This Plot Should Have Been Cut From 'Barbie' (original) (raw)
Updated Dec 18, 2023, 10:15 PM EST
Marco Vito Oddo is a writer, journalist, and amateur game designer. Passionate about superhero comic books, horror films, and indie games, he formally worked as a Senior Writer for Collider. When he's not working, Marco Vito is gaming, spending time with his dog, or writing fiction.
Summary
- Barbie explores Barbie as a feminist icon, but the subplot with Mattel's executives feels irrelevant and undermines the movie's message.
- The movie can't decide if Mattel is a villain or a hero, leading to a disjointed portrayal of the company's stance on feminism.
- Mattel's all-male board of directors remains unchanged, contradicting the movie's message of fighting patriarchy and promoting women's empowerment.
Greta Gerwig's Barbie is a nearly perfect cinematic experience. The movie delves into the idea of Barbie as a feminist icon while still being critical of the doll’s complicated history in a fun storyline filled with music and eye-popping dancing numbers. Even if Barbie doesn’t give its political themes the depth they need, the movie crushed box office expectations and spread an important message to millions of moviegoers. However, one of Barbie’s storylines sticks out like a sore thumb. That’s because _Barbie_’s version of Mattel’s executives gets in the way of the story and undermines the movie’s supposed happy ending.
Release Date
July 21, 2023
Runtime
114 minutes
Director
A beloved doll, known for her perfect life in an idyllic, colorful world, finds herself on an unexpected journey when she starts to feel out of place. Seeking answers, she leaves her fantastical home and steps into the real world, where she experiences the highs and lows of human life. With the help of new friends, she navigates the challenges of identity and purpose, discovering the importance of authenticity and inner strength.
Mattel’s Executives Don’t Affect 'Barbie's Story
The first reason the Mattel plot doesn’t fit well in Barbie is how irrelevant the executives are to the story. To be perfectly clear, Will Ferrell is a national treasure who squeezes every drop of fun from any role he’s given. Still, as the CEO of Mattel, Ferrell doesn’t have a single scene where he helps set the course of Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) journey.
The board of directors of Mattel is introduced to show Barbie how even a company that makes millions of dollars selling hope to young girls is still controlled by men. After that, for some reason, the entire board of directors decides to go to Barbie Land to stop Ken’s (Ryan Gosling) coup. Anyone would expect Ferrell’s character would have some part to play in the third arc when Barbie confronts Ken about the dangers of patriarchy. Yet, Mattel’s executives arrive at the scene once the conflict has been resolved, only to give their verbal support. That’s after we spent a long time following Ferrell chasing Barbie on the streets and making the magic roller trip to Barbie Land. It’s a weird subplot with a lot of buildup for no payoff, and that only gets more disjointed when we realize it hurts the movie’s message.
'Barbie' Can’t Decide if Mattel Is a Villain or a Hero
If Mattel’s board of directors were only useless in Barbie, that would already be an issue. That’s because there’s only so much Gerwig can fit in a two-hour movie, and all the time wasted on something irrelevant could be better used to give brilliant side characters more opportunities to shine. Yet, the Mattel subplot gets worse when we realize the movie couldn’t decide if the company would be portrayed as a villain or a hero.
When we first see the board of directors at Mattel’s headquarters, Barbie underlines how the company represents everything wrong in a patriarchal society. Despite working to create and sell toys for young girls, there’s not even a single woman in a position of power at Mattel. Even worse, once Barbie comments on this fact, Ferrell’s character gets offended by the insinuation that the company doesn’t value women. After all, Mattel had two women in a position of power during its history, one of whom they can’t even remember the name of. Barbie is making fun at the expense of Mattel and exposing the company’s hypocrisy, which is bold.
Nevertheless, the role of Mattel’s board of directors changes once Ken takes patriarchy to Barbie Land. In Gerwig’s fantastic universe, there’s a direct connection between the fantasy world and what happens in reality. So, Ken’s coup leads to the distribution of bizarre toys like the Mojo Dojo Casa House. Realizing Ken is destroying Barbie Land, Ferrell’s CEO convinces the other directors to fight to save the dolls. He makes this decision even after being informed that the Mojo Dojo Casa House is a commercial success because, as Ferrell's CEO puts it, he’s not in the industry for money alone, as girls’ dreams must be protected. That’s a 180 degrees heel turn that drops the self-depreciative humor and tries to paint Mattel as a company that likes feminism more than money. That is unbelievable, considering the board of directors’ first encounter with Barbie.
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The dissonance in Mattel’s depiction only gets more evident in the third arc, when Gloria (America Ferrera) suggests the company releases an “Ordinary Barbie” to show women that being themselves is enough. Ferrell’s CEO quickly dismisses the idea as awful before being informed that the doll would actually sell well. Suddenly, he changes his mind and advocates for the “Ordinary Barbie” production. So, what is it? Are they greedy patriarchal capitalists or people who want to support Barbie's feminist agenda? The movie doesn’t tell the audience, alternating between the two poles instead of tackling the issue in all its nuances and complexities.
If Mattel Is Only Men, Then That’s Not a Happy Ending
The main reason the Mattel subplot doesn’t belong in Barbie is how the board of directors remains unchanged when the credits roll. There’s a whole discussion about how women should fight the patriarchy and men should stop measuring their worth by how oppressive they can be. It's a beautiful message that underlines how sexism harms both women and men, and everybody should be united to create a world where everyone can feel safe. In the case of reality, that means giving women more positions of power and letting them speak for themselves. However, despite that, Mattel keeps its male-exclusive board of directors.
This decision is more baffling because Barbie had the perfect opportunity to change Mattel’s board of directors by promoting Gloria, who clearly loved the line of dolls and knew the business. A competent woman was standing right there, ready to take charge. Still, at the end of Barbie, the men at Mattel are good guys, and things don’t really need to change with the company as long as Barbie Land is preserved. That goes against what the movie preaches, especially after forcing the titular doll to realize that being a feminist symbol doesn’t mean she improved reality for women.
You can’t have a movie taking a stance against patriarchy and then just give a patriarchal structure a pass because they are the good guys. If Barbie had more time to deal with everything it tries to do, maybe the Mattel plot could have worked. Unfortunately, as it is, this plot drags the movie down.
Barbie is now available to stream on Max.