Not Caught Flat-Footed Regarding Barbie

I was the right age to playwith Barbie dolls when they were first introduced to little girls. But mymother wanted no part of these “teen” fashion dolls with their garishly paintedfaces and highly exaggerated proportions, and I tended to agree with her. Personally,I remained content to continue building my “family” of 8-inch Madam Alexandercuties who looked more like me.

 Still, I’ve been unable toignore all the hype surrounding the new Barbie movie. I’d hardly beinterested in a flick that simply exalted the plastic pal of so many girls ofmy era. But I was certain that writer/director Greta Gerwig—whose off-centertake on Little Women (2019) is a worthy addition to the LouisaMay Alcott canon—would have something interesting to say. And, hey, I was right.

 Gerwig (and herwriting-and-life partner Noah Baumbach) can’t be accused of lacking ambition. Thefilm’s early scenes are an hilarious re-creation of Barbieland, where all thebuildings are pink and all the important jobs (doctor, judge, astronaut,President) are filled by Barbie clones who are simultaneously brainy andbeautiful . . . and of course very well dressed.  Ken is here too: amiable, not too bright, andgenerally outfitted for the beach. Before the role-reversal joke can wear out,Stereotypical Barbie (a perfectly-cast Margot Robbie) finds herself starting tofeel actual human emotions, and heads to the Real World to figure out what’sgoing on. Her trip to Southern California  puts her in contact, for the first time, withmale misogyny, while the tag-along Ken (Ryan Gosling) discovers that toxicmasculinity—complete with cowboy duds and horses—might improve his lot in life.(A column by Jean Guerrero in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times focuses onthe film’s quiet recognition that the rules for today’s men, as well as today’swomen, might be overdue for a makeover. She urges that we all adopt “Kenpathy”for guys who would rather not be male chauvinists but know no other path.)

 There are many details inthis film that are genuinely funny, like the fact that Barbie’s moment of truthcomes when she discovers she can no longer habitually perch on the balls of herfeet, the better to model stilettos. I also loved the presence of Weird Barbie(Kate McKinnon), whose hacked off hair and grotesquely painted features showher to be the victim of some sadistic little human girl’s lurid imagination.The candy-colored enticements of Barbieland should win art-direction love atOscar time. But I was also amused at the fact that Barbie’s native habitat isset against my own hometown, Santa Monica, which in the film looks equallyidyllic and—Gerwig suggests— almost equally plastic. There’s a hilarious momentwhen narrator Helen Mirren suddenly bursts into the story to comment on acasting matter, and Robbie’s very last line is both provocative and smart.

 Speaking of smart, there’sthe interweaving in the plot of a sympathetic human mother (America Ferrera)and daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) with strongly mixed emotions about the Barbieworld. And I loved the acknowledgment of Ruth Handler, played in the film by adelightfully appealing Rhea Pearlman, as both Barbie’s original “mother” and astrong businesswoman with a billion-dollar idea. The film, in addition to allits ideas about female empowerment, is open to acknowledging the sheergoofiness of the Barbie empire, which once briefly included a pregnant friendfor Barbie, as well as a little-girl doll who grows before your eyes into anadult body, and a Barbie with a television screen embedded in her posterior. Ohwell, back to the drawing board.