Why I Brought My Sons to See the Barbie Movie

I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Well, not really, I’m just a regular chick who two little dudes call Mom. As much as my 90s Barbie lovin’ self envisioned having a plethora of daughters someday to hand my dolls down to, fate had a different plan for me: #boymom.

As it turns out, I actually really enjoy raising tiny men. There’s less hair brushing, more wrestling and as it turns out, boys need their moms just as much as girls.

While both of my sons are pretty stereotypical boys, they both have sweet little personalities that I love to nurture and know will only benefit them with the ladies someday. I’ve also tried to show them that women and girls can do all kinds of things. You know, kind of like a certain doll tries to emulate.

Movies nowadays hit the sweet spot for us 80s and 90s babies, who love the nostalgia of our own childhoods, but also provide us with the chance to bring our own crew into the mix. I’ve enjoyed taking my sons to see flicks like, “The Super Mario Brothers Movie" and “The Little Mermaid.” But, for me, from the moment I saw the pictures of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling rollerblading in Venice Beach in the exact outfits a Barbie and Ken I once owned, I knew we’d be going to see the movie.

It didn’t take any coaxing. Not even a little bit. It was a rainy day and we had nothing better to do, so we hit the matinee at our local theater.

The movie opens with Barbie showing her world, literally. Margot Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie" is living her best life of pool parties, totally rad outfits, and having Ken pine after her. Until one day, she has an existential crisis and asks her friends if they ever think about dying.

So, Barbie goes to see the all-knowing, “Weird Barbie” who tells her she must find the girl who is playing with her in the real world and close the rift between Barbieland and our world. Now, I’m not giving anything away that the preview didn’t show, but you get the gist.

A few spoilers from here…

After some drama with their outfits, Barbie, with Ken in tow, finds the girl that’s been playing with her. But, as it turns out, it’s a mom and not a little girl. The mom is sad. She hates her job, thinks her daughter hates her, and is looking for something….more. This is why Barbie got depressed.

What’s Barbie to do? Well, she brings the lady (played by America Ferrara) and her daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) back to Barbieland with her. But, when they get back, Ken has bested them by returning first and turning the other Barbies into airheaded beer wenches because he thinks he learned what being a man was all about in the short time he was in California. Because that’s a wonderful place to learn that, huh?

Poor Barbie. All of her friends are brainwashed and she has this new feeling of hopelessness because the place she knew before is now something different entirely. Ken really messed that one up!

The only way for Barbie to get her world back is with the help of friends. Weird Barbie, her new friends from the real world, and a few corporate cast-outs help her reprogram her fellow Barbies to remember that they are doctors, writers, athletes, and state women. Together they take Barbieland back from the Kens. However, not without some drama from the boys.

Ken comes to realize that he needs to find himself and find out who he is without having to devote his life to getting Barbie to love him. He needs to do him.

The takeaway

This movie not only portrayed the still messed up associations with gender roles but flipped the script on it entirely. You would think a film about the world’s most famous doll would just be about her, but it wasn’t. Ken’s narrative was just as important. What this tells my sons is that everyone’s dreams are important, regardless of their identifying gender.

Both Barbie and Ken realized that without the help of their friends, they weren’t going to change anything. Barbie was able to finally find meaning in her life and insisted that Ken do the same. The Kens supporting the Barbies and vice versa was the defining theme of the movie.

As we walked out of the theater, my kids asked me if Barbie and Ken were happy. I said absolutely because they were both on the path to finding their own form of happiness. They were both going after their own dreams. This is such an important message to send to kids of all genders, especially today.

© Britt LeBoeuf, 2023. All rights reserved.