Let's Look at One Way Plastic has Changed the World

2023's Barbie has a notoriously pink palette but, spiritually, I'd say it's more of a taupe. It's a bland, neutral colour, lacking any true inventiveness. I was honestly surprised by how lifeless it is.

I think the main problem is there are too many layers of concept. I found myself comparing it to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. One reason Roger Rabbit worked is because it started with a fairly simple prompt; zany cartoon world meets film noir world. In Barbie, there's the magical Barbie World, which is apparently based on real world girls playing with Barbies (despite the film's ostensibly progressive politcs, no boys are portrayed playing with Barbies), and then there's wacky comedy world with doofusy Will Farrell as CEO of Mattel.

He's so dumb, he doesn't know how to work a turnstyle, but the movie is also presenting itself as a commentary on real world patriarchy. People have pointed out that, despite what the film shows, Mattel actually does have women on its board of directors. I suppose Mattel, which produced the film, wouldn't have liked a too accurate portrayal of themselves. But the real world is otherwise portrayed as unrealistic, with the denizens of Venice Beach catcalling Barbie and Ken like people from a 1980s SNL sketch.

A lot of the gags feel like well-trodden territory as Barbie and Ken have been satirised so many times by so many people at this point. The main feature seems to be that it's material is restrained by the currently popular morality. Margot Robbie, despite being perfect casting as the original Barbie, is referred to as "Stereotypical Barbie". I suppose "Typical Barbie", while more accurate, seemed too positive, but it's not like Mattel is labelling their toys "Stereotypical". There's a basic false logic at play in the mechanics of this, and many other, jokes that ensure they'll only be funny to people who are mentally living in a particular reality.

Even in terms of design and choreography, there's nothing much that pops about the film. Costumes resemble real Barbie clothes but not in any strikingly creative way. I suspect the film might have worked better with Barbie World portrayed in stop motion or even cgi.

The film concludes with the idea that a new, realistically ordinary Barbie, with depression and cellulite, would sell better than any current model. Someone needs to show Greta Gerwig Sullivan's Travels.

Barbie is available on Max.