Barbie, Blade Runner, And The Future Of Cyberpunk
Is The Barbie Movie Secretly A Sequel To The Matrix?
Note: portions of this article were previously published in Everything You Don’t Know About The Barbie Movie
Note 2: you can watch the video version of this article for free here
In the most subversive movie of my generation, our protagonist wakes to the truth that their deepest dread isn’t just paranoia. Their seemingly idealized world is actually the dystopian creation of a malevolent intelligence harvesting their bodies for resources.
But enough about Barbie — I want to tell you why it’s secretly set in the same cinematic universe as The Matrix.
And Blade Runner.
And The Wizard of Oz.
And 2001: A Space Odyssey.
And —
Who knew Barbie had cyberpunk roots? Maybe the Joi character from Blade Runner 2049 is simply the logical endpoint for Barbie as a product.
NOTE: That’s Ryan Gosling AGAIN in the bottom right corner. Is Blade Runner and replicants also the future for Ken? Did you notice all of these movies are owned by Warner Bros?
And yet in the upcoming Barbie movie, Barbie follows a path mirrored by the replicants in Blade Runner and its sequel. Like those synthesized people, she discovers she is not simply a product. She is not simply a concept. She is a person who knows she deserves more than what men want from her.
Described by Maddie Davis for Comic Book Resources, the trailers for Barbie show off “the titular Mattel doll in her perfect Barbie world.
But, despite the pretty plastic life she was given, Barbie doesn’t feel like she’s supposed to. Her reality doesn’t seem right to her…”
Barbie’s questions about life and death bring fresh challenges — and fresh cracks in her seemingly perfect world. Indeed, things go from weird to Weird (Barbie).
Whereas Barbie begins the story so privileged that she literally floats from her roof to the front seat of her car…
Barbie suddenly gets cold showers, bad haircuts, and — WARNING!!!
Barbie gets flat feet. OMFG.
Barbie’s inner turmoil (and the pleas of her fellow Barbies) lead her to Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie, who presents the movie’s most obtrusive link to The Matrix yet.
As described by Maddie Davis:
The first of these options is for Barbie to remain in her perfect Barbie world with her friends and keep living her manufactured life. This option is aptly represented by a high-heeled shoe, one of Barbie’s many fashion staples.
But another option would change Barbie’s life as she knows it. That is, of course, to enter the real world and experience life among the imperfect human race. Instead of a heel, this option is represented by a Birkenstock, which references real-life fashion styles.
Which will she choose?
The trailer shows Barbie just as hesitant as Neo refusing to make the jump from the office window.
But once Barbie’s version of Morpheus explains what’s at stake, she follows a path strikingly similar to Neo.
In Maddie’s description of the Barbie trailer for CBR, they also gave this description to note just how deeply the story for Barbie parallels the cyberpunk dystopian narrative popularized by the Wachowski siblings.
Neo, played by John Wick’s legendary Keanu Reeves, approaches an all-knowing man named Morpheus to gain some insight into the world around him. Morpheus then gives him a choice between two pills, one red and one blue, that carry drastically different side effects. Taking the blue pill would seemingly have no effect, as Neo would return to his normal life, having his mind altered to the state in which he was oblivious to the Matrix and any illusions throughout his life. On the other hand, the red pill would allow him to fully understand what the Matrix is and what the illusions were hiding about life outside the Matrix. The red pill would make him completely self-aware of the simulation he’s in and, in theory, allow him to escape the manufactured reality.
Fun, huh? But not just fun.
The biggest clue that this might literally be set in the universe of The Matrix doesn’t stand out unless you’re old as **** (like me).
You’d need to be old enough to remember the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.
Will Ferrell: the architect of capitalism and all that is evil
Here’s Will Ferrell as a version of the Architect, a character first introduced in The Matrix: Reloaded as a sentient program who thinks of himself as the father of the Matrix itself (the Oracle is its mother). He played the role in the opening skit for the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.
Now having seen that…take a look at Will Ferrell’s newest role in the Barbie movie as the CEO of Mattel, a corporation dedicated to harvesting anyone who plays with their toys for resources.
Seem familiar?
One early reaction to the film said Will Ferrell may be the movie’s secret weapon.
Will Ferrell hasn’t been this funny in years, he plays a shallow and performative CEO of Mattel.
The same reviewer said we need to look out for another surprise standout appearance from none other than Michael Cera.
