Barbie, The Movie, smashed the box office this year. Inspired by a favorite toy from childhood, many have said it was a 5-star movie. With today being dress up as a movie character day for Homecoming, we’ve had a few Barbies, Kens, and even a Midge walking around school. But what about the movie itself?
“I think the message was that there is a purpose for everyone no matter how unique you are; you don’t have to be perfect all the time. There is a high standard for women in our world, and that most women deserve respect and can be seen as powerful. It also shows human life is good whether it’s flawed or not,” Kimberly Besherse, a senior, said.
Not everyone had rave reviews. According to Rolling Stone, Bill Maher criticized it for taking certain creative liberties to drive home its point, depicting the Mattel board as all-male in the film when it is not and having the Barbies “act helpless” to trick the Kens in the third act. The comedian also boasted of seeing Barbie “with a woman in her 30s who said, ‘I don’t know a single woman of any age who would act like that today” and implied that the “patriarchy” is a thing of the past because “45% of the 449 board seats filled last year in Fortune 500 companies were women.”
Some people felt neutral about the movie. “I loved the sets; they were so pretty! I think the message was also about feminism and loving yourself and being confident in your body, yet it made men seem unintelligent and desperate when not all men are like that. Personally, I wanted a movie that was like my childhood show Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, but it wasn’t like that at all,” Kylie Jones, a freshman said.
Personally, I liked the movie. I think it shows a good lesson about feminism. Sure, there were some flaws, but it was still great! Barbie was always my favorite childhood toy, and I am so happy there’s finally a movie about it. I think it shows that women can be powerful and change things themselves. In the Barbie world, they have all Barbies that are different from each other instead of the stereotypical Barbie. I believe it also shows every woman can be beautiful no matter how they look and they should feel happy and confident in their bodies.
Whether you liked the movie or not, you’ll be sure to see many Barbie-inspired costumes for Halloween and maybe even some award nominations.
