What’s Going On?

Barbie lives in Barbieland, a world made up primarily of the many different kinds of Barbies: doctors, writers, astronauts and of course Barbie (later referred to as Stereotypical Barbie, the Barbie you imagine if someone said Barbie). There are also the Kens, a group of usually well-meaning idiots with no agency or ambition, who exist as an accessory to the Barbies. Every day is a day of perfect happiness and effortless perfection until things start going wrong for Barbie; her feet do not arch, her shower is cold and she has thoughts of death. This leads Barbie (and Ken, who tags along) to journey to the Real World to solve the problem that is causing these issues.

Behind The Scenes

Barbie is a Mattel toy created by Ruth Handler in the 50s, the film is directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, both indie darlings. Gerwig originally found fame as an actor in films like Frances Ha and Damsels In Distress, before also moving into directing in films like Lady Bird and Little Women. Baumbach is a writer and director known for films like Marriage Story and Greenberg and Gerwig and Baumbach have worked together many times.

In Front Of The Camera

The film has a huge cast but first and foremost is Margot Robbie playing Barbie, she is the star and everyone else takes a backseat to her. Then there is Ryan Gosling playing Ken, America Ferrera as Gloria (a real-world Barbie fan), Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, a host of actors playing various Barbies and Kens (the credits usually just list them as Barbie or Ken), and Will Ferrell playing the clueless CEO of Mattel.

Does It Work?

Making a live-action Barbie movie in 2023 that wasn’t in some way awful was going to take a very ambitious and risky play, that’s what Greta Gerwig tried to do…and she did it. The opening scene of Barbie is a parody of the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, invoking such an iconic film is a risk, but Barbie pulls it off and this sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Barbie is a fun, intelligent, hilarious and moving film. It recognises the love many people have for Barbie but also the animosity many have toward it. It acknowledges the way there is a Barbie who can be anything: doctor, president, writer as very uplifting, but also recognises the Barbie whose unreal physical perfection damaged generations of children.

In terms of the cast everyone from Margot Robbie down knows exactly what their job is. Robbie is superb as the quintessential perfect Barbie who has a breakdown when her perfection slips, she is endearing and at times very vulnerable. Barbie’s mix of genuine intelligence, the naivety of the Real World when she lives in a perfect one, and her heartfelt desire to do right by people, especially the young girls who play with Barbies is charming. Ryan Gosling is never not funny, every second on screen he is putting in an amazing comic performance, the awful cloying puppy-dog attitude of following Barbie everywhere, his realisation that in the Real World women do not run everything (as they do in Barbieland) and demanding to be made a CEO or be allowed to perform operations simply because he is a man is hilarious. The transformation Ken undergoes on the return to Barbieland gets even funnier. Will Ferrell’s CEO is bizarrely funny, going between utterly idiotic, to spouting generic pro-women talking points like how there has been at least one…maybe two?…women CEOs of Mattel, to at one point sincerely declaring he didn’t become CEO of Mattel to make money to inspire young girl’s dreams only minutes after calling Barbie a jezebel.

Importantly, in Barbieland they believe that everything in the Real World has been fixed, especially in relation to women and men. The realisation that this isn’t the case is shocking and allows the film to confront the contradictions of Barbie as a role model over the generations. Gloria, the Real World Barbie fan, points out the daily struggles, impossible contradictions and hardships of being a woman. Stereotypical Barbie utterly collapses because she feels she isn’t enough and yet is introduced to the audience as flawless perfection, after a short time dealing with the Real World her confidence and belief in herself is shattered.

There has been a backlash against Barbie, and as with any film, its okay to not like it, for any number of reasons it might not be the film for you. But so much of this backlash is not about the quality of the film, but that it is “woke”, and it is telling when the first comments of a review are about dragging it into ridiculous culture war territory and not if it was any good. Barbie is a brilliant film and a film for anyone. Gerwig has done something truly spectacular in making this film work so well.

Rating: (4 / 5)

Also Read: “Little Women” & Cinema for the Self Partnered

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Review: Barbie appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Instinctively I sided with Nolan. I am a huge fan of his work and Oppenheimer looked amazing. The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer the physicist who oversaw the Manhattan Project which created the atomic bomb and would later lament that he had become “Death, destroyer of worlds” is truly epic in scale. And the subject of the opposing film? Barbie – a toy who previous movie work has included Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus 3D and the admittedly fantastically titled Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia. Yes, Greta Gerwig had directed the brilliant Lady Bird and the beloved Little Women but this was Barbie. And then I heard the sensational Margot Robbie was playing the lead…and then the wonderful Ryan Gosling was playing Ken…and then I saw the trailer and it looks brilliant. A blinding pink fever dream in which Barbie asks if the other dolls ever thought about dying. Yes, Barbie is about the title character having an existential crisis.

