The Debrief on Barbie

I’m not going to lie, I was a massive fan of Barbie well through my teens, I've admired the brilliant Greta Gerwig since I first saw Ladybird, and generally live for everything pink and slightly whimsical, so this film was always going to be a hit in my books. That said, I was still caught by surprise by the sheer geniality of this movie.

The plot will take you on a wild journey of hysterically laughing and ugly crying on a manic loop. In Gerwig’s own words “there was this sense of wanting to make something anarchic and wild and totally unhinged” and that’s exactly how it feels.

This is a feminist-centric film for sure, but the real star is Ken. Barbie has to go to the real world to discover what it means to be a woman, but Ken has to find who he is entirely, and that somehow is deeper, more heart-wrenching and so innately human, that is hard not to feel empathy for his plight. After all, we’ve all wondered about our place in the world at one point or another.

I don’t know if this kenergy is the comment the script writers were trying to make, but what I got was the idea that we can’t live in a world ruled by men, nor a world where all opportunities go to women. Dreams are genderless, we are all allowed to write our destiny unbound by outdated society rules.

Once Ken discovers patriarchy in the real world, he goes back and takes over Barbieland with the idea that Barbies must be subservient, and Kens are in charge. To give their voice back, America Ferrera's character must awaken the dolls' memories and make them remember there’s power in being a woman.

In a speech that received a standing ovation from a room full of critics and artists, she explores the impossible standards we face every day and how against all odds, women have exceeded expectations and broken every ceiling, glass and otherwise, to rise above those standards.

A plastic doll made me fall in love with life again, to embrace the hard and the messy and dance the night away, to be loud and bombastic or quiet and introspective, but always unapologetic and unique.

She reassures us that is ok if we have nothing figured out, that being alive is constant change and it’s ok to not have the answers to everything. Most importantly, Barbie reminds us that some days it’s perfectly fine to wear ugly shoes.