*Spoilers Ahead
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WHEN BARBIE DROPPED HER first heel
Smack dab in the middle of 2022 the world was bestowed teasers for the Barbie movie, and I was hooked.
For the months following, amidst literal chaos in my life, the Barbie movie was a big motivation to get me to that point. I just needed to make it through the shit that was my midlife crisis past Barbie’s opening weekend. A whole year.
who doesn’t love a good barbie moment?
6 Reasons I was Looking Forward to Barbie
- Ryan Gosling
- Women empowerment
- This was a guaranteed movie to see with the girls
- Nostolgia
- Ryan Gosling. Again.
- Honesty moment: The movie was coming out the weekend of my ex-boyfriend’s birthday. And This was something I was planning to do for myself to get through it.
Not so Basic
Let me tell you, the representation of this movie reached far and wide, into a multiverse of its own. From an all-female Supreme Court, a female black president, and barbies of all sizes and handi-capabilities, Barbie went out of her way to guarantee a Barbie for every girl.
With a beautiful ombre of every shade of pink you can imagine, Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, brought Barbie and her Barbie world alive.
Hands down, this movie was created for female teens all the way to millennials. And honestly, it felt like it was made for the 40-year-old Latina.
latinx influence
Rosa Mexicano/Mexican Pink
Rosa Mexicano has a rich history. From the perfect shade of its color to the creator, and the symbolism of it all.
Color
Mexican pink is its own unique shade of the color pink. It’s bright and saturated, shocking and hot, vibrant and expressive.
Creator
Mexican artist and designer Ramon Valdiosera created the color naming it Rosa Mexicano. Valdiosera showcased Rosa Mexicano at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in 1949. Speaking on that historic moment, Valdiosera shared, “My idea was to adapt the Mexican clothing of our ethnic groups such as huipils, quechequémitl, and fabrics to contemporary fashion“.
Symbolism
Not only has the color Rosa Mexicano been influential and representative of our fabrics and fashion, but it has also been a visual statement of the combination of cultures and indigenous groups of Mexico.
America Ferrera
Celebrated actress, director, producer, and activist, America Ferrera, has been a part of a lot of recent Latinx productions and movements, using her growing popularity to uplift her community. The Barbie movie was no different.
Playing a crucial role alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the “general” Barbie and Ken in Barbieland, America’s character, Gloria, is the main character in the Real World of Barbie’s multiverse.
Capturing a realistic life of the overworked mother in a male dominated corporation in 2023, Gloria comes face to face with her favorite childhood barbie. Gloria, exhausted by the unrealistic societal demands on women in her world and Barbie numb to the robotic emptiness of her world. Both doing their best to navigate their worlds.
barbie’s existential crisis across the multiverse
Blissful Ignorance
In the Real World, the fall of humanity is all around. Meanwhile, in Barbieland, their feminist utopia has remained in its pretty, pretty pristine pink condition. With never-ending pretend resources and feet in a constant slanted tip-toe position, the two universes couldn’t be more opposite from each other.
Until the lightbulb turns on for general Barbie smack dab in the middle of her nightly dance party. Barbie’s life is forever changed from that point as her perfect automated world slowly begins to crumble right in front of her face. From dreading waking up in the morning to the literal downfall of her model high heeled feet falling flat on the ground.
Excited for her adventure of self-discovery, Barbie heads out to the real world where she receives nothing short of a rude awakening. Distraught by her findings, Barbie returns to Barbieland with growing existential dread and now full-blown trauma from the Real World. Add in the takeover of the Kens, Barbie begins to lose her shit too.
Out Now! … Anxiety and Depression Barbie
Throughout her reflective journey, Barbie literally becomes more and more a shadow of her perfect self. Physically giving up face down on the immaculate green grass of Barbieland.
What happened next sent me. Defying the ideals of Barbieland, the tongue in cheek comedy of the Barbie movie cuts to the Real World where Anxiety and Depression Barbie now exist and are available for purchase. And at this point I practically laugh/cried, shamelessly relating to this very moment.
Then, instead of putting each other down or comparing each other, Barbie and Gloria together call out the inequities of their worlds and join forces. It is still a movie after all.
Midlife Awakening
Barbie desperately cries out, “I’m not smart enough to be interesting. I can’t do brain surgery. I’ve never flown a plane. I’m not president. No one on the Supreme Court is me. I’m not good enough for anything.”
To which Gloria responds, “It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough… I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing a woman, then I don’t even know.”
I don’t know about you but those sound like midlife crisis words to me. And you know what, is that a bad thing?! “Midlife crisis” has been yet another societal construct, enclosing us in a box of what is deemed oppositional. When in actuality, we wake up, tired of the rat race we lived for our first 40 years or so. A more accurate and updated term for this season of life should be Midlife Awakening. An, I no longer subscribe to this way of life.
I AM KENOUGH
The fact that a blockbuster movie accurately portrayed the progression of Barbie, manifesting through decades and societal changes, was quite cathartic for me. From patriarchal beginnings, through the various stages of feminism, and the existentialism of many women in today’s society. Barbie is woke and unapologetic for nonconformity and her struggles with mental health.
Barbie was made for me, a 40-year-old Latina. It was made for the teenager, watching it on a Saturday with her mom. It was made for the 20 somethings who can’t get enough of Barbie core. Barbie was made for females of all ages.
As for me, I made it. I made it almost a year through the various stages of a breakup. Heartbreak and self-discovery long winded and very real. All with a little help from, Barbie.
Final takeaway, I am Kenough. If you know, you know. 💗
What are your thoughts on the Barbie movie? Positive or negative, let’s hear it all. Share in the comments below.