Barbie – The Barbie Effect

The pre-movie hype worked! At my local cinema’s opening, the audience consisted of 20-something millennials dressed smashingly in pink; it’s hard to remember a movie, in recent times, that has had the same impact. Superfluous to say that Margot Robbie takes the lead as Stereotypical Barbie, with side-kicking Ryan Gosling as Ken. How blond is too much blond? Not enough, say I (Ahem!) Stir in Helen Mirren’s tongue-in-cheek quipage, such as, “Thanks to Barbie, all the problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved” and you really do have a pinktastic hit.
The Barbie Land set has been perfectly recreated from the Barbie Dream House to the Barbie Clinic, including all the FAB barbie accessories and outfits; girls-stuff big time! Of course, it’s all hard plastic; there’s no water in ocean, no OJ in the carton or tea in the tea pot – still, in the pretend world every day is perfect. Cue the malfunctions,  where even Stereotypical Barbie starts to have dark thoughts, thus the quest to make things OK begins, with a trip to the Real World…
Co-writer and director Greta Gerwig commands this neon-nuclear-blast with wit and style and it’s not hard to trace her discourse from Little Women to this – tipping her hat to other films/texts as she goes. Particularly impactful is the impassioned speech delivered by human-Mum, America Ferrera, on the impossible contradictions and expectations placed on the modern gal. Mattel Inc’s CEO is played by Will Ferrell, who, truth to be told is a little upstaged by the likes of Michael Cera as Alan and Kate Mckinnon as Weird Barbie. (Though this reviewer thought WB looked way too tame given her epithet.)
The music and dance sequences are gleeful, in particular Ken-ergy in black. Behind the fun, there’s some ironic messaging – gender, feminism, product-placement AND consumerism among other things. Actually, I can’t remember seeing an audience so invested and that’s got to mean something? Check out the hashtags on what’s trending: The world’s gone Barbie (and Ken) mad!

Rating:  One Barbie Princess Tiara and a pair of pink slippers, thanks.