It is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. A complete reimagination of one of the most important figures in popular culture.
Barbie! opens in theaters on July 21st. Directed by Greta Gerwig, the Academy Award nominated director behind hit films Lady Bird (1917) and Little Women (2019), the live action fantasy film stars Australian actress Margot Robbie in the eponymous role and Ryan Gosling as her famous companion Ken. The diverse ensemble cast is rounded off by actresses such as America Ferrera of Ugly Betty (2006 – 2010), Issa Rae of Insecure (2016-2021), Rhea Perlman, Dua Lipa, and Will Ferrell.
Sixty-four years after inventor, Mattel co-founder, and mother of 2 Ruth Handler invented what would become one of the most recognizable toys in the world, the film represents a seminal moment in a cultural zeitgeist that stretches generations. In a world where other toy figures such as Spider Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Sonic the Hedgehog have largely ruled the boy demographic, Barbie will represent a female audience that continues to evolve.
But of course with evolution comes ongoing dissection and controversy. After all, Barbie bursted onto the toy shelves at a turning point of the second wave feminist movement, a time that saw a radical reimagination of women’s roles in the family and in the home. Barbie seemed to simultaneously represent the traditional values of a housewives with bouncy, flowing hair, and a perfect smile and the rising new breed of independent women choosing if to marry or have children. A dichotomy Gerwig herself explored during the making of the film.
Elaina Dockterman, in her 2023 article for Time magazine, “Inside the Barbie Movie: How Barbie Came To Life”, writes, “How did a filmmaker who is best known for thoughtful movies about women’s inner lives come to write and direct a movie about a toy who has no inner life, and is (mostly) defined by her looks? It’s simple: Gerwig loves dolls. ‘I played with dolls too long,’ says the 39-year-old director. ‘I was still doing it in junior high. Kids were drinking, and I was playing with dolls.’ Gerwig’s mom wasn’t a fan of Barbie for feminist reasons: ‘She went through the ’60s and was like, ‘What did we do all this for?’’ But playing with Barbies proved to be a training ground for Gerwig’s job as a professional storyteller.”
Created in 1959, Barbie was created by Ruth Handler. Handler, her husband Elliott, and one of their business partners Harold Matson, conceived the idea upon Ruth noticing her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls. During a trip to Germany, Ruth discovered a doll by the named of Bild Lilli and used it’s likeness for inspiration. In it’s first year, the Barbie doll became a popular fixture amongst little girls.
Emily Tamkin, in her 2023 article for Smithsonian magazine, “A Cultural History of Barbie”, writes, “From the beginning, Barbie has been about allowing young girls to dream. The dolls are at once idealistic and materialistic, offering a characteristically American fantasy—for a price. Barbie soon became central to the cultural and political conversation, often scandalizing critics across the political spectrum.”
Feminism is just as dichotomous now as it was in 1959. It seems the same issues of autonomy, gender roles, and beauty standards are even more debated now and because of this, the film is opening to an audience of both expectation and interest.
People are interested in seeing a how a live action film about a doll that was molded in the eyes of feminism be portrayed and how would an audience made of diverse women- an audience that was all but ignored during the early run of Barbie- receive a fixture that has defined female embodiment for the past six decades.
