Barbieis based on the fashion dolls by Mattel and is the first live-actionBarbiefilm. Written anddirected by Greta Gerwig,Barbieconsists of hilarious one-liners, a dynamic ensemble, and moments that will make you shed both tears of laughter and heartache.
Margot Robbie stars as Stereotypical Barbie, who lives in Barbieland with Ken (Ryan Gosling) along with all the other Barbies and Kens. Barbie begins to malfunction in Barbieland and goes to Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) for advice after discovering she has flat feet, thoughts about death, and cellulite. Weird Barbie tells her that she can only restore herself by visiting the real world, to find the human who is playing with her and discover why they are unhappy.
Barbie is joined by Ken and the pair travel into the real world where they discover everything is the opposite of Barbieland. In the real world, men make the majority of decisions, essentially the patriarchy rules. Ken ends up loving the real-world patriarchy and transforms Barbieland into Kendom. The film follows Stereotypical Barbie as she experiences a full-on existential crisis and embarks on ajourney of self-discovery.
Here are best quotes from the Barbies and Kens (and humans) of the film.
12"I don’t have anything big planned. Just a giant blowout party with all the Barbies, and planned choreography, and a bespoke song. You should stop by."
Barbie is having a perfect day as usual while Ken injures himself surfing whilst trying to impress Barbie. Ken seems to only have a good day when Barbie is around and looks at him. Ken asks Barbie, “Hey Barbie. Can I come to your house tonight?” Barbie tells Ken, “Sure. I don’t have anything big planned. Just a giant blowout party with all the Barbies, and planned choreography,and a bespoke song. You should stop by.” “So cool,” Ken tells Barbie, solidifying that Ken will be making an appearance at the giant party.
11"Do you guys ever think about dying?"
During Barbie’s giant blowout party, Barbie is suddenly stricken with thoughts about death. Barbie asks the other Barbies and Kens “Do you guys ever think about dying?” The music halts and all the Barbies and Kens in the room are stunned. The next morning, Barbie’s fake shower is freezing, she falls rather than floats, her feet are flat and she has cellulite. It’s the first sign that something is off with Barbie, and not by her choice.
Related:Barbie: Ranking Every Song on the Official Soundtrack
10"Note to the filmmakers: casting Margot Robbie is the wrong person you want to make this point."
As Barbie is at her lowest point in the film and is complaining about no longer being perceived as “pretty and good enough,” the narrator pauses the film to make the point that Margot Robbie is not the right spokesperson for disenfranchised women because of how she fits into conventional beauty standards. The scene does serve a purpose though. After hearing what Barbie said, Gloria realizes that even a doll meant to represent the idealized version of beauty suffers from low self-esteem.
9"There are no multiples of Allan. He is just Allan."
Ken’s best friend Allan (Michael Cera) is introduced while saying hi to Barbie and Barbie says, “Oh, hi, Allan.” The Narrator (Helen Miren) explains that, “There are no multiples of Allan. He is just Allan.” Responding to the Narrator, Allan says, “Yeah. I’m confused about that.”
Allan wears boring beach attire compared to the rest residents in Barbieland. His hair is awkwardly combed, and he is wearing a striped top, blue shorts, and matching blue sandals. Allan lacks the muscle definition thatthe swarm of Kensprovide in the movie, but he does make sure to mention that he can fit into Ken’s clothes.
8"I would never wear heels if my feet were shaped like this."
When Barbie’s thoughts of death lead to her feet suddenly becoming flat, she has no choice but to go to Weird Barbie’s house for advice. As she’s going up the stairs she says, “I would never wear heels if my feet were shaped like this.” Barbie experiencing the pain of wearing heels when her feet are flat foreshadows the discomfort women in the real world put themselves through to be considered as beautiful as Barbie.
7"Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House"
Ken discovers the patriarchy in the real world and decides to bring it back to Barbieland, transforming Barbieland into “Kendom.” Gloria, Sasha, and Barbie inform Ken that there are quite a few redundant things in his chosen title “Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House” such as he might not need both “Casa” and “House.” However, Ken’s new patriarchal persona dismisses their concerns.
6"You’re so beautiful."
Barbie is crying on a bench in the real world and turns to the elderly woman (Ann Roth) sitting next to her and tells her, “You’re so beautiful,” and the woman replies, “I know.”
Director Greta Gerwig wasadamant to keep this scenein the film even though others were advising her to cut the scene out. Greta believed it is the true heart of the movie and that Margot plays that moment gently and unforced. The scene has now been one of the most talked about moments.
5"When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I lost interest anyway."
Other than being obsessed with Barbie, Ken becomes obsessed with horses when he sees police officers riding stallions on his venture into the real world with Barbie. When Ken returns to Barbieland,he brings the patriarchyand restructures Barbieland to be run by Kens. When Ken finds out that the horses have nothing to do with male dominance he supposedly loses interest in his agenda. Ken tells Barbie, “When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I lost interest anyway.”
4"I’d like to see what nude blob he’s packing under those jeans."
The Barbies in Barbieland advise Barbie that she needs to visit Weird Barbie to figure out why she is malfunctioning. Weird Barbie tells Barbie that her dark thoughts have caused a rift in the space-time continuum. Weird Barbie also makes a suggestive comment saying, “I’d like to see what nude blob he’s packing under those jeans.” The quote is hilarious because throughout the movie Ken and Barbie’s anatomy has been a point of humor.
3"We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they have come."
As the movie comes to an end, Barbie no longer feels like just a doll and begins to wonder whether there’s anything left for her in the home that she’s known.Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman) passes on some words of wisdomto Barbie while describing the relationship between mothers and daughters. Ruth tells Barbie that “ideas live forever, humans not so much.”
Related:Barbie: 10 Behind-the-Scenes Moments That Fans Will Love
Barbie, still assumes that she needs her creator, Ruth’s, permission to become human. Ruth tells Barbie, “You don’t need my permission. I can’t control you any more than I could control my own daughter. I named you after her: Barbara. And I always hoped for you like I hoped for her. We mothers stand still, so our daughters can look back to see how far they have come.”
