Barbie

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Barbie
• a review of Barbie completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 24 July 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Every day in Barbieland is absolutely perfect. The strong female role models include a President Barbie, Nobel Prize winning Barbies, Doctor Barbies, Astronaut Barbies, and a population of highly intelligent, physically ‘perfect’ women who acknowledge the Kens in their lives but who do not need them. The Barbies believe they are responsible for all the power and opportunities women in the real world have been given and that, through their example, they have fixed all the problems in the real world, allowing women everywhere to lead richly fulfilling and empowering lives. When ‘Stereotypical’ Barbie (Margot Robbie) begins to have thoughts about death and dying, things begin to change. She wakes up one morning with bad breath, falls off her roof, and discovers she has flat feet and cellulite. Horrified by her predicament, she goes to see ‘Weird’ Barbie (Kate McKinnon) who explains that there has been a rip in the divide between Barbieland and the real world and that Stereotypical Barbie needs to go to find her human and help her solve the issues she is facing in order to fix the divide. Barbie sets off for L.A. and eventually permits an enamoured Ken (Ryan Gosling) to join her. Believing her human is a young teen named Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), Barbie eagerly attempts to befriend the girl but is brutally rebuffed and subsequently picked up by operatives from Mattel who, both literally and figuratively, want to put Barbie back in her box. Meanwhile, Ken has discovered the power men in the real world possess and he heads back to Barbieland to share his newfound knowledge of patriarchal society with the rest of the Kens. Barbie manages to escape Mattel headquarters with help from Ruth (Rhea Perlman), the original creator of Barbie, and Gloria (America Ferrera), who not only happens to be Sasha’s mother but who is also Barbie’s human. Together, they travel back to Barbieland to heal the divide but by the time they arrive the Kens have taken over, reducing the mass of intelligent women to brainwashed shells of their former selves who are waiting on the men, at their beck and call, unwilling to make decisions and unable to remember who they really are. When all hope seems lost, it is Gloria who holds the key to helping the Barbies see through the hypocrisy and self-sacrifice, and it is Gloria who reminds them of who they truly are and that who they truly are will always be enough.

Gender inequality; Female empowerment; Patriarchal societies; Identity crisis; Sexualised capitalism; Rampant consumerism; Stereotypical assumptions and attempting to achieve impossible physical ideals.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• A little girl smashes baby dolls into pieces, crushing their porcelain heads, throwing the dolls and breaking other things in the process.
• Barbie falls off her roof.
• Barbie accidentally rolls her car when she is surprised by Ken.
• A character from the real world slaps Barbie on the bottom and she punches him in the face.
• Men at Mattel chase and attempt to restrain Barbie.
• Gloria rolls Barbie’s car as she and Sasha are attempting to leave Barbieland.
• A character fights construction workers, hitting them, head-butting them, and strangling one with a shovel.
• The Kens turn on each other, hitting, throwing things and nipple twisting. They fight each other with lacrosse sticks, they shoot arrows, body slam, throw balls, and one Ken wrestles another into a choke hold.
• Ken slaps himself.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Weird Barbie initially looks crazy and dishevelled. Barbie is terrified of meeting her and approaches her house with much fear and caution. The scene is not scary as such, but the apprehension is palpable and some viewers may be disturbed by the rapid montage of how Weird Barbie came to look that way: her hair was hacked off and burned, markers were drawn all over her face and she was forced into the splits and chucked into a box with other, similarly discarded, Barbies. The human version appears insane and could be slightly frightening to some small children, but Weird Barbie, despite her looks, turns out to be pretty awesome in the end.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• A wide variety of Mattel Barbie products are repeatedly mentioned and either displayed or used.
• Instagram is mentioned on occasion.
• Snippets of The Godfather movie are shown as is a scene from The BBC’s Pride and Prejudice.
• Starburst.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Ken asks to stay over at Barbie’s dream house one night. She asks him what they will do but Ken isn’t sure. He only knows that he loves Barbie.
• A character comments that she would like to see the, “nude blob Ken is packing under his jeans”.
• A character says: “I want some of this hot body”.
• Barbie tells some guys in the real world that she doesn’t have a vagina and that Ken doesn’t have a penis. Ken indicates to the men that he does have a penis.
• Barbie notes there is a threatening undertone to the sexual manner that men in the real world perceive her.
• A police officer comments that he likes Barbie better with more clothes on as it leaves something to the imagination.
• There is a character called 'Sugar Daddy Ken', who somewhat resembles a pimp.
• A character called 'Growing-up Barbie' is introduced and it is demonstrated how her breasts grow significantly larger when you raise her arm.
• Barbie makes an appointment to visit a gynaecologist in the real world.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Stereotypical Barbie shows Weird Barbie her thighs and a section of cellulite.
• A character grabs a crotch.
• Ken often wears outfits that expose his torso, and he is occasionally seen with a bare chest.
• Many of the Barbie characters wear tight, skimpy outfits from time to time.
• Two Kens kiss.
• Ken tries to kiss Stereotypical Barbie.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Once they have been brainwashed into servitude, numerous Barbies give their Kens Beers (or Brewskis) as they wait on them hand and foot.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Crap
• Bitch
• Freaking
• Damn
• Hell
• Professional Bimbo
• Jezebel
• One beeped-out use of “Mother F**ker”, though it is still clear what was said.

In a nutshell

Barbie is a well-cast, comical, fantasy-adventure, aimed at young girls and tweens, but also targets and draws in the nostalgia of adults who have played with Barbies in their youth. While there are some important messages about female empowerment and some spot-on references to the impossible standards women are held to in every aspect of life, the deeper implications are often glossed over and there are some dangerous messages that some children may focus on instead, including: not being pretty enough or perfect enough, or relating your value and worth to someone else’s opinion of you.

The main messages from this movie are that everyone is unique and that no one looks like Barbie, except Barbie; that you are not your outward appearance, you are so much more; and that it is your thoughts, ideals and values that will add the most meaning to your life and help define who you truly are.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Uniqueness
• Courage
• Compassion
• Friendship
• Teamwork.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Trying to look like someone else or holding yourself to impossible standards of ‘beauty’.
• Dumbing yourself down and not allowing your light to shine because someone else may be intimidated or resentful of your insights.
• Putting women into boxes and restraining their potential.
• The way that marketing and advertising affect consumerism and the consequences thereof.