie" that was just an abused and graffitied doll was a foreign concept to me until I played Barbie with a neighbor girl and witnessed the state of her dolls. I'm sure I went back home and promised all my own Barbies that I would never let that happen to any of them.
So when this film popped up on the 2023 list of premiers, I was set on seeing it. I bought a shirt and matching earrings and left the theater greeting everyone like "Hey Barbie!"
Because that's also the thing the film captured so well. Barbie is a concept. Barbie = Girlhood = Girlpower. So it became relatively natural to greet every woman I saw for the next months with a giddy "Hey Barbie!" and an eager "Hey Barbie!" response. We were joyful and we were united.
As a child, I had a mountain of Barbies and Polly Pockets and felt this deep, engrained pattern of play and imagination when I got them out. I had the Barbie mansion with the battery-powered elevator as well as her yellow Volkswagon bug and a million outfits and dolls. I had arguably even more Polly Pockets and Polly Pocket amenities (they're smaller so they're easier to store).
I owned exactly one Ken and I felt very "meh" about it.
Which also makes the film even better. They captured all the feelings about these toys perfectly. The bright and tactile sets imitated the feelings of play. The blissful innocence and ignorance entangle together to crack open the real-world and reality for women. The secondhand afterthought and background character behavior of the Kens isn't just a plot choice, it's really how young girls play with the toys.
But most of us buying tickets to see that movie were grown ups.
We remember those deeply entrenched instincts about play. And we've also faced or witnessed the harsh realities of living as a woman in the real world. Which is why we cry when we listen to America Ferrera's monologue, when we are reminded that "it's literally impossible to be a woman." So if stereotypical Barbie is struggling with it, then we're screwed.
Of course, we aren't screwed because we are strong and we have each other and we knew there were still like 30 minutes left in the movie. But also, the knowledgeable viewer, the viewer that spent hours in the tub with her mermaid Barbies or pushing the pink convertible down the hallways or dressing her dolls for their professional sports careers and astrophysics day jobs knew in their bones that Barbie = Girlpower. Girlpower = Barbie.
So after a sparkly musical Ken "war" on the beach and a well-planned coup by the girls, Barbie Land is restored.
In the end, Barbie chooses to join the real world as an actual human. And even though I'm not sure that's the right call (Barbie Land seems sick), I left the theater with a lightness and joy that I hadn't felt since I played with Barbies as a kid.
10/10
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