Hey, did you hear there’s a new Barbie movie playing? Kidding – you’d have to be living under a pink plastic dream home if you haven’t heard! What you might not have heard is how clever it is – that part took me by surprise.
I went to a weekday matinee with my adult daughter (yay for retirement and free weekday afternoons!) I haven’t been to a movie for a long time, and haven’t been to one with my daughter for even longer (I think since we were on our way to a Marvel movie and she asked who my favourite Super Hero was, and I said Robin Hood). Anyway, it might be another while before she goes with me again, since I found myself chuckling – giggling, even – fairly consistently throughout.
Yes, the Barbie movie is unexpectedly thoughtful and incredibly witty, thanks to some awesome writing and acting (funny how important that duo of skills is to entertainment success). It’s written with insight from the point of view of someone playing with Barbie and the gang. The actors move the way the dolls would if they were being lifted by giant hands and they become engaged in little plots in the way that children would create them.
I thought that if someone had recorded me and my sisters and friends playing Barbie back in the day, the dialogue and story development would be very similar to what the movie delivered (and then I spent some time lamenting that we didn’t record some of our times playing dolls – we had a small cassette tape player by then and were taping many a thing at random – Elton John songs that played on the radio, family dinners, Nixon’s resignation speech. Nothing was off limits. But nothing was taped of us engaged in actual play – seems a shame somehow.) But I digress…
… I was enjoying the slapstick humour and one-liners that poked holes in the Barbie World’s gaps in logic. I wasn’t the only one laughing and there seemed to be a downright good mood in the theatre that afternoon. Even the guy selling us popcorn told us he and his friends were going to the show that evening and they found five pink sparkly bowler hats to wear. I only found one suitable jacket, but at least it was pink.
The wardrobes that Barbie and Ken made their way through the movie wearing were a hoot - yes accurate depictions of the real outfits that came out with the dolls through the years. Barbie, particularly, had extensive career apparel, since she has been: an architect, computer engineer, art teacher, soccer coach, police officer, Airforce pilot, ballerina, both an Olympic skier and swimmer, surgeon, chef, astronaut, firefighter, CEO, among other careers. Think of all her transitions to retirement! Ken, on the other hand, did beach.
My daughter, who was always more interested in Littlest Pet Shop animal toys, remembered the pooping dog. I remembered how my Barbie’s shoes would typically be mismatched on her pointy feet, since those tiny darn things were so easily lost. Everyone remembered, reflected and laughed. We all seemed to leave the movie smiling and you can’t get better than that.
Sandy Bexon is stepping into retirement after over 35 years as a communications professional, reporter and writer. She lives in Red Deer.
