In late July, I happily plopped myself into the lumpiest of cinema seating, surrounded by women of all ages head to toe in pink, giddy and eager to watch their favorite childhood doll come to life as Margot Robbie.
While I wished I could say every person in that theater understood the movie’s message, it’s become apparent since its release that it was widely misconstrued.
“Barbie,” directed by Greta Gerwig, swept box offices with a lifetime gross of $1.4 billion, according to CBS News.
“Barbie” emphasizes that in a man’s world, women are often left unseen and criticizes the reality of gender-based inequality.
The film highlighted women’s hardships in various aspects of life.
Within her first day in the real world, Barbie was sexualized and belittled; to her surprise, this was the norm for any woman outside of the utopian Barbie Land.
It was not a movie about hating men — it was a movie that gave recognition to the unfairness women face.
Barbie Land is a feminist utopia at the beginning of the film.
But as the plot unfolds, it’s revealed that no matter who is in charge, the world is not balanced without leadership from all genders.
Men and women need each other, and no one should be reduced to their gender.
Every individual is unique, capable, and has complicated feelings.
While every movie faces criticism, it shocked me it received so much.
While some viewers gained perspective, others missed its intended message, interpreting scenes one-dimensionally.
In early January, Jo Koy, an American comedian and actor, demonstrated this disparity when he joked “Barbie” was about a doll with “big boobies.”
As a bald middle-aged man, that was a bold move — but shows the importance of the film’s message and reflects how many misunderstood “Barbie.”
Barbie can be anything, and she changes the standard of what a woman is.
As a doctor, a news anchor, and even an astronaut, Barbie is more than a doll with breasts.
Koy minimizing Barbie to her sexual anatomy — although plastic — insulted the film.
In response to Koy’s quip, Gerwig expressed understanding in his joke.
“Well, he’s not wrong,” Gerwig said to BBC Radio 4’s Today. “She’s the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on. And you know, I think that so much of the project of the movie was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll. Barbie by her very construction has no character, no story. She’s there to be projected upon.”
Ryan Gosling’s part of Ken received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for “Barbie.”
Gosling made a statement to CNN stating, “There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no ‘Barbie’ movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film.
“To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,” he said.
America Ferrera, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, also expressed disappointment in the Academy’s decision.
The reality that neither the protagonist nor the director of this feminist masterpiece were recognized for a nomination is upsetting.
Seeing the amount of ignorance of some viewers, it’s quite clear that “Barbie” was widely misunderstood.