On the 21st of July 2023, I went to see Barbie the way God (Greta Gerwig) intended: alongside four of my closest female friends and dressed in pink. One hour and fifty minutes later, I emerged from the cinema with a need to discuss the way the film had impacted me with the same urgency and excitement as men talking about their first time taking LSD. I’d like to discuss that impact here.
As someone who’s always been a loud and proud feminist, with no difficulty communicating my dissatisfaction with the patriarchal society around me, I was shocked by how deeply the Barbie movie resonated with me. Gerwig’s film verbalises thoughts and ideas that, until that point, I hadn’t even realised I’d been unable to articulate. At the same time, I felt like I was watching the discussions I’d had with my mother, my friends, and other women in my life be replicated onscreen – albeit in a colour palette so bright I did actually leave the cinema experiencing what I imagine psychedelic users feel after returning to the drab colours of the real world.
In her script, Gerwig nails the ironic and self-effacing tone in which women often discuss their experiences with the patriarchy amongst friends. I was recently discussing that in conversations surrounding female mental health women often package their comments in these two tones. Whereas men are more likely to discuss their emotions with complete sincerity, placing great weight on their adversities. In contrast to women, who experience them so frequently that brushing them off is practically second nature. For me, the point I’d been trying to make was perfectly symbolised by the earnestness of Ken and the emotional torment he puts himself through, which could honestly just be solved by a smidge of introspection. Yet what is exhausting, if not slightly amusing, is the failure of many to understand that – evident from the fact that Oscar nomination talk is already spreading about Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of the character – whilst the film may be taking a male-dominated Hollywood to war, said industry hasn’t got the message that the ‘enlightenment’ Ken experiences at the end of the film is a piss-take, stemming from his own emotional immaturity, but that’s for another article.
I expected to laugh at the film, which I did many times, but I didn’t expect to cry. A lot. (Note to the reader: I am not a movie crier. The last time I cried at a film was two years ago and crying multiple times in one film is pretty much unfathomable). In the end, I turned to my best friend to deliver my confession in a slightly abashed tone, but when she looked at me I could see the tear tracks running down her cheeks as well. We’d both sat there slightly sobbing for twenty minutes without saying a word because we were embarrassed that we’d cried at a film produced by Mattel. I left the cinema having experienced the level of catharsis I believe Aristotle was talking about audiences experiencing after watching a Greek tragedy; attested to by the completely silent train journey home.
Overall, Greta Gerwig and her amazing cast perfectly encapsulate the frustrations and complexities of womanhood. Whilst I don’t think the patriarchy will be ending anytime soon, I can safely say I’m going to ram my experience of watching Barbie down every man I know’s throat until maybe a few of them are convinced to go and watch it. And maybe they can learn a thing or two.
[Severine Bernard, she/her]
Instagram: @eviebernard
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