The film “Barbie”, Learning to Balance Femininity and Masculinity for Mutual Respect
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the movie Barbie..
The Barbie film is a nostalgic film with a simple theme that has a deep meaning for the audience
Yes, the Barbie film, which premiered in Indonesia on July 19, 2023, is one of the author’s favorite films this year. What makes the writer feel that the Barbie film, which is synonymous with women’s favorites, is interesting? Let’s talk about its uniqueness!
When I first saw the promotion of this film, the writer didn’t feel interested in watching it because it seemed like he could already guess what it contained. The writer’s vision at that time was a story that contained a lot of elements of nostalgia for the audience, especially you women. Barbie is a major franchise in the world of female toy dolls. When I was little, even the writer who was a man had it. That’s because at that time there was a sister who also played it, not bought it because of the author’s own wishes. Starting from the cover filled with pink to the camera angles that are made as if they are in the world of Barbie coverage, the writer was not interested at first. However, all that changed when the author accidentally hit the top search on Google at that time. When the screen opens, the entire Google page is full of decorations and pink. What the writer was thinking at that time was why Google was so enthusiastic about supporting Barbie movies that it changed the appearance of their page? This has never been found by writers in other films.
Departing from there, the writer tried to visit a cinema in Malang. Unexpectedly, the decoration of one of the new cinemas in Malang also decorated its main room with all-pink decorations, just like being in Barbie’s world. There are lots of photo booths that surround the main hall area of the cinema, in the corners of the room there are merchandise that can be purchased by the audience that day. For a moment the writer thinks, it seems that the euphoria from this film is so great, after the writer has searched for what euphoria is in European countries, the euphoria is so great. That reason makes the writer want to see what the film is like. After entering the viewing studio area, the author is presented with an eye-catching first impression, where there is a beautiful expanse of Barbie’s world followed by the beginning of a story that is ridiculous but interesting to watch.
Interesting Movie
Broadly speaking, this Barbie film does not only spoil the audience’s eyes for nostalgia. Rather than that, the writer feels that the main highlight of the film is the message the film director wants to convey through the scenes in the film. Unbeknownst to the writer, what used to be a nostalgic film turned into a philosophical film which in the end audiences of all ages can be spoiled.
Maybe some small children will be happy with the humorous story and setting of the place which is so “Barbie-like”, for adults it is felt that the film presents a whole story that is deep and contains a special message.
Barbie World Stories
There is an incident where Barbie and Ken (Barbie’s friend’s boy doll) come to the human world to meet with the player himself to restore Barbie’s bad state. In the human world when Barbie and Ken split up to find clues, Barbie found her player and the company she was created for, Mattel.
Meanwhile, Ken was running around because he was interested in what was happening in the real world, masculinity was everywhere, he felt that he needed to bring masculinity in the real world to the Barbie world where Kens were always extras. Several conflicts occur in the film between Barbie and Mattel in the real world and Ken in the Barbie world. The Mattel company is trying to reset Barbie by putting it in a ready-to-sell Barbie box. Meanwhile, Ken is trying to make the feminine world of Barbie into a masculine Ken world. When Barbie returns for the first time to the Barbie world from the real world. Ken has changed the balance in the world of Barbie a lot. Ken tries to realize what he wants, to make the world ruled by men. Yes, as it happens in this world, Ken is very interested in that.
There was a conflict that made Barbie very sad and had a mental breakdown. However, her friends encourage her to turn things around and return Barbie’s world to the way it was before. Thanks to the help of her new friend, Gloria, who is a player and owner of Barbie in the real world, they manipulate the Kens which ends in a coup from Ken’s world “Kendom”. What Barbie does is accept Ken as Ken himself, not Ken as a doll who has a way of life to be Barbie’s partner. Ken is always confused because he has always been Barbie’s second-in-command figure. From the viewer’s point of view, this film provides an introduction to what femininity and masculinity are, and unites the two to understand each other and accept what is inherent in the world.
Men have their own role in the world while women also have their role in the world. Both parties can accept and help each other. One of the things that makes it interesting is that the film makes us aware of what it’s like to be a woman, which this world rarely explains. The real world is very thick with masculinity, often underestimating women’s power. However, in this film what the writer feels is peace.
