Introducing Barbie
The first ever Barbie doll was created in 1959 and has been used as an inspiration and public figure to all women worldwide. Barbie’s purpose is to display how anything and everything is possible. Throughout the Barbie era, she has had many jobs and styles. Barbie also has her boyfriend Ken who raises the bar for everyone.
The Modern Barbie
Recently, Barbie has modified to the times and is spreading a different message to women around the world. She showed that even Barbie, a plastic doll, isn’t perfect. In the newest Barbie movie, Barbie learns that as women we are perfect despite our imperfections. For instance, she realized that she is still beautiful and just as much of a woman even with flat feet, messy hair, or no makeup.
Oscars
In 2024, during the Oscars, many people worldwide were surprised and in disbelief when they realized that the only award given that night to the Barbie movie was only to Ken, AKA Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling agreed that he believed Margot and Greta Gerwig should’ve been the ones to receive a reward, for example when he said, “There is no Ken without Barbie”. Many believed that this was contradicting the whole purpose of Barbie. Along with Ryan Gosling winning the Award, people felt that Jo Koy, a comedian the night of the Oscars, made an inappropriate and sexist comment towards all women. Koy proved to the world what the point of Barbie was made for and that we as people have a long way to go. I think he left an unsettling and uncomfortable mood for the rest of the night.
Our Top Picks
Over the past years, many Barbie movies have been made with different versions of who Barbie is. We wanted to compare how Barbie has differed over time and give our review of these movies.
1.) Barbie: A Fairy Secret
“Barbie: A Fairy Secret”, was released in 2011 and is a well-known Barbie movie to this day. In this movie, Ken (Barbie’s boyfriend) is kidnapped by fairies and Barbie is on a mission to save him. Throughout the movie Barbie and Raquelle reveal that they are fairies too and they travel to “Gloss Angelas” (the fairy world) together. At the beginning of the movie Barbie and Raquelle are enemies but they learn to work together to save Ken and create a touching friendship. I think this movie teaches the watcher about the importance of friendship.
2.) Barbie Life in the Dream House
Within “Barbie Life in a Dream House”, unlike the other barbie films, it was a series of several episodes with different stories within it. In each episode, Barbie goes through different events within their dream house, events such as parties, fashion shows, and even beach trips! Barbie was considered the “It Girl” in Malibu and even represented that women can be and do anything they want similar to Barbie in Life in a Dream House. My only recommendation was to continue on the show and add more episodes rather than just cutting it short.
3.) The Barbie Movie
The Barbie Movie, AKA the newest Barbie production, was a movie that represented Modern Barbie. In the movie, Barbie experiences and realizes that she IS perfect including all of the flaws she has. Just because she had flat feet and messy hair, she was still beautiful inside and out. The movie expresses that women are who they want to be and not what others wish for them to be. Overall the message of Barbie was amazing and hit thousands of people’s hearts around the world.
Overall
Overall, all of the movies/shows were spectacular and meaningful. They were all well-made and educated people on the importance of friendship, self-love, and independence. However, our top picks of all the Barbie films and productions were “Barbie life in the DreamHouse”, “Barbie A Fairy Secret”, and the newest modern “Barbie”.
