#Barbie, was such a disappointment.
Once the perfectly choreographed, pretty-in-pink, song-and-dance settles, it's hard to ignore that behind the sparkle there's very little matter.
THREAD.
Once the perfectly choreographed, pretty-in-pink, song-and-dance settles, it's hard to ignore that behind the sparkle there's very little matter.
THREAD.
The film is genuinely a 2hr-long promotional reel for Mattel's Barbie in which the makers struggle (and fail) to make the infamous plastic doll relevant again.
"A barbie, and thus a woman, can be anything!" is repeated enough times to give one a headache.
2/25
"A barbie, and thus a woman, can be anything!" is repeated enough times to give one a headache.
2/25
But that is NOT the point!
The issue with Barbie is the body dysmorphia that the doll created in generations of girls. A problem that was not solved by Mattel's launch of the "curvy Barbie" and certainly isn't addressed by having 3 token glossed-up 'fat women' in a movie.
3/25
The issue with Barbie is the body dysmorphia that the doll created in generations of girls. A problem that was not solved by Mattel's launch of the "curvy Barbie" and certainly isn't addressed by having 3 token glossed-up 'fat women' in a movie.
3/25
The most radical thought the film dares to propose is the already overdone, "It's okay to be yourself, it's okay to be an ordinary barbie who is neither a mother, nor a President, nor both!" Ugh.
4/25
4/25
Also terrible, is the tired - 'Women have it so difficult!' speech that America Ferrera's character delivers. Even Ugly Betty handled this topic with more nuance in 2006.
What was interesting was Ken's dark side exploration of patriarchy as an answer to being friend-zoned.
5/25
What was interesting was Ken's dark side exploration of patriarchy as an answer to being friend-zoned.
5/25
But even that is rushed to touch upon preachy self-realisation that disappears in a poof of pink.
Why I'm REALLY disappointed is because Barbie is a Greta Gerwig film.
6/25
Why I'm REALLY disappointed is because Barbie is a Greta Gerwig film.
6/25
A name that one has come to associate with gorgeous monologues (think Frances Ha), and insightful productions about womanhood such Little Women and Lady Bird.
So why would a storyteller of her calibre produce this movie? Was it the $$$?
(And tbh, she's tried.)
7/25
So why would a storyteller of her calibre produce this movie? Was it the $$$?
(And tbh, she's tried.)
7/25
(She tried with the stark commentary, the satire, each character's arch—it's wonderful. But also so, so trite.)
And that really brings us to the fact that Barbie is probably the No 1 Cinematic Con Job of the last decade.
Let me explain.
8/25
And that really brings us to the fact that Barbie is probably the No 1 Cinematic Con Job of the last decade.
Let me explain.
8/25
Toy makers producing films is a long-established marketing strategy.
Think Marvel, which started Marvel Films somewhere in the '90s, so that major production houses could buy the rights to its popular superheroes and make movies on them.
9/25
Think Marvel, which started Marvel Films somewhere in the '90s, so that major production houses could buy the rights to its popular superheroes and make movies on them.
9/25
The rights brought in money, and the films served as natural advertisements for toys and comics (which was then their chief business).
10/25
10/25
The films took off better than expected, though (case in point Tobey McGuire's Spiderman by Sony), and so in the 2000s Marvel started Marvel Studios and took its production in-house, leading to the MCU which makes millions in films, toys, comics, and associated merch.
11/25
11/25
Despite this being a norm, the marketing world fell hook-line-and-sinker for Barbie's 'amazing marketing campaign' that essentially cost $100 million, and featured NOT A SINGLE new idea.
Brand collaborations are making your jaw drop? SERIOUSLY??
12/25
Brand collaborations are making your jaw drop? SERIOUSLY??
12/25
Furthermore, the campaign is promoting one of the most iconic toys of the last century—NOT a new idea, or a taboo concept. Must be so difficult to create recall. Yes?
Ofc, the fact that the film was released on the same day as a dark-Nolan biopic, helped in its own way.
13/25
Ofc, the fact that the film was released on the same day as a dark-Nolan biopic, helped in its own way.
13/25
Memes did their job, and marketing and news organisations did everything buy. Think of the number of times you have read about Barbie's INSANE marketing in the last few weeks?
14/25
14/25
It was almost like online publications were trying to outdo each other in screaming about how amazing the very run-off-the-mill strategy is.
Since the marketing pages were clamouring, so were netizens.
15/25
Since the marketing pages were clamouring, so were netizens.
15/25
And thus, true to our 2023 tech-dystopian selves, we were all simply mirroring eachother's ideas without once pausing to question if there was truly ANY merit in the whoppes!
And this was cemented by what I saw at the theatre today.
16/25
And this was cemented by what I saw at the theatre today.
16/25
I was amazed to see that more than 2/3rd of the attendees (male and female) were wearing pink. But solidarity, reclaiming of pink, and woman's night out apart, it is this costuming that marks the true success of this campaign!
17/25
17/25
The fact that Barbie's promotion has now left screens and hoardings and taken over our literal bodies, is Mattel's crowning glory.
18/25
18/25
The fact that the film (however trite) has become an EVENT for which women are coming together, planning outfits and nails, allows Gerwig's film to rise above the usual movie, where sweats and zero-planning suffice.
19/25
19/25
You see a person on the road wearing pink this week, you mentally think, "They must have watched Barbie."
20/25
20/25
And that, if at all, is the success of Barbie's 'insane' marketing: $100 million to reenter our collective consciousness, to make us into walking-talking-human ads for Mattel's plastic doll.
BUT, it doesn't end here.
21/25
BUT, it doesn't end here.
21/25
Will the $100 million, and the song-and-dance, convince the world that the doll is still relevant and perhaps here to stay?
Can a beautifully made movie without any real, original thoughts, reaffirm the role of the picture-perfect-plastic-babe? Maybe, maybe not.
22/25
Can a beautifully made movie without any real, original thoughts, reaffirm the role of the picture-perfect-plastic-babe? Maybe, maybe not.
22/25
Because awareness and hype are easy to generate. But utility and memory? Perhaps not.
After all, Barbie is a superficial plastic doll. Beautiful from the outside, but with nothing on the inside. A motto seemingly replicated by both the film, and its marketing campaign.
23/25
After all, Barbie is a superficial plastic doll. Beautiful from the outside, but with nothing on the inside. A motto seemingly replicated by both the film, and its marketing campaign.
23/25
Either way, Barbie calls for an inflection point—a moment of truth for us, consumers of media, in understanding how we react, and what we choose to call 'incredible' or 'insane'.
A point upon which we think a little longer than the 3 seconds we bestow upon most media.
24/25
A point upon which we think a little longer than the 3 seconds we bestow upon most media.
24/25
Consider whether we want to be extensions of a marketing campaign for the world's most problematic doll, or aware consumers...
That's my two-pence for the day. If you have reached all the way to Tweet 25, well done! Thank you for reading me, and have a nice day. :))
25/25
That's my two-pence for the day. If you have reached all the way to Tweet 25, well done! Thank you for reading me, and have a nice day. :))
25/25
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