Storytelling is creativity within limitations. And when your story takes place in a fantasy world — be it with dragons, lightsabers or toys — there are really only two options in front of you: Remain in the fantasy and make the fantastical realistic, or bridge the gap between the fantasy and our world (and hope audiences won’t ask too many questions).
Barbie, the latest from writer-director Greta Gerwig, goes for the latter. And not without successful predecessors. The Lego Movie, probably the most successful spin on the metatextual fantasy-reality hybrid in recent years, blazes a pretty solid trail. Show the perfection of the manufactured make-believe world, reveal the existential dread creeping in, blatantly incorporate product placement into the narrative, and cast Will Ferrell.
Historically, this kind of story — sans Ferrell — dates back to the Arthurian myths where a knight rides up a fairy hill, drops a glove, reaches down to retrieve it and is transported into a fantasy realm where he lives for years until another magical force arrives and tells him it’s time to go home. And he does, because as happy as he is here, there’s no place like home. Now that I think of it, that’s also the basis of The Odyssey. Nothing new under the sun, I guess.
But let’s keep our references to the 21st century. That means we’ll look past Barbie’s 2001: A Space Odyssey opening, which had the viewer to my left cackling as if he had seen the funniest thing in his entire life. I guess he got the reference. But I don’t remember him laughing his head off when Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) leave Barbieland for the real world via a series of cartoonish settings à la Elf’s voyage from the North Pole to New York City. I guess that one went over his head.
References — cinematic, social, political, commercial — Barbie is loaded with ’em. It’s no surprise to say the movie is a glorified ad for Mattel, but let’s not forget Warner Bros. while we’re at it. (Elf was made for New Line Cinema in 2003, but Warner Bros. acquired them in 2008.) Kubrick’s 2001 is also a WB title, as is The Matrix, which gets a callout from one of the film’s better characters (Kate McKinnon). There’s more, but I won’t bore you with a list. Though one movie that did come to my mind while watching Barbie was 1989’s Troop Beverly Hills, a Columbia release now owned by Sony.
If you haven’t seen Barbie, you might think I’m focusing on ownership and corporations too much. “What’s the story?” you might be asking. “What are the filmmakers trying to tell us?” Well, that’s where things go from promising to perfunctory. Barbie is a message movie where the message is delivered so loud and clear you almost wonder if it’s a ruse to cover the shameless consumerism on display. Or is the shameless consumerism on display covering up for the softball screed at the heart of Barbie? Is Gerwig using Mattel and Warner Bros.’ millions to stand atop a very big soapbox? Or are they using Gerwig’s indie street cred to boost Barbie sales and box office? Who’s subverting whom here?
As for the story, it’s fine. Barbie and Ken travel to the real world, Los Angeles — which is as real as it gets in some parts of the city, none of which are depicted here — in hopes of curing Barbie’s existential dread and collapsed arches. Ken tags along because, without Barbie, he is nothing. Back in Barbieland, Barbies run everything, and the Kens exist as accessories. But in LA, Ken discovers a role reversal, complete with horses and the patriarchy, which he embraces and takes back to Barbieland, throwing the fantasy world into chaos. The Barbies are brainwashed and become beer wenches, and the Kens ride around on imaginary horses like King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Barbie is a very hip movie with something to say, but the narrative leaves so little room for nuance and interpretation that you walk out with more questions than curiosities. Then there’s the irony, which is so thick that whatever sincerity Barbie is going for is immediately choked out via dance numbers or throwaway dialogue. It’s a weird time at the movies and certainly fun in places, but it all feels so soullessly manufactured.
ON SCREEN: Barbie is out now in wide release.
