From Justice stores having closed, Disney Channel shutting down in some countries and “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” ending, modern-day girlhood is facing a major threat. In my opinion, however, the most pressing issue is the drop in quality of Barbie movies over the years. With this, we are losing not only great cinema, but also a cultural icon that depicts female friendships and girl-power narratives.
Since her inception in the 1950s, Barbie has transcended decades of cultural shifts, staying relevant on-screen, as a doll and now as an aesthetic. Growing up during the Y2K era, Barbie’s movies inspired child me to embrace the color pink, dare to dream and, best of all, to have the audacity to stand out. Even as I’ve grown older, I don’t think I could go a day without seeing a meme reference to an early-2000s Barbie movie that makes me smile. But that’s just the problem — we’re attached to the days when Barbie had a funny sidekick named Bibble, sang songs about unabashedly having fun or wore dresses that glittered from the bodice to the hem. In contrast, the Barbie from the modern era is trying to sell as many of her dolls and movies as possible without caring much for the quality.
So, what exactly makes the older movies so much better? Compared to Barbie’s earlier hits (pre-2012), her more recent films have lost their charm, sparkle and viewership. Is it purely nostalgia, or could it be something more? I may be biased since I grew up watching her movies repeatedly. However, after watching and comparing the two vastly different eras of Barbie movies, I can confidently say there were key elements exclusively present in Barbie’s “golden era” that should be revived. Mattel Films, take note.
- The Realities of Female Choice
Empowering women and exploring the barriers to choice are the biggest themes that have remained unique in the older movies.
In “Barbie and the Three Musketeers,” family members and male counterparts mock and shun Corinne (Kelly Sheridan, “Barbie in a Christmas Carol”) and her friends for wanting to become musketeers, a male-dominated occupation. Interestingly, throughout the film, these girls slowly grow both their bond and their strength by building on the discouraging sentiments of society. Rather than delivering the simple message that sheer willpower is enough to ensure they can become who they want to be, this movie shows the hard work necessary to defy expectations. From montages of underground training to forging weapons out of feminine accessories to outsmarting a whole castle’s worth of royal guards, this movie offers not only the satisfaction of proving others wrong, but also a lesson on the importance of fighting hard for what you want.
Although Barbie’s “You Can Be Anything” rhetoric is loud and clear in its marketing, especially with Barbie’s diverse career portfolio, the old films acknowledge the obstacles a woman may face. Today’s Barbie movies feature her as a spy superhero or video game coder, without tackling the nuances or barriers that could prevent her from acquiring such coveted positions. This picture-perfect feminist utopia, in turn, creates unrealistic expectations for young girls watching the more recent Barbie movies. Sure, women have come a long way over the decades, but that doesn’t mean they don’t continue to face systemic struggles today.
- The Strength of Female Friendship
Newer Barbie movies also sorely lack strong female friendships. No longer do we see the strong, diverse trios like those from “Barbie: Princess Charm School” or “Barbie and the Three Musketeers,” or musical duos like those from “Barbie as Princess and the Pauper,” “Barbie and the Diamond Castle” and “Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar.” Barbie’s more recent movies often feature her relationships with her younger sisters, Chelsea and Skipper. When they don’t, either the plot or Barbie’s personality frequently drowns out a cast of forgettable side characters.
Often, this results from the movies not giving the characters space to develop fully, creating a dull memory of the supporting cast while Barbie seems so self-centered. Gone are the days when characters like Bibble, Raquel and Preminger shone just as brightly as Barbie herself, living in viewers’ minds long after their appearances in the movies. In “Barbie Video Game Hero,” Barbie (Erica Lindbeck, “Monster Hunter: Legend of the Guild”) is playing with her friends at the beginning, but the plot then quickly focuses solely on her attempting to beat levels to get out of the game. Her so-called “friends” from the beginning of the film are little more than backdrop props for Barbie’s little video game adventure. As a result, there’s not enough time to flesh out the needs and wants of other characters. Even if Barbie’s with her sisters, the film seems to share an unrealistic picture-perfect family life — an overly simplistic way to portray relationships with anyone, whether it be with friends, sisters or her parents.
I’d also like to express my grievances that there haven’t been any memorable sidekicks in the last several years. Yes, more recent Barbie movies are on the contemporary side, often taking place within the real world. And yes, this could mean characters would be less likely to feature magical and enchanting characters, but that doesn’t mean pets or other animal characters shouldn’t get screentime.
“Barbie and the Diamond Castle” comes to mind, a movie that exemplifies both female friendship and adorably expressive sidekicks. Liana and Alexa (Cassidy Ladden, “Barbie and the Diamond Castle”), best friends since childhood, along with their newfound puppies Sparkles and Lily, find themselves navigating through deceptive traps and tests of their friendship to get to the Diamond Castle. Throughout the film, the two friends have different desires but have to pick and choose what is best for themselves and the situation. Just as essential to the plot, though, were Sparkles and Lily entertaining us with their puppy antics. Their dancing, playfulness and large expressive eyes were perfect breaks from the tension.