I no longer had a clear favourite. Ultimately my loyalties would lie with Team Oppenheimer but it was hard not to support Team Barbie. And then like Rodan teaming up with Godzilla to fight Mechagodzilla there would be no fight, instead there was “Barbenheimer”. The two films were not enemies and they would band together to defeat the true enemy, and in this unusual metaphor is Transformers. A bizarrely pleasing mashup of the different styles of each film took place online, often combining the doom-laden expressions and mushroom cloud visuals of Oppenheimer with the onslaught of pink that was Barbie.

The trailer for Barbie did something very interesting and it is one of the things that brought me around, it announces itself as a movie for everyone who loves Barbie and a moment later for everyone who hates Barbie. It seems to be trying to appeal to both those who have a genuine love for Barbie (which must be millions and millions of people) and people who have looked at the toy with disdain (another group in the millions and millions). There is a gentle mockery of the fact that toy Barbie wears high heels which means if the shoes are removed the plastic feet still are still arched, the ridiculous outfits like the rollerblading outfits we see Barbie and Ken wearing, and finally speaking of Ken the absolute nothingness he is in the world of Barbie. A tagline for the poster is “She’s Everything. He’s just Ken.” In 2023 it would take a big swing for a live-action Barbie movie to work and that seems to be what Gerwig is doing.

Oppenheimer is on the surface at least a less original film, an epic of a huge figure from history. We see how he’s a genius, the struggles he has, the complications in his life. But this is Christopher Nolan and at the very least the practical effects of the film will be astounding. Even just watching the trailer has managed to capture the dread that generations of people lived with after the end of World War Two, that they lived in a world where humankind had created weapons that could destroy everything and everyone.

Of course, the two being released on the same day would give the opportunity for a double bill of rare quality and the Internet has debated as to what order should you watch the films. It’s hard to say as we don’t know what each film would be like its tempting to think Oppenheimer will be a downer of a film, and there have been reports of audiences leaving screenings of the film feeling like they’ve been through a harrowing experience but perhaps the huge apocalyptic doom will not resonate as much as a character not understanding her place in the world and trying to learn. I would argue for seeing Barbie first if for no other reason as it may be genuinely hard to shake the dread associated with nuclear Armageddon to fully enjoy Barbie.

And what do the respective teams think of all this? Christopher Nolan is thrilled that two big films are opening on the same day and it is generating excitement, with stars Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in agreement. From Team Barbie Gerwig advocates seeing a double bill of Barbie then Oppenheimer, followed by a double bill of Oppenheimer then Barbie to get the full experience. I feel this is good advice.

Also Read: Barbie Reimagined: How the Live-Action Film Could Transform the Iconic Brand

Also Read: The Anatomy of a Christopher Nolan Film

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post The Bizarre Case of Barbenheimer appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Barbie Begins

Ruth Handler’s main inspirations for creating Barbie were seeing Bild Lilli, a then-popular German doll line, and her daughter Barbara (whose name is the brand’s basis) playing with paper adult dolls. Mattel’s Barbie debuted in 1959. As a fashion doll, Barbie was made to showcase the fashion of the time. With owners able to buy her different outfits, accessories and more. Interestingly she was one of the first adult-looking toy dolls on the US market. Many dolls produced beforehand were baby dolls made to encourage parenting instincts.

More Barbie-branded characters soon followed. Including Barbie’s boyfriend Ken (1961) and family or friends characters, like Midge (1963), Skipper (1964), Christie (1968), and more.

The brand’s popularity also spawned Barbie-branded tie-in media. There are Barbie comics (as early as 1962), video games (the first released in 1984), television series and specials (starting in 1987); the character has starred in 40+ animated films since 2001 and appeared in projects like Toy Story 2 – 4. Despite some sales dips the brand remains iconic. Often being listed among the all-time best-selling toys.

Barbie’s Many Hats

Barbie helped change what toys targeted at girls and women could do. It shifted attention away from baby dolls that enforced aspirations of motherhood toward focusing on personal enjoyment. Thus helping to shift cultural attitudes. Barbie dolls also later showcased different career prospects for women and began introducing Barbies that provided representation for different groups. Barbie’s aesthetic has also been cited as helping many LGBTQ+ people feel comfortable expressing their identities. Undoubtedly the brand has sometimes had a positive impact regarding representation, and showcasing fun, positive, inspirational images for its customers.

But Barbie does have problems. For example, many have argued that Barbie’s unrealistic body has, because of its reach and influence on children, had negative effects on children’s physical and mental health. Additionally, despite the brand showcasing more progressive images now its dominant image has helped reinforce particular hegemonic ideas of womanhood. One that prioritises white, straight, cis-gendered, non-disabled women, in stereotypically gendered attire above other women. This serves to further entrench ideas of what womanhood is and alienates those who fall outside of this image.

