“Barbie” is a movie that discusses the importance of female representation and the effects of women being objectified. It was released in theaters on July 21, 2023. The movie made $1.3 billion in the worldwide box office and has become one of the top grossing films of all time, according to CBS news. 

“Barbie” has a run time of 1 hour and 54 minutes with Margot Robbie playing Stereotypical Barbie and Ryan Gosling playing Ken. This movie has a huge cast of well known actors from various types of films such as Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey and Kate McKinnon and even some artists such as Dua Lipa. 

“Barbie” is a fun yet important movie that was made to bring light to the issues with women being objectified in the media and in everyday life. The movie, without forcing it, focuses on trying to show young women that body image doesn’t matter. 

The American media had a huge role in the way “Barbie” was represented in the movie industry and toy industry. During an interview with Variety, Ryan Gosling opened up about his feelings towards the snubs of the Academy Awards for “Barbie”. Gosling was nominated for best supporting actor while Gerwig and Robbie were not nominated for best director and best supporting actress. 

“But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no ‘Barbie” movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film,” Ryan Gosling said during an interview with Variety. 

Ryan Gosling being nominated for best supporting actor and Gerwig and Robbie not being nominated brings light to the importance of this movie. Robbie portrayed Barbie the exact way Gerwig had envisioned her and showed a different side of Barbie. Gosling, who did a fantastic job, was not the main character of this movie. 

During the Oscars, the only award Robbie was nominated for was as a producer while Gerwig only got a nod of acknowledgement for Best Director during Steven Spielberg’s monologue, before announcing the winner of best director. The movie did receive a total of eight nominations. It was nominated for costume design, production design and two original songs.

Actress America Ferrera, who played Gloria, was nominated for and won best supporting actress and later on spoke out about her disappointment in the misses in Gerwig and Robbie’s categories.

This movie while having an important message to young girls still manages to be funny and filled with music. “Barbie” sends the message that girls and women are beautiful no matter what while also being an enjoyable movie to watch. For example, the song “I’m just Ken” sung by Gosling, brings a humorous aspect to the movie which many enjoyed but it didn’t take away from the big picture. 

“Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing not seeing her on that list,” Ferrera, in an interview with Variety, shared her feelings about the snubs. 

Many people believe that the Barbie dolls are the reason for unrealistic beauty standards, but these dolls also showed young girls that they can be anything they want. I remember playing with my different barbies when I was younger and they all had different jobs and to this day it has impacted me for the better. I am trying to pursue my dream career because it’s my dream and if I work hard enough I can achieve it. Many young girls have been inspired by Barbie.

Many people still didn’t see the big picture of the movie. During the 2024 Golden Globes, Jo Koy was opening the event and made a “joke” about the movie that perfectly explained why director Greta Gerwig created this film. 

“Barbie” was created to show women and young girls that however you look is beautiful, and whatever career you want to pursue is doable, as long as you try your hardest. This movie has such an important message towards feminism and how women are viewed in the world. It is an important movie for young girls especially to watch but the whole world should see it, and try and change for the better. 

If you are interested in watching this movie for yourself it is available on Max and Hulu. It is available to rent on YouTube and Amazon Prime.