Conceived by Ruth Handler as an alternative to the multitude of infant dolls on the market, the original Barbie was introduced to the world in 1959, and playtime was never the same. Eschewing the maternity-baiting norm (in girls’ toys) of the time, Barbie was a strong independent woman long before it was fashionable to string those words together. With over a billion dolls sold to date, and no shortage of associated products, spinoffs, and media released over the next six decades, it was only a matter of time before Barbie made her way to the big screen. But with the Barbie brand having come to represent so many things to so many people over the years, the biggest question lay in what direction the proposed movie would (or could) actually take.

After numerous false starts (including one with Trainwreck’s Amy Schumer in the title role), acclaimed filmmaker Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women) and screenwriter Noah Baumbach (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) were brought on to bring the project to life.

Would their Barbie be an aspirational figure or a cautionary tale? A paragon of womanhood or the personification of crass consumerism? A figure deserving of respect, resentment, or something in between?

Their answer: YES.

The story

The movie starts with Barbie (Margot Robbie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Suicide Squad) in Barbie Land, where she lives a perfect life of dream houses, days at the beach, and partying with her friends.  It’s quickly established that Robbie represents the stereotypical variant, while her friends (also named Barbie) represent other nationalities, body types, and professions.

At the beach, we’re introduced to (presumably) stereotypical Ken (Ryan Gosling, La-La Land, Drive), who harbors an unrequited crush on Barbie. When stereotypical Barbie is troubled by thoughts on mortality and her signature high-heel-ready feet suddenly become flat (to the horror and disgust of her friends) she is advised by Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon, SNL, Ghostbusters) to journey to the real world, where she’ll find the source of her problems.

A Barbie girl in a Barbie world

In a cast packed with Barbies and Kens, Robbie is perfectly cast as the wide-eyed innocent whose naiveté drives the narrative. Her Barbie may be stereotypical, but the humanity she injects keeps her performance from becoming annoying or unsympathetic. As her character learns more about the so-called “real world”, Robbie masterfully conveys the disillusionment of a kid finding out the hard way that the Tooth Fairy isn’t real.

This Barbie isn’t the bimbo of Aqua’s infamous song (remixed here, so everyone can forget that Mattel actually sued MCA Records over the original) – Robbie’s Barbie may start out somewhat clueless, but she’s a fast learner, with a proactive attitude to overcoming obstacles and getting things done. She actually cares for everyone in Barbie Land, and despite events giving her every reason to be vindictive, it’s her inherent compassion that saves the day.

I’m just Ken

On the other side of the coin, we have Gosling’s Ken, who pretty much steals the show by committing to the most bonkers performance of his career. Considering that he once sported a blond Backstreet Boys haircut as a young Kevin Sorbo on the short-lived Young Hercules TV series, that’s saying a lot. Gosling plays Ken as an attention-starved man-child whose greatest frustration is always having “and” in front of his name whenever it comes to Barbie. Things take a turn for the wayward doll when he discovers the real world’s patriarchal ways, inspiring him to bring (toxic) masculinity back to Barbie Land, and reshape it and his fellow Kens (played by the likes of Simu Liu and John Cena) in his misguided image (his “Kendom”, as it were).

For a character that could have been a hateful caricature, Gosling retains an inherent innocence on par with Robbie’s Barbie – he’s not willfully spiteful, he’s just insecure, and woefully uninformed on gender relations, to say nothing of the agency to be his own person. The result is some of the funniest performances of the year, as Gosling and Robbie may be ridiculously, impossibly beautiful people, but they’re also damn fine actors with comic timing that previous projects haven’t exploited nearly enough.

Let’s go party

Granted, a certain segment of the audience will feel that Ken has been emasculated as part of some sort of agenda-driven plot, but the fact of the matter is, he’s been a glorified accessory to the title character for 62 years now, and the film makes him more interesting than he’s ever been. Heck, even Toy Story 2 used his lack of motivation to turn him into an audience-favorite punchline, and that was 24 years ago.

Now, this isn’t to say that Ken shouldn’t have character development (which the film give actually provides him with), but the fact that anyone would decry the motivations behind a plastic plaything bemoaning his literal function says more about the ones complaining than anything the film shows (or doesn’t show) us.

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic

As realized by designer Sarah Greenwood (The Darkest Hour, Beauty and the Beast), Barbie Land is a cacophony of pink-infused plastic that looks like it came right off the shelf. From Barbie’s multi-story Dream House to her signature Corvette, and Ken’s neon-yellow roller blades, the production hits the sweet spot between memory and what the toys are/were actually like.

The tone of the film is established in the very first scene, with — of all things — a Stanley Kubrick homage that immediately lets you know what kind of experience you’re in for. It’s earnest in its over-the-top silliness, which paves the way for the real-world interjections and on-the-nose observations that the narrative serves up.

Imagination, life is your creation

While the trailers and marketing made The Barbie Movie look like a Mattel-based riff on The Lego Movie — down to Will Ferrell (Elf, Old School) as the egotistical corporate villain — the actual film pulls a bait-and-switch with a plot that goes further than the beloved bricks could have ever dreamed (but then again, one assumes bricks to be asexual by nature).

The fun (and brilliance) here lies in how the filmmakers found (mostly) organic ways to address gender roles, sexism, society, and consumerism in ways that aren’t condescending. It’s a lot to take in, but Gerwig and her collaborators lay the groundwork beautifully by establishing Barbie and her pink-hued world before pulling the rug out from under her and — by extension — the audience. By the time America Ferrera’s (Ugly Betty) world-weary Gloria lists out the societal pressures faced by regular women in the real world, we’re on the same page as Robbie’s Barbie in absorbing the informational slap in the face.

Why is Barbie

Given that the story kicks off with its lead character having an existential crisis, the film delivers a meta hat trick in having Barbie herself address her brand’s legacy and impact (or lack thereof) in the real world. For better or worse, her existence — much like that of the women she represents — is inherently complicated, even self-contradictory at times.

While the film doesn’t claim to solve any of society’s ills in its runtime, the fact that it’s being discussed at all is revelatory for a mainstream family film and is sure to spark discourse that will live on long after the jokes are forgotten. Seeing the messages that The Barbie Movie is able to get across, one understands why the likes of Gerwig and Baumbach would want to take it on. As executed, their script doesn’t so much subvert what we expect from the character, as it elevates the proceedings from mere advertisement into a product with something to say.

The bottom line

Nostalgic, poignant, and flat-out hilarious, The Barbie Movie is the bravest kind of deconstruction: unafraid of looking inward, while honoring everything that the brand stands for, and could yet still be. While your mileage may vary on the viral trend pairing The Barbie Movie with Oppenheimer, this film, much like the title character herself, is well worth experiencing on its own merits.

And Ken.

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