Barbie - Plastic Individuality
Thoughts On: Barbie (2023)
Barbie's life and world crumbles when reality begins to seep into it.
I don't know why I was under the impression that this was a musical. But, that said, Barbie was surprisingly compelling. Its humour is certainly what drives it with its primary point of exploration being the notion of plasticity itself. It deals with a character moulded and yet variable; Barbie, accessorizeable. Her conundrum, as is the conundrum of the world she exists in, is one of individuality. It is her engagement of reality - the movement through and away from the realm of ideas and ideology - that presents her individuality to herself. Her discovery of self is a discovery of misery, and the imperfection of stories and ideas themselves. Her task is one of standing up before the ever evolving world - one that is never what she thinks; one that is never what anyone thinks it is - to stand on her own plasticity; i.e, her ability to change as the world around her does. For this, I really enjoyed Barbie (but also low-key would be more interested in a Ken movie that delves deeper into what it means to discover one's self than this does). With that said, I found the ending slightly abrupt - and so therefore not very affective, more a statement - with most characters left unexplored and unchallenged. But this is perhaps fitting with the final statement being one of accepting the ordinary. In short, Barbie starts a journey of self-direction and self-investigation that we long anticipate with the conclusion. But, there is a minor fascinating affirmation slid within this ending. The real idol of this film in my view appears to be the father figure we never get to spend any time with. While mother, daughter, Barbie and Ken spiral with no direction, only to look down to find their feet - or rather their genitals - in the end of their story, it is the father that is always all right: self-directed and benevolently unproblematised, he is simply trying to learn a language to better communicate with his family: a model character of the quotidian for all within. A smart film that is not as articulate as it could be if it strived to have a little more heart, Barbie was a fun watch.
