Motion Picture Reviews and Insights- Vaishali Adwant

A visual treat where the real world and the Barbie world collide to answer life’s most crucial questions about feminism, survival, gender equality, and the complex human life. The movie starts with an introduction with young girls playing with dolls and how Barbie doll changed their perceptive about feminism. The movie has brilliant production design and apt costumes which makes you fall in love with every shade of pink.

The Barbie world is filled with Kens and Barbies and other dolls introduced in the real doll world of Barbies. They live in see-though houses, and pretend to eat and drink just like children pretend playing with dolls. Somewhere in the human world, there is an outcry, begotten from a tired complicated human ideology and ideals. That is when the Barbie decides to check out the real world sailing away from her rose-tinted perfect world.

The movie has many laugh-out-loud moments when Barbie(Margot Robbie) and Ken(Ryan Gosling) venture in the real world feeling fish-out-of-water. Barbie is trying to search for the woman whose outcry she has heard only to be shocked to see not everybody loves Barbie. She sheds a tear for the first time feeling human emotions knowing she does not fit in despite being enviably perfect.

Will Ferrel is the CEO of Mattel corporation, the company that makes Barbie dolls. He is aware how the Barbie world and the real world have collided before and created a mess. He wants to box the real Barbie to avoid chaos in the real world. Barbie escapes along with the woman from the real world Gloria(America Ferrera) whose outcry she heard, and goes back to the Barbie world along with her daughter.

Ken(Ryan Gosling) comes across a book on patriarchy from the real world and assumes it is about horses and influences male Kens to follow patriarchy creating a hue and cry in the perfect Barbie world. John Cena plays one of the Kens and has an amusing cameo. Director Greta Gerwig stands out in creating a thought-provoking movie with an unusual theme of Barbie. Who would expect a movie titled Barbie answer life’s mind-boggling questions and put things in perspective? The climax is obnoxious about what the first thing would Barbie do to settle in the real world?