“Barbie” Is A Blast That Boasts a Fun Cast

“Some of my best friends are Jewish,” Will Ferrell says as the CEO of Mattel in the new film, “Barbie.” It’s a bizarre moment after he is trying to claim the company loves women, even though all the people on his board are men.

There will certainly be those who criticize the film and say it is a “woke war on men” or something to that effect. They should check for their sense of humor in the lost and found.

Robbie stars as the beautiful blonde Barbie (though there are numerous other Barbies) and Gosling portrays the yellow haired and buff Ken, though there are other Kens.

Gosling is impressive in that he shows he doesn’t take himself too seriously. The film pokes fun at him a lot. This is not to say there is no such thing as toxic masculinity, but writers Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach exaggerate it hilarious effect. The Kens change Barbie Dreamhouses into “Mojo Dojo Casa Houses.” Barbie and Ken go to the real world and as a result, things in Barbieland have changed to where it is Kendom.

There’s a hilarious scene where the Kens try to impress the Barbies by singing “Push” by Matchbox Twenty. The chorus includes: “I Want To Push Around/Well I will/Well, I will/I want to push you down, well I will, well I will, I want to take you for granted…”

The lyrics include that the man can’t change. Right now, there are many young men playing the guitar and singing hoping to impress women this summer, though hopefully, they’re not playing this song.

The film does not attempt to be the most profound in the world, but there is a real message against being formulaic and being an individual. Ken sees that in the real world men have way more power than women, so he takes that idea to the fantasy world. It is true that Barbie has taken him for granted, but as a result he pretends to not care about her.

Barbie is seen as a fun doll, though the film gives a nod to the truth that many young women may feel objectified or struggle to try to maintain a perfect body image. Barbie starts to feel something is wrong when her feet become pointed and, wait for it…she develops a bit of cellulite on her leg.

One commercial for Barbie in the film notes that “anxiety, panic attacks and OCD” are sold separately.

Formerly of “Saturday Night Love,” Kate McKinnon is quite funny as a weird Barbie who is upset that the other Barbies talk badly about her. Hari Nef, who is Jewish, Dua Lipa and Issa Rae are some of the other Barbies who are solid in their roles, including a purposely cliched scene where Gosling takes off Nef’s glasses to see greater beauty. Kingsley Ben-Adir, who is Jewish, is likeable as one of the Kens.

Ferrell is of course, funny, in several moments including one when he asks people to tickle him. While the metaphor is a bit on the nose when the Mattel workers try to put Barbie back in a box, literally, the point is clear that humans can never have physical perfection, though Robbie and Gosling, are fairly close to it.

The film gets a lot of heart from the mother-daughter combo of Gloria and Sasha, played with a heaping dose of realism by America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt, who is at first a tough schoolkid who is mean to Barbie and to a lesser extent, her mother, before showing a warmer side.

Barbie is an iconic symbol of Americana and one would hope parents taught there children that people cannot be perfect like dolls. There’s a great moment where a proposal is made to have a regular Barbie and Ferrell, as the CEO, rejects the idea until he is told it would make the company a lot of money.

Created by Handler and released in 1959, Barbara Millicent Roberts was named after Handler’s daughter Barbara, and Ken was named after her son of the same name. The doll is sold in over 100 countries.

In one funny moment, Ken laments that he is nothing without Barbie and even wears a shirt that reads: “I am KENough.”

Are women sometimes objectified? Yes. Do men sometimes think they have to act super macho, get big muscles and never show their true feelings? Yes.

If you come expecting Shakespeare or are looking at every line as a part of a political manifesto, you will be sorely disappointed. If you are in the mood for a fun film that does include some harsh truths, while poking fun at them, this is a film for you.

“Barbie” certainly ends with a humorous and memorable line.

There is a fight scene that is so absurd, it rivals the one from “Anchorman.”

Perlman is fitting in the role of the doll’s creator, Ruth Handler, as a person who wants the best for Barbie.

While the film is ostensibly about female empowerment, it is about every person being genuine and living a life that is not contingent on the acceptance or praise of another, which is an important lesson that many never learn.

The script could have been a bit tighter, but I appreciate that they had a song or two, in which it appears that Gosling sings.

Gosling and Robbie have comedic chemistry and it would be interesting to see the two stars alongside each other in other films. Ferrell could have also been way wilder, but perhaps the goal was not to scare the children.

It’s a fact of life that people prioritize good looks and that will likely never change. That doesn’t mean the film is sending the message that to be liked, you have to go to the gym twice a day.

That Barbie shocks her friends early in the film as she talks about her fears of death, only to change to keep it light, shows that we are encouraged to avoid sharing our true fears. It is also true that highly attractive people are sometimes stereotyped as being dumb or selfish when they shouldn’t be. There is also the message that a parent needs to allow a child freedom to both succeed and make errors.

I can’t stand the “Barbie Girl” song, but the film is worth sitting through and far more entertaining than I thought it would be. As I left the theater, I saw a young woman berate her boyfriend until he agreed to stand in front of the Barbie poster as she took a picture and posted it to social media. That’s a bit extra. But then again, so is the film.