Product or Art

Considering everything shown here how will a live-action Barbie movie play in 2023? Well with Greta Gerwig directing and writing alongside Noah Baumbach and Margot Robbie starring it has incredible potential.

Gerwig’s previous directorial efforts both explored childhood nostalgia and viewpoints, through Little Women‘s split-time structure and Lady Bird‘s memory-like feel. She is also talented at making fully rounded characters and her stories foreground themes of independence and diverse views on womanhood. This makes her perfect for Barbie (2023). Her other films indicate she will give us engaging characters and a movie that knows how to appeal to its child and nostalgic adult audiences. While her thematic focuses guarantee some thoughtful interaction with the brand’s problems.

Co-writer Baumbach also has a great record of making thoughtful comedic work with strong women characters (Frances Ha). Robbie has excelled in roles that have harnessed her star appeal to explore relevant cultural issues (Bombshell and I, Tonya). Finally, with its diverse, talented cast and joyful attitude evidenced in the trailers, Gerwig’s Barbie seems prepared to celebrate what fans love about the property while also addressing the cultural debates surrounding it, which could represent a turning point for how the world sees Barbie.

Also Read: “Little Women” & Cinema for the Self Partnered

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Barbie Reimagined: How the Live-Action Film Could Transform the Iconic Brand appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

The report looks at 1,300 films over the course of 2007-2019. Over the course of these 13 years, there is a ratio of 20 male directors to one female, only 4.8%. Despite this, the average critic scores are basically the same. So have things changed since then? Let’s take a look at some notable female directors and see how they’ve been represented.

Greta Gerwig

Gerwig started out in micro and low-budget indie films, with her writing, directing and acting in several in her twenties. In 2010, she starred in Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, which led to her starting to gain mainstream success. She co-wrote Baumbach’s next film, Frances Ha, as well as playing the title role, and her performance was nominated for a Golden Globe. Gerwig also collaborated with Baumbach for a third film, Mistress America, which also received critical acclaim.

After several acclaimed performances in other films such as Jackie and 20th Century Women, she made her solo directorial debut (having previously co-directed) with Lady Bird. The film was critically acclaimed, particularly Gerwig’s screenplay and direction, as well as breakout roles for Saoirse Ronan and Timothee Chalamet. It also won Best Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes, as well as being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, as well as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Gerwig is the fifth woman to be nominated for Best Director, but did not win.

Her second feature, an adaptation of Little Women, repeated this success, receiving six nominations. Controversially, no women were nominated for the Best Director award in 2020, and the film only won one award, for Best Costume Design. Natalie Portman’s dress featured several snubbed female directors’ names, including Gerwig’s, as a form of protest. Gerwig’s next project is a live-action Barbie film, with Margot Robbie starring.

Ava DuVernay

DuVernay actually started out as a journalist, before moving into PR and Marketing, where she helped promote several big films such as Shrek 2, The Terminal and Collateral. Her first film, a short titled Saturday Night Life, is based on her mother’s experience and follows a single mother and her children on a shopping trip.

Deciding to stick with documentaries, as they can be produced more cheaply, she made Compton in C Minor with the challenge of presenting the city in two hours, before finally releasing her first narrative feature in 2011. I Will Follow was inspired by DuVernay’s Aunt and deals with the complex process of grieving for a loved one. She quickly followed it up with her second, Middle of Nowhere, for which she won the U.S Directing Award: Dramatic, the first African-American woman to do so. She then made a short for the Smithsonian National Museum about African-American history, an anthology featuring Don Cheadle, Lupita Nyong’o, Regina King and Angela Bassett.

In 2014, she directed Selma, about Martin Luther King and the march for voting rights. It received critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song, the only film directed by a person of colour to be nominated. Despite the controversy, DuVernay claimed she never expected to be nominated and was more upset that David Oyelowo, who plays Dr. King, was not.

She later directed 13th, a documentary about US prisoners and modern-day slavery, which was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature. DuVernay became the first black woman to be nominated as a director in the feature category. She also became the first black woman to direct a live-action film, earning over $100 million with A Wrinkle in Time. Although the film was greeted with mixed reviews, it marked an important victory for diversity on screen.

Looking forward

2019 was a landmark year for female directors. USC Annenberg’s report shows that out of the 100 top-grossing films of the year, 12 were directed by women. This translates to a ratio of 8.4 males to 1 female. Which is a big step forward. Additional research has shown that audiences prefer films with a diverse cast. In 2021, Chloe Zhao became the second woman to win Best Director, as well as the first non-white woman to win the award. While things are by no means equal, it seems the industry is taking steps in the right direction.

