You don’t have to know who Barbara Millicent Roberts is or own NRFB Barbies to enjoy the fantasy comedy “Barbie.” You’ll learn a lot of Barbie lore, but Barbie and her friends will also be skewered. Yet this tongue-in-cheek Barbie-cue of Mattel’s eternally young miss is done with such love and respect, I don’t believe Barbie and her fans will mind. 

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s “Barbie” script is PINKtellectual and imagines what happens when a fuchsia-infused feminist fantasy known as Barbieland–where Barbie in her many iterations dominates the social and political power scene. There’s President Barbie (Issa Rae), Dr. Barbie (Hair Nef), Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp), Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), Lawyer Barbie (Sharon Rooney), Mermaid Barbies (Dua Lipa), Diplomat Barbie (Ana Cruz Kayne) and Journalist Barbie (Ritu Arya).  While some Barbies and Kens are paired up, stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) is sought by two Kens–Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu, when threaten a “beach off.”

Ryan Gosling is our main Ken whose “job is just beach.” For this sun-bleached blond Ken,  “Barbie has a great day everyday, but Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him.” 

Yet something isn’t right. Stereotypical Barbie is having an existential crisis and slowly becoming “irrepressible thoughts of death Barbie” because there’s a rift between Barbieland and the real world. On advice from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), Stereotypical Barbie then begins her journey to find her girl and somehow right the two worlds by crossing over to the real world, but, intent on winning his Barbie, Ken goes with her because Ken’s main task is to be with a Barbie. Or is it?

When Gosling’s Ken learns about the male-dominated world from walking around Century City (Los Angeles), what he learns threatens to de-pink Barbieland  and its rose-colored view of women in the workplace.  He quickly returns, before Stereotypical Barbie to teach the other Kens what he has learned. In the real world, Mattel employee Gloria (America Ferrera) and her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) meet stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) and help her escape from the all-male board of Mattel, led by their CEO (Will Ferrell). They want to put Stereotypical Barbie back in her box.  Yet when Stereotypical Barbie returns with Gloria and Sasha to a Barbieland, it has been Ken-taminated by Beach Ken’s version of patriarchy. The Barbies are now all serving the Kens and the Kens have transformed the Barbie houses into “Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House.” Stereotypical Barbie, with the help of Weird Barbie and her two new real world friends must figure out how to Ken-trol this Kentastrophe. 

With all the different Barbies and Kens, this isn’t a movie that wants for diversity. The two real world female characters are also Latina which reflects Los Angeles’ population demographics. 

Director Gerwig also gives us flashes of fashion from Barbie’s past , some odd quirks of marketing mistakes (the pregnant doll, the pooping dog), some songs and dance (including a Ken-tastic dance number). This seems like a fun frothy vehicle, but what’s underneath is a thoughtful, often clever cultural commentary on Barbie, movies and gender politics. I once owned a Barbie, but she turned out weird, because I preferred by plush stuffed animals. My lack of love for my Barbie didn’t keep me from loving this film for both its visual style and witty dialogue. 

Can Stereotypical Barbie prevent a Ken-tastrophe and shoot down the patriarchy with witty missives? Yes. Margot Robbie is stereotypically Barbie-licious and Ryan Gosling has the right Kenergy. Join Barbie and Ken on their respective journeys of self-discovery. “Barbie” premiered at The Shrine in Los Angeles on 9 July 2023 and will be released in the US and the UK on 21 July 2023. Stay for the credits for some fun facts about Barbie and her friends.