(Transcript edited for readability.)
Barbie.
The new film is set to come out on July 21st, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Director, Greta Gerwig is the writer and director, who has been Oscar-nominated for her work. This fact is likely part of the reason for some of the increased hype around this film, as her name behind this indicates it's likely not a simple cash grab. But this is Hollywood we're talking about...in some sense, all their work is a bit of a cash grab. But we will get into that later.
But Greta's film Lady Bird was well done, with its exploration of various social pressures facing young women.
We have Robbie raving about the script, calling it one of the best she's ever read, alluding to it being subversive and meta.
Robbie on the script: “Ah! This is so good. What a shame it will never see the light of day, because they are never going to let us make this movie…but they did.”
We have people from all political perspectives giving their opinions (as usual).
The Conservatives are in a tizzy(what else is new?). Twitter's minefield rages. Especially in the manosphere, where they’re calling Robbie mid, and not "hot" enough for the part. It's baffling. The level of disillusionment, and how uncoupled from reality they are is appalling. Are they capable of appreciating anything? Robbie is an absolute babe.
Okay, but this nicely brings us to the complicated relationship our society has with Barbie. Her unrealistic body image. Her reinforcement of gender stereotypes. Her embrace of consumerist culture. Her cultural uniformity. Barbie's idealized physique and perpetually perfect looks reinforce a restrictive and harmful standard of beauty. And her never-ending wardrobe and accessories propagate a culture of perpetual buying and discarding, conditioning young minds to equate happiness and success with material goods.
She's plastic, and in many ways, it's symbolic of how artificial our own culture is, unfortunately.
And this is what, in some part, has these conservatives and some conservative women up in arms. You see, the norms they hold dear might be turned on their heads. The marketing of this film has it presenting itself as a subversion of Barbie, and I'm willing to bet, it will bring in a metamodern exploration of the narratives that the Barbie doll has exuded since its inception.
She is the symbol of constructed feminine ideals built out of a consumerist culture. And I mean one of THE symbols. And people lose their minds when their idealized images are questioned, even though, deep down we know these images and symbols are built on lies. A lie that is built on the shaky ground that is our fragmented subjectivities.
We even see this in the trailer. We see that Barbie is questioning her reality. She is becoming self-aware. Her life that included a perpetual cycle of fantasy images that create her imaginary world, one full of images and symbols that distract her, and having her claim that ‘every day is the best day.’
Until the images fail to distract from something we often avoid thinking about, death. This brings her fantasy bubble of living the 'best day, every day’…bursts. The perfect image surrounding, one having Barbie calling ‘every day the best day,’ fell away, because deep down we all know the world has layers, depths we rarely explore.
We just allow the realm of images to distract us.
Here comes the trailer twist, though. The real Hollywood twist, right? Barbie goes full Neo from The Matrix. Barbie is faced with the red pill vs blue pill dilemma and has to wake up. On the one side, heals on the other, Birkenstocks. But the pill representing the idea of waking up from a false reality? A Birkenstock. Yet another symbol, another illusion. She’s ditching one realm of make-believe for another. Now, isn't that a fascinating loop?
Jean Baudrillard's concept of simulacra and simulation is relevant here.
It's based on the idea that our current society has replaced reality and meaning with symbols and signs. In Barbie's case, her reality is a hyperreal simulation - a world so artificially perfect that it goes beyond reality, yet it's accepted as 'real' because it's replaced our understanding of what 'real' even is.
Barbie has found herself displaced. The simulated images begin to crumble to reveal that her 'perfect' image holds inherent contradictions that began to become more apparent from simply wondering about...death. She begins breaking away. She begins encountering the absurdity of existence.
Yet, in the hyperreal world, Barbie exists not simply as a doll, but as an idea, a symbol of an unattainable ideal. She's the embodiment of perfection, always happy, always beautiful. But this perfection is a pretense, a construct that's so far removed from reality, yet paradoxically forms the 'reality' for many who engage with her.
Now, I know this is only the trailer, but let's return to the Birkenstock.
The symbol of an escape from her current world of images. They chose the symbol of a Birkenstock, one that is more connected with corporate hipsters, supposedly having a more laid-back attitude, while favoring comfort and practicality. It's a debatable image, however, it's yet another simulated image. And that's the point.
And this gets into what I find fascinating about these metamodern films. Especially ones that are going to seemingly attempt to deconstruct and reconstruct some narrative for an established image of a widely known object, Barbie. I'm hoping they make this attempt. I applaud it. We need it in many regards.
However, on the flip side, the film is operating in this realm of images. She is, seemingly, going to wake up to yet another world of images. And us-the viewer-is operating within yet another layer of reality that is full of images that is simulating our perception of real. By watching Barbie we are watching a layer of the hyperreal.
The new Barbie movie is a commodity. One we will consume. One that will likely leave us, maybe for only a moment, to question our own illusion. We must wonder about the Hollywood elites that have an unimaginable influence on our own illusions, and our desires, leaving us endlessly choosing new pills to swallow and illusions to wake up from or embrace.
We endlessly choose new illusions.
The Barbie movie is going to be another layer of this illusion. It presents yet another image of Barbie, one that might be more nuanced, introspective, and possibly rebellious. Yet, it's still an image, a constructed narrative that serves a purpose. It may challenge some conventions, provoke thought, or offer a new understanding of Barbie, but it's important to remember that it's a product from our own world of images.
It's an image created by those in power, tailored to resonate with audiences, to provoke reactions, to do what? Sell tickets. And while it may subvert traditional Barbie narratives, it does so within the confines of our foundational illusion that is layered with a drive for…profit.
Rebellion becomes part of the script. A new illusion to market products towards. The new Barbie.
This isn't to diminish the potential value or enjoyment of the movie. I'm sure I will enjoy it based on pre-release reviews. It merely underscores the inescapability of the illusion Baudrillard speaks of. Even as we navigate the layers of illusion, questioning and challenging the images presented, we're still operating within the illusions largely influenced by corporate entities and groups, where we forever live in a reality of ideal images and illusions that inevitably merge with the ordinary.
Stay curious.
plastic perfection | barbie, baudrillard, and beyond reality