The Barbie Movie: Expectations, Sexism and Feminism

 Rewatching the Barbie Movie, having watched it one time prior, I started to feel like the movie was an apology, of sorts, from Mattel. Although the movie is certainly not perfect, it does capture a few important moments in the female experience, especially about expectations, and role models, and living in a male-dominated society. Within the first half of the movie, it makes Stereotypical Barbie out to be a powerful force, made to empower women in the real world. However, Sasha, the teenage protagonist, recognizes the harm Barbie dolls can make on children, by creating role models that lead to unrealistic expectations. The barbie doll checks all the boxes that Gloria, the barbie employee and protagonist, says are near-impossible expectations women face: She’s skinny, but not too thin. She’s pretty. She’s curvy. She’s forever young. And the movie highlights this unrealistic expectation fairly well, explaining just how contradictory the expectations are for women all around the world, and how the Barbie doll had negative effects for some people. I thought it was interesting that the movie kind of recognized this, albeit briefly, and tried to make up for it by giving Barbie depth and struggles and imperfections.

When I watched the movie at first, I wasn’t sure how to feel. Although it contained a number of messages I did agree with, the portrayal of Barbie Land and its matriarchal power system was interesting. I’m not honestly sure how I feel about the movie’s portrayal, partially because I’m not sure I’ve interpreted it right. Here’s what it seemed like, to me: Throughout the movie, Barbie Land is presented as a sort of safe haven for women, and as this utopia of sorts… but as it goes, under practically every utopia is a dystopia, and in Barbie Land, the big red flag was a sort of reverse sexism — with no power in relationships or in the government or in practically anything, the men were certainly being oppressed by the women. Although the movie addresses this at the end, saying that Barbie Land should change and become more equal, throughout the movie, there are times when it just doesn’t feel like thats really what the screenwriters were going for, presenting this entirely-female-dominated world as this amazing thing, as just empowerment for women (and not oppression for men. Except, if the scenario were flipped on its head and the gender roles reversed, the whole situation would be way worse than the current world situation. Maybe that’s the whole point. I’d definitely think it was, if the movie hadn’t presented the totally-female world in a weirdly positive light. (Again, had the roles been reversed, the way they presented it as a whole would have seemed strange and probably sexist.) I don’t know if this is to play into the plot, or to give voice to how the Barbies felt, or if its the screenwriter’s voices seeping through. I don’t know anymore. Either way, its something to think about.