{"id":79381,"date":"2025-07-25T09:24:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T13:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=79381"},"modified":"2025-08-11T10:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:06:39","slug":"barbie-was-always-supposed-to-be-the-beginning-not-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/barbie-was-always-supposed-to-be-the-beginning-not-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Barbie\u2019 Was Always Supposed To Be The Beginning, Not The End"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"America Ferrera&#039;s Iconic Barbie Speech | Barbie | Max\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CBqlDWHkdHk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Two years ago, the world was introduced to the cinematic iteration of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/barbie-makes-155-million-in-the-u-s-its-opening-weekend-smashing-records\/\">Barbie<\/a>,\u201d the world-famous Mattel doll that\u2019s been selling big since its March 1959 debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie, America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling, was a record-breaker. Its opening weekend, the film grossed $155 million domestically, the biggest U.S. debut in recorded history for a woman director. In all, it netted $1.447 billion worldwide, making it the biggest film of 2023 and one of the highest-grossing films of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its release, which wound up ironically tied to that of heavy historical drama \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d was a cultural phenomenon that even came with its own name \u2013 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Barbenheimer\">Barbenheimer<\/a>.\u201d People showed up to theaters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2023\/jul\/27\/we-practically-skipped-out-of-the-cinema-on-a-high-readers-on-going-to-watch-barbie\">resplendent<\/a> in shades of Barbie\u2019s signature color. It was heralded by critics and audiences alike as a feminist breath of fresh air \u2013 for all its flaws, reviews called it \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/the-front-row\/barbie-is-brilliant-beautiful-and-fun-as-hell\">brilliant, beautiful and fun as hell<\/a>;\u201d \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2023\/07\/18\/barbie-review-a-dolls-life-is-richly-unexpectedly-imagined-by-greta-gerwig-and-margot-robbie\/\">eccentrically imaginative<\/a>;\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/culture\/film\/barbie-review-margot-robbie-greta-gerwig-ryan-gosling-b1095160.html\">easily the comedy of the year<\/a>.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But not the comedy of <em>this<\/em> year, apparently. Indeed, on the second anniversary of its smash debut, the tone of the discussion around \u201cBarbie\u201d has changed significantly. Though some continue to see its merits \u2013 actor Randall Park recently <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheCinesthetic\/status\/1947774906856575260\">pointed to it as an example<\/a> of why more films should be made by and for women \u2013 scores of others have come to mock, even revile it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users took to social media to mark the anniversary by saying the film \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bartonovopolis\/status\/1946000110590058815\">has aged like milk on a hot summer day<\/a>,\u201d and to ask if we can \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sheplaystechno\/status\/1947448525480194434\">finally admit the Barbie movie was trash<\/a>.\u201d Others added that it was a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/faranwinter\/status\/1947800475400864151\">weird-*ss movie with such a bummer vibe<\/a>,\u201d and that it\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/capppucccinone\/status\/1947863768211329141\">only effective if you\u2019ve never heard of feminism<\/a>.\u201d It has become <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat\">Schr\u00f6dinger&#8217;s<\/a> feminist juggernaut \u2013 simultaneously too woke, and not woke enough.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_63c007d1c4650622f72caf28781ad5dd\" class=\"wp-block related-post alignwide\">\n      <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"section-title\">\n      <h4>Related<\/h4>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"post-wrap\">\n              <div class=\"thumbnail\">\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/despite-barbie-theres-still-not-enough-women-directors\/\" class=\"post-image-link\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Greta-Gerwig-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Greta-Gerwig-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Greta-Gerwig-96x96.jpeg 96w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Greta-Gerwig-84x84.jpeg 84w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Greta-Gerwig-45x45.jpeg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"entry-text\">\n          <h3 class=\"post-title\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/despite-barbie-theres-still-not-enough-women-directors\/\">\n              Despite &#8216;Barbie,&#8217; There&#8217;s Still Not Enough Women Directors\n            <\/a>\n          <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>To be fair, there are critiques worth weighing in hindsight \u2013 in particular, that the movie often deals in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.refinery29.com\/en-us\/2023\/07\/11477049\/barbie-white-feminism-backlash\">white feminism<\/a>,\u201d or feminist discussion and expression that centers white women. Though Gerwig did make efforts to weave in diversity \u2013 casting actresses Issa Rae and Alexandra Shipp as Barbies and making Ferrera\u2019s character, Gloria, a grounding focal point \u2013 much of the movie centers on Robbie&#8217;s journey as the \u201cStereotypical Barbie,\u201d a tall, blonde, white avatar. One can see how that alienates women of color, as some said it did for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, much of the belated backlash feels forced, cynical and unearned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For starters, dismissing \u201cBarbie\u201d as \u201cFeminism 101,\u201d like many have, implies that we are somehow not in <em>dire need<\/em> of Feminism 101 on a societal level. Gerwig asked us to behold the ridiculousness of the patriarchy head-on \u2013 the bravado, the unregulated emotions, the power-grabbing of men already holding the societal and financial reins. But the very sort of forced swagger and unearned confidence she spotlights has now become <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/musk-zuck-vance-and-bannon-the-men-i-fear-my-son-hearing\/\">a defining trait<\/a> of our most powerful leaders. (They are also quite literally <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/the-trump-administrations-ongoing-effort-to-literally-erase-women\/\">erasing women<\/a>\u2019s achievements and information resources with that power.