These snapshots of real women’s daily lives not only made me unexpectedly sob into my popcorn, but also reflect on my past, present, and future as a woman — particularly as a female 30-something. I’m now at the age I dreamed about while playing with my Barbie dolls, but like Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie, I don’t know how to write my own ending — whether it be starting a family or going on adventures around the world. While Barbie promises little girls that they can be or do anything, the real world crushes you with its social expectations to look and be a certain way. Gloria’s (America Ferrara) moving monologue in the film perfectly voices this idea:
“You have to be thin, but not too thin, and you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin! You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money, because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time.”
Watching the women in the movie’s climax, I wondered how often they felt like this. I know my external insecurities have followed me my whole life — worries that my hair isn’t straight or glossy enough, that I don’t have a button nose, or that I’m not shapely enough in all the right places. But viewing the female experience through the prism of cross-generational bonds, “Barbie” reminds us that there is so much more to life than the cultural pressures we put on ourselves. It is the connections we make before we leave this Earth.
“Barbie” is currently playing in theaters.