Lastly, by not building in-depth relationships with other protagonists, these newer movies also risk writing shallow villains — how can the villain be well-fleshed out if the rest of Barbie’s life isn’t? How can Barbie have powerful friendships that help defeat the villain without the other characters being expanded upon? The most recent movies feature either a conflict without a villain, such as completing a mission, or someone with a malicious yet shallow objective: to ruin the family vacation, defeat Barbie in a winner-takes-all competition or use newly-discovered magical powers for evil.
The friendships we should be looking for are tenacious, even through the most grueling of conflicts, but they could never be properly illustrated with how the movies are written now.
- The Presentation of Real World Problems
Admittedly, today’s Barbie movies are terribly out of touch. They may try to be more relatable with contemporary settings, like a cruise vacation from “Barbie and Chelsea: The Lost Birthday” or visiting the family hometown from “Barbie & Her Sisters in a Puppy Chase,” but the conflicts they have to address — finding dog-napped puppies, getting to the bottom of a missed birthday or winning against someone else in a performing arts competition — are more than a little trivial. My main problem with how these stories are written is that they don’t acknowledge the level of privilege that comes with having such small worries. Whereas many families today may struggle with putting food on the table or paying rent, Barbie’s family can afford lavish vacations, multiple homes and a whole family of golden retrievers.
In an older movie, “Barbie: Princess Charm School,” our main protagonist, Blair (Diana Kaarina, “Sunburnt Unicorn”), struggles with fitting in at her new school. Though the premise seems unoriginal at first glance, the movie tackles a lot more than just the fish-out-of-water feeling. Blair is the only student at the school admitted through a lottery rather than paying her way in, which causes other students to treat her differently due to her lower socioeconomic class. This part of her identity plays a major part in the film, whether it be her interactions with her family, how she struggles behind her peers or how she’s learned to be thrifty with limited materials. In one particular scene, the film brings up the issue of gentrification (referred to as bulldozing a poor neighborhood and turning it into a sprawling park) to further demonstrate how her upbringing was different from everyone else’s.
In “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper,” it is also brought to the audience’s attention that one’s upbringing often limits their options in life. Princess Annelise and Erika, both voiced by Kelly Sheridan, feel stifled. Annelise lives as privileged royalty, but she longs for a day when she isn’t mired by her duties. On the other hand, Erika, an indentured servant, works as a seamstress to pay off her debt, looking forward to the day when she can sing her heart out freely and not worry about finances. In the movie, she was born into poverty where her parents couldn’t afford to raise her, leaving Erika to pay for what her parents weren’t able to.
The realities that many of us face daily ground this movie: We’re stuck in our lives for reasons like money or family obligations. We daydream about lives we could have if opportunities were handed to us on a silver platter. At the same time, however, “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper” was also able to build an escape to an entertaining Barbie fantasy land with its interesting ensemble of characters and playful music.
Though Barbie is meant for us to escape into a life of our imaginations, hints of realism help create a feeling of relatability and confer emotional resonance. When the Barbie of today gets to do whatever she wants because she has enough money or family support, it becomes alienating and all too frustratingly unrealistic to watch.
- The Frivolity of Music and Costumes
Sometimes, the essential elements of a great movie aren’t just the characters and a great plotline — it could also be the soundscape and costumes. Maybe it’s the new style of directing or an aversion to sudden bursts of song and over-the-top ball gowns, but Barbie movies today are missing the element of frivolity.
Elaborate dresses with fun silhouettes, boots with bedazzled heels and hairstyles too buoyant to be held up by any hairspray are frequently donned by the cultural icon of our childhood. I can’t remember what Barbie wore in her movies past 2012, and I think that’s a sign to be more creative with the costuming. Barbie’s dolls need to sell, so we can’t be too out-of-the-box here, but if we don’t remember her dresses from the movies themselves, why would we care to buy them in the first place?
Another gripe I have from watching the more recent movies is the lack of music. No opening credits song, no song to cover a montage or thematic transition and no closing song, either. Soundtracks from older movies have been made into playlists that are still relevant to this day, but the more recent movies have not enjoyed the same musical timelessness. Music is crucial to remembering a movie, and it can be another way to enjoy the movie without having to rewatch the whole thing. There are no key clips of fun costumes I remember from the modern-day Barbie movies, or songs I can use to associate with the movies, which says something about the disconnect between audiences and post-2012 Barbie. By excluding this element, today’s Barbie movies are making it increasingly hard to be memorable, especially in an environment where so much media is fighting for our attention every day.
For the sake of preserving the culture of girlhood, embracing femininity and rescuing Barbie’s relevance from the doldrums, today’s movies need to strike a delicate balance between fantasy, imagination and a few sparing, yet poignant nods at realism if they aim to revive the golden era of Barbie movies. Maybe then the top rankings of Barbie movies will finally contain a film that isn’t over 15 years old.
Daily Arts Writer Michelle Wu can be reached at michewu@umich.edu.
