The Strength of Female Friendship\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nNewer Barbie movies also sorely lack strong female friendships. No longer do we see the strong, diverse trios like those from \u201cBarbie: Princess Charm School\u201d or \u201cBarbie and the Three Musketeers,\u201d or musical duos like those from \u201cBarbie as Princess and the Pauper,\u201d \u201cBarbie and the Diamond Castle\u201d and \u201cBarbie: The Princess & the Popstar.\u201d Barbie\u2019s more recent movies often feature her relationships with her younger sisters, Chelsea and Skipper. When they don\u2019t, either the plot or Barbie\u2019s personality frequently drowns out a cast of forgettable side characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019 minds long after their appearances in the movies. In \u201cBarbie Video Game Hero,\u201d Barbie (Erica Lindbeck, \u201cMonster Hunter: Legend of the Guild\u201d) 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 \u201cfriends\u201d from the beginning of the film are little more than backdrop props for Barbie\u2019s little video game adventure. As a result, there\u2019s not enough time to flesh out the needs and wants of other characters. Even if Barbie\u2019s with her sisters, the film seems to share an unrealistic picture-perfect family life \u2014 an overly simplistic way to portray relationships with anyone, whether it be with friends, sisters or her parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also like to express my grievances that there haven\u2019t 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\u2019t mean pets or other animal characters shouldn\u2019t get screentime.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\u201cBarbie and the Diamond Castle\u201d comes to mind, a movie that exemplifies both female friendship and adorably expressive sidekicks. Liana and Alexa (Cassidy Ladden, \u201cBarbie and the Diamond Castle\u201d), 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lastly, by not building in-depth relationships with other protagonists, these newer movies also risk writing shallow villains \u2014 how can the villain be well-fleshed out if the rest of Barbie\u2019s life isn\u2019t? 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nThe Presentation of Real World Problems\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nAdmittedly, today\u2019s Barbie movies are terribly out of touch. They may try to be more relatable with contemporary settings, like a cruise vacation from \u201cBarbie and Chelsea: The Lost Birthday\u201d or visiting the family hometown from \u201cBarbie & Her Sisters in a Puppy Chase,\u201d but the conflicts they have to address \u2014 finding dog-napped puppies, getting to the bottom of a missed birthday or winning against someone else in a performing arts competition \u2014 are more than a little trivial. My main problem with how these stories are written is that they don\u2019t 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\u2019s family can afford lavish vacations, multiple homes and a whole family of golden retrievers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an older movie, \u201cBarbie: Princess Charm School,\u201d our main protagonist, Blair (Diana Kaarina, \u201cSunburnt Unicorn\u201d), 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\u2019s learned to be thrifty with limited materials. In one particular scene, the film brings up the issue of gentrification<\/a> (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\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nIn \u201cBarbie as the Princess and the Pauper,\u201d it is also brought to the audience\u2019s attention that one\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2019t afford to raise her, leaving Erika to pay for what her parents weren\u2019t able to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The realities that many of us face daily ground this movie: We\u2019re 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, \u201cBarbie as the Princess and the Pauper\u201d was also able to build an escape to an entertaining Barbie fantasy land with its interesting ensemble of characters and playful music.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nThe Frivolity of Music and Costumes\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\nSometimes, the essential elements of a great movie aren\u2019t just the characters and a great plotline \u2014 it could also be the soundscape and costumes. Maybe it\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019t remember what Barbie wore in her movies past 2012, and I think that\u2019s a sign to be more creative with the costuming. Barbie\u2019s dolls need to sell, so we can\u2019t be too out-of-the-box here, but if we don\u2019t remember her dresses from the movies themselves, why would we care to buy them in the first place?\u00a0<\/p>\n