Note: This article contains serious spoilers

Recently, the new word "Barbenheimer" (Barbenheimer) has repeatedly rushed to the trend list of Western social media. The so-called "Bapenheimer" refers to the two films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer‎" which will be released simultaneously in North America and other places starting from July 21. Coupled with "Mission: Impossible 7" released the previous week, the three blockbusters will join forces to bring the biggest carnival of Hollywood movies in 2023.

This time, audiences in mainland China are no longer just greedy. Unlike the "habitual" absence of Hollywood blockbusters in July and August in previous years, both "Mission Impossible 7" and "Barbie" were introduced and released simultaneously, and "Oppenheimer" will also be finalized soon. However, "Barbie", which was officially released this Friday, has very little film schedule. Many netizens on Weibo lamented that they couldn't find a place to watch it; and referring to Douban's score of 8.9 points, this work really deserves a more tolerant treatment by the market.

Barbie Poster

As the name suggests, the protagonist of the movie "Barbie" is Barbie doll. Developed by Ruth Handler and named after her daughter Barbara, the doll was launched by the American toy company Mattel in 1959. Since its birth, Barbie has been loved by countless children all over the world; in its 64-year history, it has derived images of various appearances, identities and occupations, and has formed a huge Barbie toy industry chain with her boyfriend Ken and a group of relatives and friends.

For a long time, Barbie has always occupied the leading position of Mattel's toy sales. However, after entering the new millennium, Barbie’s sales have plummeted all the way. On the one hand, it is due to the rise of video games and Disney and other derivative products backed by film and television IP;

However, over the years, Mattel has actually been seeking breakthroughs in diversification, from the most typical blond Barbie to Barbies with various skin and hair colors, from nurses, flight attendant Barbies to astronaut Barbies. Mattel even launched a Down syndrome Barbie this year.

Barbie with Down syndrome launched this year

It is against such a background that when the news of the live-action film "Barbie" project came out, many people thought that it would not be just a film for small audiences, not to mention that the director was Greta Gerwig (Greta Gerwig) who had filmed "Little Women" and "Miss Bird".

Margot Robbie as Barbie

The storyline of the movie "Barbie" is actually very simple. The classic image Barbie played by Margot Robbie lives in a pink Barbie Paradise. She is not interested in Ken (Ryan Gosling), who is pursuing the beach surfing image, and is more keen on organizing parties with her sisters.

Ryan Gosling as Ken

However, such a life with pink bubbles suddenly changed, and she couldn't help but think about the issue of death, and the heels that had been padded all along were able to touch the ground. For this reason, she had to go to the real world where human beings live to find the reason, and Ken insisted on going with her. As a result, in the real world, Barbie found that she was not liked by young girls at all, and was chased and intercepted by Mattel. Finally, she returned to Barbie Paradise with her human master Gloria, but found that the blackened Ken had completely changed the park. Therefore, the heavy responsibility of setting things right naturally fell on Barbie's shoulders.

Choose pink high heels, or Birkenstock slippers?

There is no doubt that Barbie is a feminist film, and a feminist film at the right time. Through the difference between Barbie's treatment in the paradise and the real world, it punctures many current feminist illusions, such as the so-called gender equality, which is often just a tool for capital to make money or cover their mouths. The nature of the patriarchal society has not changed.

It is worth affirming that director Greta Gerwig did not present her views and opinions in a didactic way, but instead turned them into black humorous plots, which also increased the entertainment of the film. For example, all members of the board of directors of Mattel, which produced Barbie, are all men. Of course, this also depends on Mattel, one of the producers, daring to blackmail himself-in fact, Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s executive vice president and head of Barbie’s global business, is a woman.

The portrayal of Barbie and Ken in the film is also inseparable from the theme of the film. Especially the role of Ken is by no means a vase role for funny. It is precisely because of his existence that many problems become clear at a glance. In the film, Barbie and Ken each experience two awakenings.

The position of Ken as a man in Barbie Land is like the projection of Barbie as a woman in the real world. In Barbie Paradise, everything is built around Barbies. They all live in beautiful big houses, and their lives are arranged properly from the moment they open their eyes every morning. However, no one knows what Ken is doing after leaving Barbie, and no one cares about where Ken lives, because they are just supporting roles in this paradise, and they only exist for the protagonist Barbie, "Barbie is omnipotent, and Ken is just Ken".

However, when he came to the real world, Ken seemed to have opened his eyes, and immediately realized that men can become the masters of the world just because of their gender—even though Ken does not have male genitals. So, after returning to Barbie Paradise, he brainwashed the residents with such thoughts and successfully turned Barbie Paradise into Ken's Castle Paradise.

barbie and ken in the real world

After that, his second awakening has the meaning of sublimating the theme of the film. After the Barbies retake control of the park, he confesses that he doesn't like being the leader and doesn't know who he really is. That is to say, in the patriarchy, even men with vested interests are not necessarily happy. When the skewed gender balance is balanced, men can also seek true self-identity without burden.

So far, the theme of the film has actually surpassed feminism and has risen to the category of existentialism with a wider coverage. Therefore, "Barbie" is not a movie that excludes male audiences, let alone a movie that uses male audiences as imaginary enemies.

When it comes to Barbie, she does not know herself through subjective initiative like Ken, but relies on external stimuli, or Girls help girls. In the real world, she first realized through the statements of the younger generation that she was an accomplice to the objectification of women, thus completing her first awakening.

Seeing that the paradise has changed from what it used to be, she was shocked. Thanks to the words of the former owner Gloria, she was reminded of the real situation of women:

"We had to be impeccable at all times, but things didn't work out and we kept making the same mistakes.

You must be thin, but not too thin; you cannot say that you want to be thin, you have to say that it is for your health, so you have to force yourself to be thin.

You want money, but you can't ask for money, otherwise it's vulgar.

You have to climb, but you can't play tricks; you have to be a leader, but you can't suppress other people's ideas.

You have to love being a mom, but not talk about the kids.

You have to have your own business, but at the same time you have to take good care of the people around you.

If a man does something absurd, it's a woman's problem, which is outrageous; but if you show it to the public, they call you a jerk.

You have to be beautiful for men, but not too much, and you can't let men have unreasonable thoughts; or make women feel a sense of crisis, because if you want to fit into the women's circle, you must not be too prominent.

You have to be grateful, but don't forget that the system is rigged and you have to find a way to accept it and be grateful at the same time.

You can never grow old, you can never lose your temper, you can never show off, you can never be selfish, you can never be depressed, you can't fail, you can't be timid, you can never go against the grain.

It's so difficult, full of contradictions, and there's absolutely no one rewarding you or thanking you.

In the end, not only are you doing everything wrong, but you are responsible for all the mistakes. "

Although the above long speech may sound like a slogan, such a slogan that can empathize with women is probably not common in today's movies.

The awakened Barbies began to seek change.

The biggest surprise was at the end of the film, when Barbie, who thought she had chosen to transform from a doll into a human, was going to interview for a job, but as she had no reproductive organs, she mustered up the courage to make an appointment with an obstetrician. This plot design is nothing more than a slap in the face of those extreme feminists who expelled married women with children from "female registration".

While expressing the theme unscrupulously, "Barbie" also achieved a high degree of unity of form and content. Barbie's various costumes, various Barbies appearing in turn, and the houses and accessories in the park are scaled up in proportion, all of which fully demonstrate the characteristics of this classic toy, perfectly restoring and connecting the development history of toy Barbie. Therefore, for young audiences, this movie will not disappoint them either. It can be said that it has truly achieved both education and entertainment-gender equality starts from the doll.

Barbieland in the film