“You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.” This was one of the most famous lines from the Barbie Movie, spoken by America Ferrera. This was only a small part of the line, too, as there are many more struggles to being a woman than meets the eye, and the Barbie Movie did a great job at illuminating that fact.
On July 21, 2023, the Barbie Movie came out. Little did the producers (Margot Robbie, David Heyman, Robbie Brenner, and Tom Ackerley) know that it would be the next hit movie. The Barbie movie was No. 1 in the United States and Canada, collecting about $1.38 billion dollars.
Lots of people expected for there to be more of a background story from the previous Barbie shows and movies. Hardly anyone expected for it to have the meaning that it did, or have such a base of femininity. One of the reasons why it was such a big hit, though, is because of the actors. The main characters were Ken and Barbie, played by Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie.
Margot Robbie is a very famous and well known actor, starring in movies such as: The Wolf of Wall Street, Babylon, Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, Focus, About Time, Bombshell, and more. Ryan Gosling is another famously known actor, starring in such films as: The Gray Man, First Man, Blade Runner, LaLa Land, The Nice Guy, and more. The Barbie movie is ranked towards the top of both of those lists, which really says something.
The movie had lots of funny and hidden jokes in it, but also lots of history. Throughout the movie, it showed a series of Barbies that the majority of watchers did not recognize. In the credits toward the end of the video though, it showed lots of funny Barbies that were actually real and identified the Barbies that people couldn’t place. There was Pregnant Midge, Sugar Daddy Ken, Earring Magic Ken, Babysitter Skipper, Day-to-Night Barbie, Totally Yoyo Nikki, Growing Up Skipper, Barbie Video Girl, Christie, Teresa, Allan, and more.
One of the controversies of the movie is that it focused on Ken more than usual, since Barbie is supposed to be the main character. Student Elliot Iverson thinks that they did this because “they wanted to get a lesson across that everyone should be themselves and not depend on others to see their self-worth.”
John Fogarty, a teacher at Cannon Falls Middle School/ High School, says “I think the story is designed to show that everyone is actually an individual and has their own value. No one has to depend on anyone else for their self-worth.” He also said, “My favorite part of the movie was when Ken and his buddies realized that they aren’t the most important people in the world.”
Rotten Tomatoes gave the Barbie movie an 88% rating, and the viewers gave it an 83%. 63% of men also said it raised their awareness of sexism. The Barbie Movie has definitely made its mark and will be a favorite movie for many viewers.