By Jeremy Katz, Montclair State University

Hollywood has been a hub for intellectual property, (IPs), like Marvel, Harry Potter, and Super Mario, has been able to really shine to audiences up on the big screen.
When Warner Brothers announced that they were going to put a Barbie film in development, opinions were divided to see how they planned to pull it off, as female-led IP films were yet to truly transcend the box office.
However, no one could have ever guessed or imagined the impact that the Barbie movie would have on both the industry and global level becoming a beaming light for women, feminism, and societal expectations as well as the world of filmmaking.
Taking Big Swings For The Barbie Brand
Barbie was set to be directed by Greta Gerwig, a director praised for her previous films including Lady Bird and Little Women, and the important character studies embedded within them.
It was released in July of 2023, starring Margot Robbie as Stereotypical Barbie, one of many Barbies and Kens who live in Barbie Land. Barbie Land was constructed as a society (or world) where women are looked up to, particularly the Barbies by the Kens, preaching happiness and fitting into a certain mold day in and day out.
The shift in this seemingly perfect society begins when Stereotypical Barbie starts to look at her everyday life and questions her purpose. She starts realizing she is less than perfect compared to the rest of the Barbies and Kens. This leads to her journey to the real world, where along with Ken, Barbie will find the girl who played with her as the way back to feeling like her normal Barbie self. Barbie meets Gloria and her teenage daughter Sasha and discovers that Gloria caused Barbie’s crisis when she decided to play with Sasha’s old Barbies.
During all of this, Ken thrives in the real world and learns incorrectly about patriarchy and he ventures on back to Barbie Land to share his findings with the other Kens. When Barbie returns to Barbie Land with Gloria and Sasha, the Barbies have been stripped of their dominance in the world and the Kens have created a new regime where the men feel superior while making the Barbies brainwashed into taking on roles such as girlfriends, housewives, etc. Gloria helps Barbie use real-world knowledge to de-brainwash the other Barbies and restore Barbie Land to its original ways while making sure the Kens feel involved and important too.
Barbie, however, feels that she can never go back to her old life and meets with the spirit of Ruth Handler, the creator of the Barbie dolls, where she learns that she commands her own story and can transcend anything that was placed on her as a label. Barbie returns to the human world and becomes human, embarking on her own journey of life.
Rather than playing it safe and creating a story that would feel conventional and like a buddy cop movie between Barbie and Ken, Greta Gerwig and Warner Brothers used their hefty responsibility with this movie in the greatest way possible.
They created a film that pushes the traditional shape most blockbuster movies take by allowing for their film to have expert messaging that feels necessary to both the film itself and the audience viewing it. Taking these risks seemed worth it to be sure that the studio put out an authentic film that had something to say, whether the audience reciprocated those feelings or not.
Barbie Transcends The Expectations
With so many questions in the air about what type of movie this would be, Barbie burst into theaters alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer creating an epic double-feature that took social media by storm. The film came flooding out of the gates and was a critical and financial success, amassing over 1.4 billion dollars at the global box office, putting it in the top 15 highest-grossing films of all time.
The outpouring of support for the film was never expected to be this high, as a female-led blockbuster film had never seen numbers like this. It was the talk of the town for the summer of 2023, yet was not able to find the same fortune when it came to awards season.
Barbie gathered eight total Oscar nominations but came up short with only winning one award for Best Original Song with Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For”. Nevertheless, the film will always be remembered for transcending the world’s expectations and creating valuable conversations along the way.
Creating Conversation: How Barbie Challenged Hollywood’s Mold
Most films that do as fantastically as Barbie did at the box office are often considered blockbuster popcorn flicks where one can go and enjoy the entertainment factor of the films. However, Barbie went beyond entertainment by becoming an agent of true impact.
The film influenced the conversation around the world, demanding a social commentary on feminism and empowerment as a whole. By the conclusion of the film, viewers to understand the importance for all people to have an equal role in society and no one should be marginalized to a stereotypical position in every aspect of life. This was a film that many believed was going to be a silly story about Barbie and Ken navigating an issue in the fictitious Barbie Land when it ultimately became a table topic within many homes about what the world can learn from the commentary the film bolstered.
Barbie was an anomaly in Hollywood in the best way possible, as it advanced the serious issues within society while keeping a heartfelt and fun tone throughout the entire film experience. It brings hope and much desire to the future of female filmmaking and what can be possible for the future of cinema. Becoming both a beacon of hope and a story for the ages, many can learn from the success of Barbie and how just because a film has certain assumptions of what it should be doesn’t mean we as a society should take it for anything less than it truly is.
Shine bright Barbie and continue inspiring the next generation of filmmakers and anyone who wants to make a difference in their respective space.
SOURCES
https://thebluebanner.net/15479/arts-features-2/the-barbie-movies-revolutionary-effect-on-society/
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/the-secret-of-the-barbie-movies-marketing-success