Barbie was a highly anticipated movie that was released in July of 2023. Many people were excited to see their favorite childhood characters come to life. And the majority were overly thrilled with the result of Barbie. However, I didn’t think the movie deserved that much attention and praise.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and all of the other actors, but I feel like this movie wasn’t pushed to its full potential. The only things that I liked about it were seeing the famous pink cowgirl outfit and being able to watch the cool choreographies. The rest of the movie was below par. It felt like the whole thing was about gender stereotypes and nothing else. I know that there was some meaning other than roasting past gender stereotypes, but that was all my brain could focus on.
I went into the movie expecting to see a cute movie about Barbies and their daily adventures, almost like the old animated Barbie movies. This is because I was seeing cute pink outfits all over TikTok, along with the cute trailer. However, that was not the case. It’s safe to say that I was shocked when I watched the movie. The movie wasn’t happy or joyful. It was a sad movie with way too much emotion for me. At one moment everyone is happy and living in a “perfect world”, then the next moment, everything gets ruined and their “perfect world” is no more. Then they worked to fix it, had a few crying fests and pep talks, and everything was back to normal? It just didn’t make any sense to me. It went from happy to sad then happy again, basically giving viewers second-hand emotional whiplash.
In a way, Barbie brought people together. Families dressed up in all pink and went together, possibly strengthening family bonds, and creating fun memories. Not to mention, the movie also taught children the true importance of recognizing and appreciating the work their mothers do for them. It also brought communities closer together. Barbie really made people think about what we have done wrong in society, and what we can improve on. It is important to remember that there will always be room for improvement which is exactly what this movie showcased.
I talked to my peers and asked them what they thought. The feedback I received was not positive. They didn’t believe it deserved the hype, and that the movie was nothing like the trailer which I fully agree with. The trailer made the movie seem so much more upbeat, and it made me think that the movie would have many similarities to the animated Barbie movies.
So, if you haven’t seen Barbie, and you are wondering if it is truly worth your money, I would recommend saving your money for a better movie such as Disney’s Haunted Mansion. But to each their own.