Work Lessons From Barbie

Anyone Can Enjoy This Experience

If you have been around children any time since 1959 you are going to be aware of Barbie and the universe built around her. I have compared going to the gym to Barbie merchandising. I'm satisfied with working out (the doll) and employees want me to buy personal training sessions (The Dream House) vitamins (Barbie's friends) merchandise and everything else to the point that it has become an expensive habit.

My conduit to girl toys- my sister- did not play with Barbie. She preferred trolls. She cut their hair knowing it would not grow back and it did not seem like there was a standard of beauty she would not attain.

I have never seen a Trolls movie. One was advertised before Barbie. There is little reason to see a children's movie with nothing under the surface. Barbie is like a Warner Brothers cartoon in the sense that children will be entertained by it and when they are older and have seen the movies it references- I could not sit through The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

It is a beautiful movie. It is all singing. Even watching a young Catherine Denueve could not cause me to stick with it. Not the first beloved film I did not care for.

No, that would be The Wizard of Oz. I never liked that film that my father introduced me to at a young age. Did I dislike it because he said it was good or because it annoyed me? Eventually I saw the latter was the case. Angels With Dirty Faces, Body and Soul and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were recommended by my father as well. I enjoyed all of them.

Remember when this was an article about the hit of the summer of 2023? I don't expect The Meg 2 to overtake its box office receipts. I feel badly for women named Meg or Megan. They have to deal with a giant prehistoric shark or M3gan which annoyed me because of the spelling.

Cover All Bases

Barbie never takes the stairs in her dream house. Why should she? The children playing with her would pick her up and place her on the ground, even if the Dream House includes an elevator. Every day is "The best day ever." I cannot think of the best day of my life. There have been some great ones. I recall the worst day although that has been covered.

Ken Doesn't Have Much To Do

He was mostly there. In the film his character probably has more challenges. Lord knows I have dealt with supervisors who job is "Beach". Ken isn't a lifeguard. He hangs out at the beach.

Men Ruin Everything

After they visit The Real World from Barbie World things change. Much like Back To The Future Part Two the changes they make are not as significant as the changes someone else makes. Barbie World actually works better when all the women are enjoying themselves and men are on the sidelines.

There is No Greater Poverty Than Berating Everything as "Woke"

This is not a political film. It covers many bases and challenges the confines of perceptions. At one point Barbie feels unattractive and the narrator says "Margot Robbie should not be saying this." In another scene a woman takes off her glasses to create the illusion to a vulnerable man that she really is pretty.

I never watched She's All That. A woman pulls her hair back and wears glasses feeling she is ugly. She takes her glasses off , lets her hair down and suddenly she is beautiful. ZZTop videos had better messages for women.

Barbie Was Never The Problem

Stereotypical Barbie had no idea that she set the bar too high for certain girls. If this were a movie designed to sell merchandise they would not have questioned the main character.

Don't Put Women Back in Their Box

She recalls the aroma of the original box. That is not where Barbie belongs. It might have paid for the wedding at the end of The 40 Year Old Virgin. Toys are meant to be played with and enjoyed.

We Need Communal Experiences

I saw neither Barbie nor Oppenheimer during the opening weekend. Many mentioned which theater they saw each film at. It seemed like most visited different theaters to see each. It is good that people are returning to theaters. For years I stopped going to the movies.

Adaptations of children's books that I never read or comic book movies that are more about big explosions than character development did not have urgency. I could catch them on an airplane if at all. Original ideas and different stories- even if Barbie is a known commodity- this film is not merely an excuse to sell dolls. They are already selling those.

The movie works on its own. They mention what every child learns as soon as they buy the doll- they have no genitalia. The final joke ends the movie so effectively based on what we already know.

I should mention the first place I ever saw rollerblades was Venice Beach. Ken brought his circa 1990 fluorescent rollerblades with him.

Some Movies Stick With You

The next day at work I was still thinking about various lines, characters and situations. Another reason I lost interest in movies was there were few that elicited repeat viewings. They seemed disposable- the cinematic equivalent of junk food. Even James Bond movies feel like empty calories since Skyfall. Anything can be done well and there is no target demographic for Barbie. Anyone can enjoy it and everyone should at some point.