By Imogen Elford, Year 9 & Flora Lepage, Year 11
Our generation has known numerous famous toys and dolls, the most famous being Barbie dolls. Barbie culture began as early as 1959 with the creation of the famous black and white striped bathing suit Barbie. Since then, thousands of Barbies have been made to fit every career, character, hobby, and look to satisfy any little child’s imagination. Although Barbie has brought many joyful memories and will always be part of most of our childhoods, it has also brought insecurities and questions. The major flaw of these dolls is that they are perfect, too perfect. This means that a child’s young mind will begin to think that it is normal for a girl to look the way a Barbie doll looks or that every girl must do something grand in order to be seen as successful. In our society, this negative reflection has taken a great toll on the way that Barbie as a whole is perceived, and it is at this moment that the new Barbie movie enters in order to cast a new light on the legacy of Barbie.
This new movie incorporated multiple different themes, the main one being feminism. It is seen at the beginning of the movie that the Barbies control everything in their world and hold the larger powers whereas the Kens simply live at the command of the Barbies. This is all changed once Ken introduces patriarchy to Barbie Land and uproots all of Barbie’s hard work and power. By doing this, the viewer sees the strong contrast between the two worlds and the impact that patriarchy truly has on society. We see the way that the men perceive women and the way that they treat them as well as strip them of all their power. This change is Barbie Land becoming our true world, this can have a striking effect on the viewer since living in our world one cannot necessarily see how much of an effect patriarchy has.
The themes for this movie have an intention to rewrite the way that Barbie is viewed yet there have been multiple reviews and opinions stating that the movie was not about Barbie but simply about feminism. Although feminism is one of the main themes, it has been greatly misinterpreted by many viewers in a manner that people say there is “too much feminism”.
It is clear that the people who own these opinions completely lack an understanding of the meaning of the movie. The Barbie movie represents everything that is unequal between the two genders, where unfortunately women are often at a disadvantage. The movie shows how seriously patriarchy affects our society and is capable of taking over and breaking down anything that women have built up. It also shows the unrealistic standards for women that men do not have to face, for example always looking perfect or excelling at the stereotypical roles of a woman. The most important moral lesson that viewers are to take away from this movie is that it is right for women to simply be.
For the first time since the existence of Barbie, we are exposed to the flaws that make her human. The movie breaks the belief that all girls must look perfect like Barbie or have the same achievements as her. The movie shows women as well as men that everything a woman does in reality is extraordinary, being a mother is just as impressive as being a famous actress. These misconceptions bring a negative light upon this movie that in reality breaks down all the stereotypes of Barbie and shines a new light on the theme of feminism.
The Barbie movie may seem like a simple movie to many people or maybe even be considered as over-exaggerated with strong themes when in reality this movie has simply showed what our world is truly like. It has not only broken the stereotypes imposed by Barbie dolls but also given a new perspective to young women and men.