Fresh off the Streamberry boat, Michael Cera is ready to cameo (no pun intended) in yet another story about a multiverse gone wild.
Gotta tell ya, though…my most anticipated cameos are John Cena and Dua Lipa as a merman and mermaid (more on those below).
But my most anticipated moment of Barbie is how they’ll transform her character while honoring her legacy.
The hero’s arc doesn’t require Barbie to be “The One”
Just as happened in The Matrix, Barbie’s destiny will not be to embrace the role of her idealized self in Barbie World, nor to embrace the “real” version of a woman people throw at her when she hops into another dimension.
Barbie’s potential includes more than high heels and Birkenstocks. Barbie will discover a third option.
She is not “the one.” There is no “one.” Just as there is no Perfect Woman in the real world, Barbie will face the consequences of accepting the flaws in her perfection and the full impact of her legacy.
(Hopefully by checking out Black Barbie: A Documentary)
Like Neo, Barbie will face true death and potential oblivion, but she will instead choose radical acceptance.
She will choose the reality of her flaws and her significance.
Because both are what empower her to empower herself as much as those who are not copies of her or her form.
PS. Ken gets his own “Matrix” arc too
Fresh off his OTHER role about the validity of synthetic beings and divergent identities in Blade Runner 2049, Ryan Gosling has returned to claim another character about men pursuing authenticity and vulnerability.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ryan Gosling said that just as Barbie is questioning her role in Barbieland, Ken is questioning his.
He is made to worship Barbie, but she is not receptive.
“Ken’s got no money,” Ryan Gosling said, “he’s got no job, he’s got no car, he’s got no house. He’s going through some stuff.”
“That Ken life is even harder than the ‘Gray Man’ life, I think,” Gosling said, referencing his action-filled movie The Gray Man (2022) about a CIA agent on the run.
While I’ve got your attention, please find a screening near you of Black Barbie: A Documentary
In 1959, Barbie was released. Twenty-one years later, Black Barbie hit the shelves.
Beulah Mae Mitchell, who worked on the Mattel assembly line, asked her boss Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie (and rumored to be played by Rhea Pearlman in the Barbie movie): “Why isn’t there a doll that looks like me?”
Today, her niece, filmmaker Lagueria Davis, will tell her story and explore the broader struggle for Black female representation in a world where worthy rarely means Black.
Through examining the history of Barbie, the most iconic girl toy brand of all time, Black Barbie: A Documentary will explore the double standard of femininity and beauty that Black women face. With exclusive access to Beulah Mae Mitchell, the charismatic aunt of the director, the film will take us on a personal journey through her 45-year career at Mattel working on the signature brand, and her impact on the evolving diversity displayed in today’s product line. Historically the toy industry, led predominantly by white men and women, has overlooked the significance of seeing diverse faces mirrored on our shelves, and the lengthy, uphill battles it takes to get them there. Our film will bolster the importance of representation and the necessity to incorporate more inclusive voices into the mainstream.
In a review for Variety titled: ‘Black Barbie’ Review: Witty and Weighty Doc Dives Into the History of the 1980s Doll, film critic and historian Lisa Kennedy writes:
And even more than the adults who fawn over the original Black Barbie doll more than her contemporary descendant Brooklyn Barbie, the children in this segment offers ample insights we’ll want to return to as we head into a summer with director Greta Gerwig’s and star Margot Robbie’s live-action Barbie on the horizon.
Commentary
Now what I really wonder is whether Barbie will investigate what’s under the hood, as they say.
Barbie is famously not proportioned like real women. Ken is not proportioned like real men. Allan is not proportioned like a real Michael Cera.
They don’t even have real genitals.
Once we reclaim Barbie as an icon for all women — including those with trans backgrounds — her gender freaky body can be the best part of her beauty.
She symbolizes perfect femininity without needing to literally be a woman.
She evokes womanhood without needing to literally be anything.
That transcendent quality speaks to why she evokes femininity for all sorts of people — and not just women.
Non-binary people find inspiration in Barbie without needing to be women. Intersex people find inspiration in her many variations while finding where they fit, too.
As for me, I found inspiration by imagining Barbie fighting against my X-Men action figures.
I never knew who would win.
In conclusion…are you as excited as me to see Barbie and Black Barbie??
That’s it for today, ya’ll. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me investigating the cyberpunk connections in the Barbie movie and the diverse potential the brand can still fulfill.
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How did we do?
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