“It is literally impossible to be a woman,” America Ferrera’s Gloria confessed to her childhood-now-human-sized doll, Barbie, portrayed by Margot Robbie. “We have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”
Since the premiere of the fantasy comedy movie “Barbie” on July 21, discussions have emerged regarding the theme of society’s expectations of women brought on with Greta Gerwig’s direction through Robbie and Ferrera’s character portrayals.
“The Barbie movie was written with a good mix of seriousness and sarcasm,” Kimberly Albers, Art I and Drawing II teacher, said. “It gave a satirical representation of what an extremist might think our culture has come to.”
Gerwig’s creative interpretation of Barbie Land, a place where each Barbie has a place and purpose where she can dress up with her fellow dolls without feeling ashamed or insecure, touches the audience; two-thirds of which were female with 75% of them being under the age of 29 according to The Wrap.
“While I was watching the [Barbie movie], I had flashbacks to playing with the dolls every day,” freshman Rafaela Gomes said. “The movie gave me the message that life is not perfect. It normalizes that we don’t need to be perfect or never make any mistakes.”
Ruth Handler, the fashion doll’s creator, was inspired to create a toy that girls could see themselves through and imagine all the possibilities of their future after her daughter, Barbara Handler, chose to play with paper dolls she could dress up rather than playing pretend as a mother to her baby dolls.
“Barbie allows girls to be themselves,” freshman Cleo Wang said. “They don’t have to feel ashamed for being different or for what makes them, them.”
In Ferrera’s monologue, she highlights the hypocrisy of the expectations of women and their place in society, regardless of their feelings.
“[During her monologue] at the end, I sat there with goosebumps,” Albers said. “[Ferrera] brought to light the impossible expectations [society] puts onto women.”
According to Gerwig, when Ferrera delivered her speech, not only was she crying, but everyone on set as well.
“Living on Earth is not like living in Barbie Land,” Gomes said. “Humans face challenges, go through tough moments, and learn from them, just like Gloria did.”
Robbie comments that her character’s title of “stereotypical Barbie” had its purpose, as it conveys the idea of what society expects of women: to look pretty, put together, and charming all the time. Throughout her journey, Barbie has to break away from that derogatory label to find happiness in her individuality.
“Barbie lets girls be their own spotlight,” Wang said, “giving them the chance to work hard and do their best to earn their own glory.”
Since her creation, Barbie as both the doll and the character has evolved to the point where women who’ve felt inadequate compared to societal standards now are represented in the Barbie-verse.
“[The Barbie movie] has several scenes of Barbies with different lifestyles, occupations, and body types,” Gomes said, “showing that Barbie can be anyone.”
