'Barbie & Ken'

I have to admit, the first time I watched 'Barbie' back in July, I hated the movie. Almost nothing landed the way I was expecting. The humor fell flat, the jokes were stupid, the villain was overly dramatic—it was everything I didn't like in a movie all at once. However, there were some gut-touching moments that eventually led me to watch it once more. I can see what women are going through; nevertheless, I was shell-shocked that the movie never addressed the expectations men, and especially gays, are under. I guess it's called 'Barbie' for a reason, and after watching it a second time, I was ready almost the whole way to bash it like crazy, but I think I finally got it. It took me a while, but I got it. This wasn't my story, and no matter what I think of some of the choices, I can agree that women are going through a lot. Remind me if I've seen it and forgotten, but is it always men's fault? Somehow, I didn't get the shared blame when it comes to expectations and what one woman can do to another was absolutely forgotten. Even though the film gracefully dismisses fault on one side and cheerfully holds the other accountable, the message is becoming clear, and I can see the point of it. Coming from a course full of people from around the world, I can confirm that even women who do not know better tend to put themselves into a box. I had some male colleagues who firmly believed that women shouldn't work and should stay home and cook and make babies. They were expecting the freedom and democracy to extend the basic privileges they could enjoy, yet they couldn't handle the idea of someone else enjoying those rights as they do. We can tie that back to the movie and discover the way Greta Gerwig changes the places, showing just how much men are in control.

 

Unfortunately, I understand why Margot Robbie is not nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress; here she plays, not the stereotypical, but rather the one-note Barbie. Going back, I can see at least four scenes where she cries; the whole time, she was the wet blanket. I understand that the movie is trying to point out that women and men can be anything without a problem for the other sex, but why so much crying? It was a bit of a downer. Not long ago, I saw 'Poor Things,' where Emma Stone just nailed the emancipation of a character. I completely saw myself in her, while here I was almost left outside of the party. Yeah, not my story. We have to acknowledge that she was the producer behind 'Barbie,' and she deserves all the millions coming her way.

What a lovely thing to nominate Ryan Gosling, whom I thought was terrible the first time. Now I'm feeling him; I mean, I will beach him off anytime. And in contrast with Robbie, he was on every scale like a yo-yo. I often say that I do not like theater very much because the emotions there tend to run at ten, eleven, and even higher, whereas I prefer them to stay at a maximum of seven on the scale. However, his jokes were the only humor that landed (not every time), which is weird, and this movie could be called 'Barbie & Ken' because of his willingness and the way he applied himself to the project. It is a bit weird that the best character in the movie 'Barbie' is Ken, and he is nominated.

I strongly believe the success of this film, as well as the success of 'Oppenheimer', was based more on positioning than anything else. Good for both of them, no matter the reason. I am happy that I finally gave it another chance, and today I saw 'Barbie' for the second time. I almost understood why Ken's song is nominated at the Oscars and why it will be performed there. The song is actually very catchy; in Germany, they call them 'Ohrwurm', which can be translated to 'earworm'. Maybe the third time is the charm, and I will come around to love this story, but for now, I will remain a little bit skeptical about some of the choices, no matter how original they looked.

Iliya Badev