I couldn't go see it in the theater, being hard of hearing. Had to wait for home video. Totally worth the wait. What a roller coaster!
A lot of the complaints about this movie can be summed up as "it's feminist propaganda". DUH. Barbie has always been a feminist. She was invented during the heyday of Donna Reed and June Cleaver, with the stated mission of demonstrating to little girls that possibilities are not limited to being a wife and mommy. She never needed a man - a movie in-joke that makes me want to hug poor ole Ken.
I love all the little references to Mattel's history. Weird Barbie's minions are all discontinued dolls. The residents of Barbieland live in Dream Houses. There is even a sly reference to the Bratz lawsuit. Rhea Perlman plays Ruth Handler's ghost. Barbara Handler has a cameo. (Ruth created the doll, named it for daughter Barbara.)
Lots of cameos. Many celebrities asked to be in this movie and got cast, basically, as extras.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Barbies know of The Real World, where they believe the invention of the Barbie doll completely wiped out patriarchy. When Barbie confides to her friends that strange things have been happening, the consensus is that she's malfunctioning. She goes to see Weird Barbie, who got played with too hard and is now the local seer. Weird Barbie sends her to The Real World.
In the real world, the only ones who know of Barbieland are the executives at Mattel. There's an interesting bit when Barbie is being told (by Sasha, the girl who outgrew her) how she's bad for the self esteem of girls is juxtaposed with the Mattel executives talking about how the doll is empowering women.
The Mattel executives find out about Barbie's crossing over and seek her out, trying to avoid a repeat of "the Skipper incident". Barbie and Ken are quickly discovering that her invention did not obliterate patriarchy. (This is really the only point I took issue with -- none of the women they see hold any kind of power, anywhere. In 21st century LA.)
The executives at Mattel are all male, which could be true in real life. Mattel was always at the forefront of hiring women and minorities, but even now men hold most powerful positions in corporations. These men appear (at least to me) sincere in the belief that the doll is empowering women, and that it is a good thing.
Ken comes to see that he's the victim of a matriarchy as toxic as the real world's patriarchy ever was. Barbie is fleeing the executives, with the help of Sasha and her mother Gloria. The malfunctions Barbie was having, we learn, are the result of Gloria projecting her adult concerns onto the doll. Ken beats them home.
Barbieland is no more - it has become Kendom. Barbie and her human friends join forces with Weird Barbie and her minions to take Barbieland back. I won't give away more than that... there's only a few minutes left after the beach battle fought with tennis rackets and volleyballs.
Final point - I once laughed at the idea of a Barbie movie getting Oscar nominations. Not now. They made it work on all levels, at the same time. They overthought Barbie even as they made me giggle.
