A-Way-With-Words #012

As a little girl, I was never a fan of dolls, they kind of freaked me out. Hard and uninviting in comparison to the softness and warmth of a cuddly teddy bear, I had little time for them. Yet as I grew up, just like millions of other young girls, I idolised the Barbie for how she looked and the life she led. Blonde, busty and beautiful, Barbie represented everything that as a young girl and teenager I never felt. As a shy and introvert young girl, desperate to fit in and full of self-loathing, Barbie was my hero. So, if Greta Gerwig’s film does anything, it goes to some lengths to reassure women that ‘typical beauty’ also has its insecurities.

The film had a difficult line to walk in that it had to serve the interests of the Mattel corporation, whilst also convincing the audience that it wasn’t just a massive propaganda piece. And although the film can’t escape from the compromises it made in order to please its makers, Gerwig has not shied away from highlighting the problematic relationship Barbie has had with its consumers over the years. Global sales of Barbie have been in a steady decline - not entirely surprising when you consider that ‘stereotypical’ Barbie embodies the kind of woman that is completely inaccessible and unattainable. The not-so-subtle messages that filter throughout the film must surely be fuelled by a need for Barbie to remain relevant and accessible to all.

There is good reason why Barbie has become a box office hit, and here are just some of the reasons why…

?·?????It is pure and utter escapism, transporting you to a world that is completely and utterly ridiculous, yet mesmerising.

·?????The film is intensely self-aware of Barbie’s reputation and the unrealistic beauty standards it projects. The movie even goes as far as to insinuate that Margot Robbie’s portrayal of ‘stereotypical Barbie’ is not the best advocate for promoting body acceptance.

·?????We are taken on an unapologetically cheesy journey in the most Hollywood of ways. A journey that somehow reaches even the biggest of cynics.

·?????I am by no means anyway a feminist, but America Ferrara’s monologue was bang on and spoke to me in a way that I hadn’t even considered…that it is actually pretty damn hard being a woman in 2023.

·?????Ken is as much of a star as Barbie is. A multi-layered and complex figure, he too goes on a journey of self-discovery, battling with his own struggle to conform to societal stereotypes.

?The reviews for Gerwig’s interpretation of Barbie have come thick and fast, but those who have attacked Barbie for being woke and feminist must have been watching a different film to me. It doesn’t go on an anti-men tirade at any point, but instead reminds us that the world is broken, tricky and beautiful all at the same time. That regardless of our gender or what society dictates as ‘beautiful’, we are all human doing our best to navigate our own insecurities. Gerwig doesn’t try to force any kind of ideology on us, but instead simply invites us to simply be ourselves, no matter who that maybe. Barbie?is pink and fluffy, smart and tender, nostalgic and witty…and is just the medicine I needed.