In the Pink

 

Greta Gerwig's Barbie is fun and mostly fantastic

Well, it’s pink. Pinker than the pinkest Pink Panther, carnations or flamingos. They should issue shades on entry to protect us from the eye bruising colour that shines from every pore of this bravura attempt to bring a doll to life. It seems a bizarre conceit but then again why not? For millions of kids Barbie was / is real and they have shared many good times with her. Also the movie is in the hands of Greta Gerwig, a director known for doing good stuff and it stars Margot Robbie whom I have never seen being anything other than great in a variety of different roles. Did I mention it’s pink? 

And also orange, yellow and every other bright colour at least at first. For the first half hour or so we luxuriate in Barbieland where our heroine and her companions, a selection of other Barbies and Kens (plus Alan), live the same day each day.  And they love it. They are aware of the real world but imagine it is just like theirs which is run by Barbies with the Kens very much in second place. Then when Barbie becomes broken (one symptom is that her heels do not automatically remain raised when she removes her shoes!) a trip to that real world to be fixed becomes a road trip with Ken in tow. 

The journey itself is like a surreal pop video as they board assorted modes of cartoon transport to get there. What they find though alters their outlooks considerably. Perky Barbie is increasingly shocked by the different position women have in this world. Docile Ken is inspired with thoughts of `the male patriarchy` as he sees how men control most things though his initial interpretation is something to do with horses! By the time they get back home Ken starts a revolution with the other Kens.

It takes a sense of the absurd and a lot of busy dialogue to make all this work but somehow it largely does. By the way Mattel themselves have presumably been good sports about all this, I cannot imagine any other company allowing such a depiction of their methods in a movie about one of their most beloved creations. The lines between satire and social commentary blur with meta jokes and madcap sequences leaving an end result that seems to be trying to snare all audiences. Not everything lands but when it does it is pin sharp, well observed and will make you smile. The longer the movie lasts the more it tries to be rousing and inspirational but the context is so weird I’m not sure it always hits the target.

There are plenty of great moments.  The Kens’ musical sequence on the beach is a blast and makes me think more song and dance might have made this film even better. The opening  introduction to Barbieworld comes packed with humour, a 2001- A Space Odyssey homage and a wry voiceover from Helen Mirren. The dialogue especially amongst the inhabitants of Barbieworld is clever and amusing. There are also some well taken emotional beats - in one simple scene Barbie sits next to an elderly lady a a bus shelter and tells her she is beautiful which is a lovely subversion of the whole Barbie aesthetic. Its her ability to bring even moments like this life that makes Margot Robbie such a versatile actor.  Later when Barbie has to make a choice there is a montage of life moments that will pierce even the hardest of hearts. 

There's plenty of gender politics too as the Kens' new regime is gloriously superficial while the male board of Mattel seem to move almost as one following Will Ferrell's somewhat hapless CEO. The strongest scene comes when August Ferrera’s character Gloria delivers an impassioned speech about female equality and what it means. Some might say this speech goes on a bit- it is one of the longest addresses in a film I've seen in a while- but the point is that the things the character says are valid even today. I imagine some male viewers may find this scene uncomfortable. 

The cast give it their all. Margot Robbie deftly swerves between comedy and drama with such skill while Ryan Gosling ditches his usual serious method to have fun. There’s also a lot of amusement to be had from Will Ferrell as Mattel’s CEO and Michael Cera as poor Alan. Rhea Perlman also features in a pivotal role as a real life character dipensing wisdom.

Barbie is one of those films you either get or not. Some may find it too garish or ridiculous, others will- as the audience I watched it with- break into spontaneous applause.  However, I don’t think the film is suitable for those kids who play with Barbie as the narrative punctures the pink world with discord and disharmony to make its salient points about the sexes, equality and life. Whether a film about a doll is the best place to make those points I’m not so sure but it is a party worth going to.