Until July 28, 2o23, the last time I was inside a movie theater was 2019. But everything I had heard about Barbie made me just know that I had to see it.
So I dug my hot pink clam-diggers out of the back of my closet, bought a Barbie t-shirt from Amazon (Germane Amazon Link!), ordered two new pairs of black sandals, grabbed my kid and went to the movies!
Now, by now you’ve heard everything about the movie. Or seen the movie. Whichever.
I knew that I was in for a good time. Well, I hoped. All of the negative reviews made it sound amazing. “The feminist agenda will kill us all”? Sign me right up for that.
I mean, really. The movie is science fiction. Barbieland is a parallel world to the “real world.” A portal has opened between the two because “Stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie)’s owner is having an existential crisis. Barbie has to go into the “real world” to resolve the crisis and seal the portal. That’s science fiction.
Barbie (all of them) are strong female characters. I love me some strong female characters, whether that’s Nancy Drew, Anne Shirley, Mary Lennox, Wonder Woman, or whoever.
One of my pharmacists said that he didn’t think I’d be interested in “that sort of thing” when I told him how much I loved Barbie. Science fiction? Strong female characters? A pink acid trip that feels like being slapped by a lot of confusingly attractive people? What’s not to love?