By Anika Lippke ‘24, Commentary Editor

^{Image of Barbie (Robbie), Gloria (Ferrera) and others in Act 3 of the movie. Credits to Warner Bros.}

One day, it might be argued that the most significant cultural contribution of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” was the appearance of Ryan Gosling’s submissive male anthem, “I’m Just Ken,” on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs list. Or maybe some will say that “Barbie” made its biggest impact when it overshadowed Christopher Nolan’s equally anticipated “Oppenheimer” on opening weekend; though the films were released to theaters on the same day, “Barbie” triumphed over “Oppenheimer” by almost $80 million, providing femininity with one small “win” over masculinity. There will be many retrospective arguments about “Barbie”’s biggest impact on pop culture, the most significant attempting to demonstrate how the movie about the plastic doll augmented our perception of womanhood forever. 

In the spirit of “Barbie” ’s recent release to streaming services, I want to make my claim now: despite its glamorous, hilariously camp, and characteristically pink ambience, Barbie is one of many recent perpetrators of some detrimental social messaging. Despite the fact that the movie may have coaxed a chuckle (or many) out of me, I must regretfully assert that in a more serious setting, the bleak subtext of Barbie is no laughing matter. 

I do not hate being female. At the beginning of the movie, I felt that I could have been in good company expressing such a statement. In Barbieland, perhaps due to its glaring female dominance, femininity was a source of empowerment. They had supermodels in their Supreme Court; in our world, that would be grounds for serious suspicion. The Barbies had life so good that the biggest worry was… “FLAT FEET!!!!” 

This initial embrace of womanhood is what makes the sudden jerk to feminine despair and self-contempt in the next arc of the movie so disorienting. Although the juxtaposition between Barbieland and traditional society was meant to demonstrate common gender disparities, the infamous “being a woman is impossible” monologue in the final act rendered me completely distraught.

“It is literally impossible to be a woman,” rants America Ferrera’s character, Gloria, in the final arc of the movie. The frankly vapid “vent session,” which was most likely included as a sort of cathartic “girlboss” moment for viewers and the women of Barbie alike, comes off as more tepid than the piping-hot take it anticipated itself to be. Most of her rant was meant to expose issues that have been acknowledged by the mainstream for several years, and instead of critically examining any of the issues mentioned, she created an endless list of practically baseless, previously established complaints. The scene left me with the impression that the only way to overcome the shortcomings of being born a female is, in short, to complain, especially about issues that are not unique to womanhood. 

As a means to “empower” the Barbies into owning their womanhood, Gloria, driving herself to tears, insists, “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!” She says this as if being rude, or showing off, or being selfish are not actions that are generally discouraged for everyone. 

Although it is true that women are often far more persecuted for slip-ups, it seems ridiculous to suggest that the expectation is set into place because of their gender. 

By attempting to be “relatable” to the masses, Barbie has missed its own point– that women are resilient and independent, partially because of the harsh circumstances that we are often subjected to, and thus it is unrealistic to assume that we would succumb to self-hate simply because of societal perceptions. If anything, opposition has driven many women to embrace and deeply appreciate their femininity, despite the inherent challenges of womanhood. 

That being said, is it really that serious? Barbie was what many expected it to be–a fun movie about a toy. While it is a story meant to shed light upon the struggles of women, the movie’s comedic tone serves as a reminder for viewers to take its messages with a grain of salt. Perhaps some of the charm of Barbie was the messy, disorganized approach it took to shedding light upon deeper topics. Perhaps the biggest societal impact of Barbie was the infinite supply of memes and cultural literature we have accumulated. One example is the “What would I look like as a Barbie?” AI filter which has been used on dogs and cats and everything that should never, ever again be anthropomorphized. Maybe in 20 years, all I will remember about the movie is the trauma obtained from seeing my cat Barbie-fied, and my concerns will never have been that serious. But for now, I’ll remain Barbie’s lone critic while the others live, laugh, and love their way into Barbieland.