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And rather than being used to introduce the masses to broad feminist concepts, <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/white-women-the-government-is-using-us-to-stoke-hatred-again-we-must-fight-back\/\">white womanhood<\/a> is once more being weaponized to spread hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus \u2013 Gerwig made a damn hit, but in the time that\u2019s gone by since, representation for women behind the scenes of Hollywood\u2019s biggest movies has <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/women-are-still-underrepresented-in-hollywood-new-data-reveals\/\">gone <em>down<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than finding fault with its introductory-level feminist politics, people appear to have decided they retroactively hate \u201cBarbie\u201d because they simply can&#8217;t hold it for what it is: A single step in the right direction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBarbie\u201d was never intended to cure sexism \u2013 yet we seem to have expected this one offering to solve everything. That\u2019s too much to place upon the shoulders of any sole thing. As I noted earlier this year when I spoke in conditional support of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/in-defense-of-so-called-slacktivism\/\">slacktivist<\/a>\u201d engagement, our work to better this world has always been, and will always be, part of an ongoing, ever-growing effort.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It feels worth noting, too, that as with the creators of \u201cBarbie,\u201d far more pressure is placed upon marginalized people to \u201cget it right\u201d instantaneously, while those with far more social privilege \u2013 namely, white men \u2013 are patted on the head for even the most menial of efforts, and given ample room for error. As Ferrera\u2019s Gloria noted at the start of her famous, two-and-a-half minute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CBqlDWHkdHk\">missive<\/a> on the gendered unfairness of the world: \u201cIt is literally impossible to be a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus, we\u2019ve forgotten the best part of the phenomenon: Even if it didn\u2019t turn out to be a cure-all, \u201cBarbie\u201d undoubtedly succeeded in getting people talking and thinking \u2013 especially about the wholly unrealistic pressures we place upon women to work twice as hard in a society that makes achievement twice as elusive. And it positively excelled at bringing people together \u2013 girls and women, in particular.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_3653d947226ddce8ef65253e6d948f7d\" class=\"wp-block related-post alignwide\">\n      <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"section-title\">\n      <h4>Related<\/h4>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"post-wrap\">\n              <div class=\"thumbnail\">\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/16-fantastic-films-featuring-all-women-ensemble-casts\/\" class=\"post-image-link\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1024px-Anne_Hathaway_and_Mindy_Kaling-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Anne Hathaway Rihanna Movies Women Ensemble Casts\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1024px-Anne_Hathaway_and_Mindy_Kaling-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1024px-Anne_Hathaway_and_Mindy_Kaling-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1024px-Anne_Hathaway_and_Mindy_Kaling-84x84.jpg 84w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1024px-Anne_Hathaway_and_Mindy_Kaling-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"entry-text\">\n          <h3 class=\"post-title\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/16-fantastic-films-featuring-all-women-ensemble-casts\/\">\n              16 Fantastic Films Featuring All-Women Ensemble Casts\n            <\/a>\n          <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/msmagazine.com\/2023\/07\/27\/taylor-swift-barbie-women-girls\/\">Ms. Magazine<\/a>, writer Jill Filipovic said in 2023 that, while phenomena like \u201cBarbie\u201d are not \u201cperfectly feminist,\u201d it matters \u201cthat a lot of girls are \u2026 shaping popular culture for the better, and their choices tell us something important about friendship, connection, and how to forge joy in this world \u2013 and maybe we could learn something from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBarbie\u201d is not an end point in disseminating feminism to the masses \u2013 just as attending one protest, or sharing one informative post, isn\u2019t going to move the needle against sexism (or racism, or capitalism, or authoritarianism) on its own. But it&#8217;s a bright, optimistic, imperfect, heart-filled beginning, with beautiful merits and legitimate foibles all worthy of discussion \u2013 if only we can hold and move with it as such.\u00a0 &#x25fc;&#xfe0f;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(Featured Image Credit: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Margot_Robbie_(28601016915)_(cropped)_2.jpg\"><em>Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two years ago, \u201cBarbie\u201d debuted, exposing the world to feminist ideas (and lots of pink). Today, people are spouting off their retroactive displeasure at the once-celebrated film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":79382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"\"Barbie,\" the record-breaking film, debuted 2 years ago this week - and people have plenty of complaints, in hindsight. But are they fair?","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f","date":"2025-07-25T13:24:41+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lus5iomba725","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lus5iomba725\",\"cid\":\"bafyreid33depfalw7u34ecydm2dkgelfrrsemb6cp647dn7n3gwnxyqv5i\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreih4rv4jdofqqy5via3c3t4zzr3td7shgm2pde5ccfyyfokba2xkmm\",\"rev\":\"3lus5iomjzh25\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19648],"tags":[19737,19588,19645,19725],"class_list":["post-79381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-cultural-impact","tag-feminism","tag-opinion","tag-representation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Revisiting the \u2018Barbie\u2019 Movie, Feminist Filmmaking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two years ago, \u201cBarbie\u201d exposed the world to feminist ideas. Today, people are spouting retroactive displeasure at the film.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/barbie-was-always-supposed-to-be-the-beginning-not-the-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Barbie\u2019 Was Always Supposed To Be The Beginning, Not The End\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years ago, \u201cBarbie\u201d debuted, exposing the world to feminist ideas (and lots of pink). Today, people are spouting off their retroactive displeasure at the once-celebrated film.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/barbie-was-always-supposed-to-be-the-beginning-not-the-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-25T13:24:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-11T14:06:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Margot-Robbie-Barbie-Retroactive-Backlash-Women-Directors.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"824\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Candice Helfand-Rogers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Candice Helfand-Rogers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Revisiting the \u2018Barbie\u2019 Movie, Feminist Filmmaking","description":"Two years ago, \u201cBarbie\u201d exposed the world to feminist ideas. 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