Editor’s Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the movie covered here would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.

Mattel’s infamous doll has long been considered a concept that, while ubiquitous, might best be described as a guilty pleasure. As decades pass, the company that created Barbie continually makes moves to update her look and diversify its lineup to better suit the needs of consumers. With over 40 animated movies to her name, she has carved a spot in young girls’ hearts — but her public image still remains stereotypically feminine and yet anti-feminist. All that is set to change with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which has positioned itself as one of the summer’s breakout hits thanks to Warner Bros. and Mattel’s brilliant marketing campaign and Gerwig’s own perspicacious script (which was co-written with Noah Baumbach).

Everything about Barbie is crafted with both mass appeal and personal insight, much like the iconic doll herself, resulting in a movie that knows how to please. Moving sets and puppetry take the place of CGI, giving Barbieland the human touch it desperately needs, while actors inhabit the dolls they play with a self-aware sense of humor that lets us be in on the joke. And while the glittery pink exterior may obscure the full picture for some, there is a darker meditation on life and death that lurks beneath the surface of every scene. Barbie’s trailers have already hinted heavily at Stereotypical Barbie’s (played to perfection by Margot Robbie) existential crisis, and her musings on death are much more than just a running gag. In fact, they are the driving force behind her journey to the Real World and meeting with the mother-daughter duo of Gloria (America Ferrera) and Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt).

Barbie’s Marvelous Marketing Is Integral To Its Success As A Movie
Issa Rae in Barbie

Without a doubt, every movie should be able to stand on its own — and Barbie most certainly does. But it’s also bolstered by its marketing, both intentionally and not. Several songs from the soundtrack have already been released for public consumption, and they paint a fairly accurate picture of the emotional beats in the story. But as soon as Barbie awakens to the sounds of Lizzo’s as-yet unreleased “Pink,” it’s clear that there are still hilarious and heartfelt layers left undiscovered. Music is in dialogue with the script at various parts, almost winking directly at the camera, and it adds to the comedy and pathos alike when characters break out into song. The impossibly on-point use of the movie’s original songs, produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, gives Barbie the feeling of a musical and invites viewers to invest in Barbieland after the credits roll.

Even the playful competition between Barbie and Oppenheimer adds to the former’s appeal. The two movies could not seem further apart at first glance, and yet both hinge on the question of what life is worth and what death means in the grand scheme of the universe. In the age of social media, it’s nearly impossible to watch Greta Gerwig’s satirical dramedy without thinking of the memes that connect it to Christopher Nolan’s historical epic — and this inevitability and surprisingly works in Barbie’s favor. The Margot Robbie-led story may offer escapism and fun, but it also won’t let audiences forget the horrors of the Real World, either onscreen or off.

Ryan Gosling’s Ken Steals The Barbie Movie In More Ways Than One
Ryan Gosling, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Ncuti Gatwa in Barbie

Much has been made of Gosling’s commitment to becoming Ken, and his performance certainly lives up to the hype. He is not alone in Kendom, and every actor from Simu Liu to Sex Education’s Ncuti Gtawa is delightful as their version of Barbie’s male counterpart, but Gosling goes above and beyond what is required of the role. Barbie’s growing awareness is complemented by Ken’s utter obliviousness, but the laughs eventually give way to a heartbreaking climax that would fall apart in the hands of a lesser actor. If Barbie’s internal conflict stems from the doll’s shifting worldview, then the external conflict is born from Ken’s, which elevates him far beyond the typical rom-com male lead.

This is a vital part of what makes Barbie work, but it also creates the danger of Gosling’s Ken eclipsing Robbie’s Barbie in what should be her movie. Thankfully, that fear is baked into Gerwig and Baumbach’s script and makes for a unique exercise in gender studies that doesn’t feel didactic. As both writer and director, Gerwig knows how to incorporate social messaging without losing her story’s humor or charm — something she aptly displayed in Little Women and takes to new metatextual heights in Barbie. Thus, while Ken is far and away one of the most memorable elements of the movie, he simply does not work without Barbie to bounce off of.

How Margot Robbie’s Barbie Compares To Previous Depictions Of The Beloved Mattel Toy
Margot Robbie in Barbie

Speaking of Robbie, her performance is what makes or breaks Barbie. One cannot argue against her physical resemblance to the doll that lives in our cultural zeitgeist, but she has to do more than simply replicate the Mattel icon. She gracefully toes the line between playing into Barbie stereotypes and breaking free of them, infusing each scene with a sincerity that borders on comical. The saccharine sweetness is exactly what the satirical aspect of the story needs, and Robbie knows when to dial it back for the emotional crescendos. But just as Ken needs Barbie, this Barbie needs her sisterhood to make the movie’s larger point. She cannot embody the myriad of dolls that are sold in toy stores and that populate the animated movie library of recent years, and Gerwig doesn’t force her to.

In order for Barbie to work, the diversity of both Mattel’s toy line and the movie itself can’t be just a marketing gimmick. Every woman can be Barbie because Barbie is every woman, which is a tagline that the movie manages to uphold while wisely tearing apart the pseudo-feminist ideas that such marketing espouses. Barbie’s diversity goes beyond race, including differently-abled dolls and focusing on the many career paths that should be available to women — Issa Rae as President Barbie being one of the biggest standouts in the latter category. But simply saying a girl can be anything or look any way isn’t enough, and the movie doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the shortcomings of championing that mentality without using action to back it up. It doesn’t provide clear answers, but it plants a seed in our minds that is sure to grow upon leaving the theater.

Is Barbie Good?
Margot Robbie in Barbie

Given that Barbie could reasonably have been a fun adventure romp with a dash of romance, one might argue it is overly ambitious in trying to take the hotly-contested crown for the event of the summer. But with a director as surefooted in her vision as Greta Gerwig, anything less than a metacommentary on womanhood would have been out of place. Barbie is a full-course meal that offers some truly comedic appetizers and unexpectedly dramatic entrées, and almost all the dishes turn out to be delicious. Robbie and Gosling’s three-dimensional performances are buoyed by Gerwig and Baumbach’s wry script, all of which ensures that even those uninterested in the philosophy behind the pink will be pleasantly entertained.

Barbie debuts in theaters Friday, July 21. It is 114 minutes long and rated PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language.

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