The Editors Love Barbie

Words by Maia Ingoe (she/her) and Francesca Pietkiewicz (they/she)

The Barbie movie was released into the world over a month ago, to fervent anticipation. The marketing (with a budget of $150 million) was unmatched, with brand deals, a soundtrack filled with pop legends, and a trailer that didn’t tell you anything about the plot. A major pop culture and media moment, Barbie catalysed a global conversation responding to the movie. Our TikTok FYPs were filled with videos responding to the movie’s feminism. Not to mention the Fox News-fuelled rage at its‘wokeness’, which seemed very telling about the time we live in. 

Fran:

I went to see Barbie twice, once with a bunch of straight cis men who left the cinema calling each other Ken and begged for a picture in front of the big ‘B’. Then, with my mum who talked through the whole thing, finding meaning within every sparkle.

As an avid Michael Cera lover, Alan brought me particular joy, and I agree with my fellow queers that he is trans-masc coded for sure. I did little teary giggles throughout the whole film. I don’t want to talk about the conservatives that hate Barbie, because they’re just incels, let’s be real—I wanna talk about the gays and girlies that are shitty with Barbie. I think people are judging Barbie too hard. A lot of people seem to think that because it was a film that addressed feminism, it had to be a completely serious critical work of art. C’mon man, it’s a Barbie movie. 

I think Sasha and her other Bratz are a perfect example of this type of energy. The dark, teenage vibe knows how distressing it is that humans have been living unequally for centuries, and despise a pretty, pink marketing scheme that is seemingly trying to fix it all. But that’s the joke, babes. 

Yes, America Ferrera’s speech is very 2014 Tumblr, but unlike us Gen Z outcasts, the Boomers, Gen X, and the straights didn’t pay attention to any of that. I think the Barbie movie is a perfect, light-hearted way to ease the absolute fuckery in this world filled with social constructions, contradictions, and double standards. All of Ferrera’s speech was true. I also love the realness of Barbie choosing reality, and when you think she’s about to girlboss her way to a job interview, she’s just going to the gynaecologist, chefs kiss. 

Let Barbie speak to the Kens of the world. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the cute outfits and sweet moments that remind us of how much we love the AFAB people and women in our lives. 

Maia:

Barbie brought me joy. Unlike those who claimed immediate emotional reactions to that final scene, mine was delayed. I did know I was happy that it was kind, comedic, and poignant. 

To me, the point of Barbie was a critique of Barbie herself. Like many young girls, I played for hours with those dolls at the behest of my mother who rightly thought Barbies gave young girls body image issues. In the movie, Barbie started with good intentions to show how women can be everything, a product of that hectic, never satisfied ‘have it all’ feminism we saw in the generation of women before us. Doing that, Barbie became a hidden tool of the patriarchy, telling girls to aim high, but to do it perfectly. This expectation is what we saw in our mothers’ generation: being caretakers of families whilst spearheading careers and never ageing. The constant juggling: a feeling of never doing enough. 

The final point of Barbie is that you do not have to be perfect, to be enough. You can live a normal life—family, SUV, suburb—and still be enough. If you aren’t an astronaut, it doesn’t make you any less of a person. 

My reaction to Barbie was to reflect on the women before me—the mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. Sneaking that message alongside comedic spoonfuls of sugar doesn’t hurt.