On the 23rd of January 2024, the world shifted. Barbie had received a measly 8 award nominations at this year’s Oscars: this was a war on feminism. A few weeks later perhaps we can see this through clearer eyes and even use this event to interrogate what it demonstrates to us about the general attitude towards feminism. What does feminism mean in the mainstream media and is it something helpful and productive?
Like so many others, I loved Barbie. I found significant joy in the collective experience of such a huge moment in pop culture, and on top of that, doing it in pink! I think Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach did an incredible job with the script, with many of the jokes speaking to such niche groups of society that it made me feel really seen at points (the depression Barbie watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice being a particular highlight). Overall, it is a solid film which brought enormous numbers into the cinema again and I would argue Oppenheimer benefited from Barbie more than Barbie benefited from Oppenheimer. However, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that some elements of Barbie, and the frenzy that surrounded it, worried me.
Let’s talk about everyone’s favourite topic: capitalism! This seems to be the root of all discussions about Barbie, as there appears to be a reluctance to admit that the film is essentially a big advert for Mattel. I will concede Mattel was gracious in how they allowed themselves to be portrayed, and yet the cynic in me believes they knew this would be the best option. They look self-aware and even endearing at points, which, in my opinion, obscures the conversation about Barbie being controlled by external forces. I don’t think a film controlled by companies which seek to make money over art can ever present a fully realised and nuanced feminist narrative. This is not to say that Barbie does not discuss feminist themes, however, it is painfully simple and at points reductive. Ken’s role is the most interesting and fleshed out; men in general are given lots of sympathy in this film. Potentially this was Gerwig’s aim, however a film with the title Barbie, in my opinion, should be about Barbie, not Ken. Furthermore, the narrative ends with Barbie apologising to Ken! This supposedly escapist and fictional narrative seems to uphold the typical structures and storylines we have seen before, something Barbie could have challenged, presenting something truly destabilising for a mainstream audience.
Not only is money inherently linked to the plot of the film but also to the discourse that surrounds it. One of the primary arguments which was doing the rounds on social media after the Oscar nominations was the idea that because Barbie was the highest grossing film of 2023, it was immediately eligible or even entitled to more Oscar nominations. This is indicative of a larger problem separate from Barbie. When producing things in a capitalist system, which we are, everything is inevitably working within it. This means that we equate value and worth with how much something or someone can produce, and here it is profit. However, money does not equal good art. A film can make literally a billion dollars at box office, and you will not convince me that makes it inherently good. We can have a wider conversation about what makes ‘good art’ which we would never fully answer, but I think we can conclude that we must not take box office results as gospel. You do not deserve an Oscar because your film made lots and lots of money.
However, Barbie has artistic merit and I do think it deserves an Oscar because of the incredible art, set and prop departments, and how the script did seem to speak to a cultural moment. Significantly, Barbie has been nominated for Best Picture and in this way, I believe it has been shown the respect it deserves. We can have a fun film which touches on feminist themes and not have to declare it revolutionary. In fact, there are other important women to highlight this year, such as Lily Gladstone who is the first Native American Actress to be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. That to me is still shocking and yet this achievement was undermined by our desire to see white women be applauded, something that has always been done in award ceremonies.
The Oscars and all other award shows are ultimately flawed, and we probably should not take much notice of them, but the reality is we do. What does it mean if we correlate good art with huge profits and feminism with pink and whiteness? I think it leads us to a place where film and other forms of art are ultimately simplified and reduced to reach a mainstream audience because they are funded by huge companies. Barbie is not the only offender, but it seems to have created its own propaganda which others blindly follow, not taking a moment to question or criticise it. The discourse around Barbie was difficult and complicated, but we need to be able to criticise everything and look beyond material signifiers of worth and success.