Did you know that since her release date in 1959, Barbie has had more than a billion sales worldwide? The Barbie doll was originally created in the year 1959 by one Ruth Handler who wanted to give her daughter the chance to play with a doll that would teach her she could be something other than a mother. Since then, Barbie has become a staple of the feminist movement, showing little girls everywhere that they can grow up to be whatever they want. Barbie was given movies and TV shows in order to help grow the franchise further, and on July 21, 2023, we were given yet another incredible movie featuring the doll.
This past summer, the long-awaited live action Barbie movie finally arrived. The movie was announced in September of 2009 and began production in 2014. Two different female leads were cast before the role finally landed at the actress Margot Robbie’s feet. And while it may have taken more than a decade, the movie was well worth the wait.
While Barbie has many different movies, this film takes a different approach than any movie starring Barbie has before. Instead of Barbie being in a typically male position, the producers opted for a complete role reversal between men and women. Instead of men being in control and women only existing to try and make them happy, they made all of the Kens in love with the Barbies. Their only goal was to get the Barbies’ attention. I found this choice interesting because I have never personally seen a movie made like that before.
For me, another memorable part of this movie was the idea of growing up. For a lot of women, and people in general, a big fear is getting older. One of the ways that this idea is portrayed throughout the movie is through the relationship between Gloria (America Ferrera) and Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). Gloria and Sashas’ relationship at the beginning of the movie shows that they aren’t very close any more. This gap in their relationship is meant to symbolize how Sasha was growing up, and Gloria needed to learn how to accept that. Adding in details like that make the movie as a whole very emotional, and while most people entered the movie expecting a fun, lighthearted film, a majority of people left the cinema in tears.
While the movie does have some haters, you would never be able to tell with how well it did upon release. The movie grossed $70.5 million on opening night alone and $155 million on opening weekend as a whole, making it the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman. And this is an accomplishment that would make both Ruth Handler, and Barbie herself, very proud.