Barbie (2023)

Barbie became a huge movie success in 2023. While my girls aren't huge Barbie fans, they do have a decent amount of Barbies and play with them periodically, so were interested in the movie. In general this would have been a movie that I would not have been interested in at all. However, because of its success it was constantly in the news, being praised for how good it is. Video game and geek news site IGN even named it their movie of the year. The entertainment featured on IGN is typically the same stuff I'm interested in, so with their endorsement, I decided that I would go ahead and watch the movie with my girls as well. The movie stars Margot Robbie, which helped with my decision as well.

The Barbie characters live in the perfect Barbie world, where much like the toy doll, Barbie holds every job title imaginable and women rule the world. Barbie is the president, the construction worker, the doctor...you get the point. This is what the world looks like from their perspective. The funny part about this is that in Barbie's world, Ken is a nobody. He fights with the other Kens for Barbie's attention, and while she is willing to hang out with them, in general couldn't care less about Ken. In a very funny scene, Beach Ken gets into an argument with the other Kens and they try to stage a "beach off". It's such juvenile humor, but even typing this sentence has me laughing thinking about it.

Barbie begins to notice that she is getting cellulite and that her feet are flat. In order to figure out what is going on she must travel to the real world. Here she realizes that women do not hold every position and instead exist primarily in a patriarchy. This is a tough reality check for Barbie. Ken, on the other hand, thrives in the real world and becomes obsessed with horses and macho guy stuff. He returns to the Barbie world and brings his real world machoism with him, becoming somewhat of a villain until the Barbies are able to restore order. 

Despite featuring toys that I have zero interest in, the movie overall was quite enjoyable. Plenty of laugh out loud moments and it has a good overall message. My only complaint is that it becomes a bit slow and sappy at the end. This is minor, however, as the rest of the movie is quite enjoyable. On a side note, I didn't realize Will Ferrell was in the movie until I watched it. Will has been playing the same character for what feels like 20+ years now, the loud and obnoxious adult, and yet somehow it never gets old.