Generally, when I watch a woman-centric movie, I am accompanied by this melancholy that stems from knowing a lot of people won’t watch it because it’s “talking about a cause I don’t relate with” or “I’m not the right audience” or “how many times will they say the same thing, we know things have to change” or some equally banal excuse. None of us realize what this says about how deeply conditioned we have become to not take women’s voices seriously.
I saw Barbie recently and for once, I didn’t feel melancholic. I didn’t want to take to Twitter and say I hope everyone sees this movie. I hope they understand how deeply entrenched patriarchy has become that most of the time, we don’t even notice it. Like not wanting to watch it because of all the pink in the movie.
The melancholy may be missing but I do wish that everyone would watch this movie. I want all of us to see this conditioning that makes us believe that we’re somehow less, not enough, because someone, centuries ago, decided the roles that people must play. And we have been stuck in that game ever since.
I kept away from all trailers of Barbie because I have come to loathe trailers and blurbs. They either give too much away or misrepresent what the content contains. I’m so glad I did because the movie is spectacular.
Barbie, in my opinion, is about anyone who feels they’re trapped inside a box, looking at the world from behind a protective sheet. It’s for anyone who wants to leave the path that they think is right for them, and to find a path that is their own. It’s for anyone who wants to quieten the noise outside so they can hear the voice inside.
I have now seen 3 of Greta Gerwig’s movies: Lady Bird, Little Women and Barbie. In all 3, she makes you question your own conditioning. In Barbie, she uses humour to show you, in as little as 2 hours, how much attention we give to the wrong things – roles, what will people say, my own cage of self which I think defines me and therefore I must never walk out of it, clothes, colours and our sense of entitlement that the world should bow before us.
Clothes was perhaps my most favourite troupe from the movie. When we begin in Barbieland, Barbie and Ken don’t pay attention to what they’re wearing beyond “these are clothes.” Ken is wearing pastels and Barbie is wearing hot leotards. Then they reach the real world. Barbie must cover up because she feels unsafe and Ken starts choosing colours and patterns that are manlier.
I won’t tell you what happens next because its worth watching on a big screen. Right from the dance off to a boardroom filled with men, every frame has been carefully crafted and executed. And honestly, you will get over the whole pink and glitter quite quickly. Its only later you realize how smart Greta Gerwig is because she uses this colour to relax you into a false sense of security before snapping her trap and teaching you a thing or two.
I will leave you with this dialogue from Barbie which I’m recreating from memory so it may not be completely accurate,
“I don’t want to be an idea. I want to be the one doing the imagining.”
Have you seen the movie? What were your thoughts?
tales of Suchita 
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