Also Read: “Little Women” & Cinema For The Self-Partnered

The post Inclusion In The Director’s Chair: Are Female Directors Finally Breaking Through? appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Gerwig’s film is really an ode to those, to borrow a phrase from one of its stars, self-partnered women. Women who have defied the confines of marriage, whose passion is just as important as their prospective nuptials. As Gerwig said of her aspirations for Jo’s relationship with the audience, ‘What if you felt when she gets her book, the way you generally feel about a girl getting kissed?’ Thus can you imagine, if we cared as much about a woman’s achievements as we do whether or not anyone puts a ring on it? 

Gerwig rearranges the story thematically and structurally to breathe new life into it on screen and puts marriage firmly at the centre. The film begins with the March sisters on the precipice of adulthood. Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is living in New York writing wild stories about violence because that’s what sells. Meg (Emma Watson), the eldest sister, is living in marital bliss with two young children – except she’s broke. Amy (Florence Pugh) is in Paris, practising her painting and being courted by the super-rich Fred Vaughn, and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) the youngest, is at home with her mother, her heart weakened by a bout of scarlet fever. They’re four twenty-something women with their childhood in the rear-view, their memories and losses framing the decisions they make. Meg is releasing the life she aspired for isn’t always perfect while both Jo and Amy navigate the decision on who to marry or if they should marry at all. 

‘I’d rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe,’ Jo says (a line lifted from Alcott’s journals), though she fears the loneliness of such a life, even if she believes that women are capable of more than just love. While Amy sees marriage as an economic proposition, something she can use to support her family. ‘I believe we have some power over who we love, it isn’t something that just happens to a person,’ she says, in a debate that frames her as sensible and explicitly aware of her role in the world. How a woman approaches that role and marriage, be it with contempt of Jo, the practicality of Amy, or head-over-heels love of Meg, is something that still lingers today. 

The shape of marriage in our modern world is shifting. It’s moving away from its history as a business transaction (one that could procure a dowry and help business) and toward being the pinnacle of romantic idealism. Just entirely how that happened, no one is really sure. Capitalism undoubtedly played a significant role – the selling of the ‘dream wedding’ to women soared as a business since Victorian times. Then, of course, came the idea of ‘marrying for love’, a new way of entrapping young singles when their betrothal didn’t come with the promise of a small plot of land and a few cows to boot.  

The fact is that marrying for ‘love’ only entered our collective consciousness around 250 years ago. Before then it was merely one of several factors to be considered when pairing up young singles (and, dear reader let me tell you, it wasn’t very high up the list of concerns either). As Stephanie Coontz wrote in her book Marriage, a History, “it was inconceivable that people would choose their mate on the basis of something as fragile and irrational as love.” And, while people did indeed fall in love, the choice to marry because it was seen as a threat to a particular social order, one that could risk men and women abandoning their commitments to family, neighbours, and, above all, God. 

Even if marriage has rebranded itself as the symbol of ‘everlasting true love’, does that mean it can outrun its deeply gendered history? The gendered concepts of such a union are still unavoidable with a 2014 study of Harvard Law School graduates showing that more than half of the men surveyed expected their careers to take priority over their spouses. As writer Jia Tolentino notes, in her book Trick Mirror, “gender inequality is so entrenched in straight marriage that it persists in the face of cultural change.” Thus, Jo’s (and indeed Alcott’s) disdain for settling down still seems more than reasonable and, in 2019, she wouldn’t be alone. 

This past year has been peppered with films that celebrated singlehood. Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers focused on women’s ambition, sisterhood, and their refusal to continue to face abuse from the ruling classes. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s Frozen 2 offered Elsa, a Queen who aspired to fulfilment and self-actualisation while being the first Disney princess to nix falling into the arms of an interchangeable price with a china doll face. Sophie Hyde’s Animals came with the view that marriage is an obstacle to a lifelong friendship rather than something to be sought after and prized. While the sad obsessive loner who ultimately commits heinous acts of violence in Todd Phillip’s Joker is #SingleGoals for faceless bros on Twitter. 

Whether it’s 2019 or 1869, marriage still looms large over society and, indeed, cinema. The choice to remain single is still a threat. As the philosopher, Alain de Botton wrote,

“Anyone who lives alone and manifests no longing to be in a relationship is – in our times – almost automatically (though more or less secretly) viewed as both pitiable and deeply troubled. It’s simply not thought possible to be at once alone and normal.” 

– Alain de Botton

Do any of the Little Women end up alone you ask? Gerwig wants you to think so as she suggests that the ending of Jo’s novel (which sees her fall into the arms of a man) isn’t the one Jo chooses for herself and this is an act of tribute to Alcott. It blends the author and fictional character together even further. Gerwig chooses, as Alcott did, not to follow what is expected, to defy the end of the novel and say, boldly, that marriage is not all a woman is fit for, both then and now. 

Little Women is in cinemas nationwide on 26th December.

Also Read: How To Revive A Franchise After Many Years

The post “Little Women” & Cinema for the Self Partnered appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.