A story about a little girls’ doll has somehow become the most political film of the year. That is no easy feat in an industry defined by racial quotas and gratuitous virtue signaling. But despite the best efforts of the Washington commentariat, there is no unified theory of “Barbie.” No matter where you fall on the political spectrum you can find something to love — or hate — in the film.
It’s the BEST DAY EVER! 🤩 #BarbieTheMovie is NOW PLAYING only in theaters! Grab your Barbies and Kens, and cruise over to the big screen now 🚘💕: https://t.co/3WZ1okXdmF pic.twitter.com/uEHlB4tuwN
— Barbie Movie (@barbiethemovie) July 21, 2023
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is undeniably great. An exhilarating combination of surrealism and existentialism, Gerwig world-builds with inimitable aesthetic detail. The result is a film that is wildly entertaining—absurd and brilliant at the same time.
As a cinematic experience, it certainly delivers; the proof is in the record-setting opening weekend. This is doubly impressive given that politics is the driving force of the film, a quality often blamed for depressing ticket sales. However, it begs the question: can art still be considered “great” when the subject is entirely subordinated to politics?
The artistic record of the 20th century would seem to say no. The Soviets and the Nazis — the far left and the far right — both censored the creation of great art in much the same way. The former made art to glorify the revolution, while the latter idealized a mythic Aryan race. In both cases, aesthetics were employed to prop up the ideological foundation of the state’s legitimacy. Innovation and license were suppressed in the name of ideology. Art was not meant to be beautiful or true, but to reflect a political imperative. As such, it became shallow, derivative and ugly.
Now “Barbie” is anything but ugly — but the politics of the film are much more difficult to pin down. Many expected the film to be woke, and it delivered to a large extent. (RELATED: Margot Robbie Reveals Horrible Prank That Made Her Babysitter ‘Run Screaming From The House’)
After a perfect day, Barbie (Margot Robbie, in the role she was born to play) finds herself having “irrepressible thoughts of death.” She leaves Barbie Land — an optimally diverse matriarchy where infinite Barbies oppress their pea-brained Ken counterparts — for Reality, in search of a solution to her malfunction. With Ken by her side, they explore the the so-called patriarchy of modern America. Pursued by the exploitative corporate capitalists at Mattel, Barbie returns to Barbie Land only to discover that the Kens have rebelled in a fit of toxic masculinity. The Barbies must then use their feminine powers to set their world aright.
This is one way to interpret the film, and many on the left praised it in this vein. But “Barbie” is much more complex than that; it can also be viewed with a decidedly conservative slant.
In an alternative telling, the idyllic matriarchy of Barbie Land is actually a satirical representation of what feminists believe a perfect world would like like, while Reality pokes fun at feminists’ belief that they live in a patriarchal hellscape. Ken is quickly disillusioned when he finds that this patriarchy is not all he thought it would be.
While this is a generous stretch, it is not wholly unwarranted. The film echoes many conservative motifs: that wokeness is a cover for cruelty and personal unhappiness; that individualism is preferable to tribalism; and that nihilism is the worst fate any human (or doll) can succumb to. At the end, Barbie chooses to become human, embracing all the complexity that comes with it.
Barbie’s choice to become human is balanced out by her decision to leave Ken. Once Barbie and Ken finally realize that men and women complement each others’ differences, a truly conservative Barbie would have subordinated her quest for atomized self-fulfillment to the higher purpose in life: marriage and family. Yet a truly unhinged feminist Barbie would have reveled in the restoration of Barbie Land and dominated Ken as her “long-term long-distance low-commitment casual” boyfriend.
Barbie really IS just like us. ✨ #BarbieTheMovie pic.twitter.com/M2LwO1a7Tx
— Barbie Movie (@barbiethemovie) July 27, 2023
Since “Barbie” doesn’t take either path, perhaps its artistic value lies in bringing people together. In interpreting the film, left and right are both prompted to make concessions in their world view. Perhaps it is meant to begin a conversation toward compromise here in “reality.”
It appears, however, that Gerwig is only willing to give an inch so that she can take a mile. Her satirical undertones may grant modest concessions to conservative critiques of feminism, but the overarching theme of the film is that patriarchy is a very serious problem indeed. Certain lines give glimpses into the director’s true feelings.
Rebuffed from certain jobs for his lack of credentials, Ken learns that the patriarchy is still thriving, “we’re just better at hiding it.” A critical approach to the civil rights movement, this reflects the idea that all social progress is merely a ploy to perpetuate the status quo. When the Barbies agree to grant Kens a degree of autonomy in Barbie Land, the omnipotent narrator (Helen Mirren) snidely remarks that it will remain calibrated to the gains women have made in the real world since the feminist movement began.
However, the fact remains that patriarchy, especially for the younger generation of women most obsessed with fighting it, is a lie. It is just as much a corporate gimmick as the original Barbie itself. The dreaded wage gap is a myth — it quickly disappears when controlling for other variables. Women overwhelmingly outperform men in educational attainment, while countless initiatives promote the interests of women while assuming men will be just fine on their own. Even on sexual ethics, feminism has called the shots for quite some time.
Gender roles have been all but obliterated in modern America, and no legal, institutional, or cultural barriers exist to prevent women’s achievement. The movie, and all its admittedly wonderful artistry, exists to reproduce a lie that says otherwise. (RELATED: Is Margot Robbie Mid?)
While feminism cannot be morally equated with fascism or communism, it nevertheless views the function of art the same way. Feminism is the ideological currency that upholds the legitimacy of the present woke leviathan. The push to close wage gaps, dream gaps, education and healthcare gaps — all manners of imagined or distorted disparities — is what continually justifies progressive rule. To fight inexorable oppression, nothing short of perpetual revolution will do. All that is good — art, beauty, truth itself —must be subverted to further the ideology.
While “Barbie” is great, it cannot be great art. Knowing it pours the bulk of its creative energy into furthering a lie makes it hard to find much true beauty in it. So grab some popcorn and enjoy your two hour escape from reality — but take all that it has to say with the degree of skepticism it deserves.