Credit: Warner Bros.With less than a month left until the official premiere of the Barbie movie, hype is quickly spinning into full swing. There have been several teasers and trailers released to whet moviegoers’ appetites for the upcoming Mattel flick – and yet somehow, they’ve managed not to give away much of the plot.
Despite the fact that we’ve been discussing it for ages, little is still known about what is going to happen in Barbie.
What Do We Know About ‘Barbie’ So Far?
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We we know that the base plot involves Barbie losing some of her doll-like traits and heading to the Real World to figure it out. We know that what awaits her in the real world includes sexual harassment, over-it teenagers, and the actual Mattel company. We know that Ken is seeking purpose and therefore also involved.
And thanks to the latest trailer, we also know that at some point, Barbie brings some Real World people back to BarbieLand for a tour.
What we don’t know, however, is why any of this is actually happening – what will be the point of this whole journey in the first place? Is Barbie the next big feminist film, or a just another toy company’s cash grab?
The shortest possible answer to this question is, “It depends on who you ask.”
‘Feminist’ Seems To Be A Loaded Word for Mattel and Margot Robbie
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Time reporter Eliana Dockterman recently saw Barbie and called it “a fun yet self-aware romp with shades of Clueless and Legally Blonde.” Those are definitely feminist movies by our standards – they at least pass the Bechdel test – but the people at Mattel would apparently disagree.
In their interview with Dockterman, Mattel was sure to stress that Barbie was “not a feminist movie.” It seems as though this was a high stress for the corporation, for whom the word “feminism” likely carries complex political connotations that they try to stay far away from.
Margot Robbie, conversely, as a producer and star of the film, was clearly annoyed, asking, “Who said that?” when the information was presented to her for comment. She then sighed, and clarified:
“It’s not that it is or it isn’t. It’s a movie. It’s a movie that’s got so much in it…We’re in on the joke. This isn’t a Barbie puff piece.”
Truly great feminist films don’t get that way by aspiring to become feminist films. The label gets assigned to them later because they represent women’s issues in authentic, incisive ways, but the reason they’re able to do that is because they’re simply aspiring to tell real stories, and happen to be focusing on women.
So is ‘Barbie’ a Feminist Film or Not?
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Mattel may be silly for thinking they can avoid “feminist” labels being assigned to a Greta Gerwig film – especially one that’s supposed to be set in a universe where “all problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved.” However, they did have the right idea when they were explaining their reasoning behind why.
It was the same reason that previous tries to make the movie, ones involving Anne Hathaway and Amy Schumer, repeatedly fell flat:
“It was a matter of finding the right talent that can appreciate the brand’s authenticity and bring that controversy to life in a way that, yes, pokes fun at us but ultimately is purposeful and has heart.”
The movie is a feminist film because its purpose was to explore a concept that is intertwined with being a woman in this country in general, and Mattel waited for an honest and nuanced portrayal to make it.
It’s definitely not just a feminist film, because it’s also about Ken – The Barbie universe seems to be presenting us with a reversal of the feminist issues in our world, where the Barbies have all the jobs, and the Kens are the “domestics.”
When Ken goes with Barbie into the Real World, he will not only have to adjust to the idea that it’s the opposite, but also that it’s a more complex opposite – the mirror is not perfect, and there’s a lot more nuance in the Real World than their is in BarbieLand.
Of course, with so little information actually out there, there could still be tons of nuance that even we are missing – we’ll find out for sure when Barbie comes to theaters on July 21.
Do you think Barbie is going to be a “feminist movie?” What does that phrase mean to you? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments.