The movie “Barbie” has been praised for celebrating and criticizing femininity.
As a mother and as a media savant, I could not help but view “Barbie” with a more narrow lens: a movie that is, at its heart, about mothers and daughters.
The plot of the film revolves around a life-size Barbie doll (Margot Roberti) who starts to malfunction. Her feet flatten out, and she cannot stop thinking about her death. She leaves her plastic world to go on a quest for the restoration of the line between Barbieland and the real one. She discovers along the way that the real world is not like her girl power wonderland where Barbies have all the positions and influence, and Kens are only accessories.
The film’s thematic core is its examination of tensions surrounding motherhood. This position is often taken for granted despite the fact that cultural fantasies about motherhood are at odds with the sacrifices made by moms.
Motherhood is a struggle, huh?
The movie made me laugh and cry at the same time.
The film’s opening line is a sarcastic remark by an unseen narrator, Helen Mirren, referring to the famous “dawn man” scene from “A Space Odyssey.
On-screen, girls wear drab, old-fashioned clothes and play “house” in primitive settings with their dolls, almost drooping from boredom. These dolls are a problem because girls can only “play at being mothers” for a short time.
She adds in a cynical tone, “Ask her mother.”
Mirren suggests that the appeal of motherhood eventually turns into unwanted drudgery. This is a reality that is reinforced when the girls encounter their first Barbie, who towers over them and inspires them to smash their baby dolls.
Barbie is a doll that represents a young and beautiful woman. It compels children to abandon the monotony of motherhood for the pink plastic glitter of Barbie Land. Here, all Barbies can live out their lives in the best way possible, embodying femininity, perfection, and possibility.
This framing of mothers as unappreciative and undesirable is reminiscent of feminist criticisms of housework and childrearing in the mid-20th century. These roles bound women to the home and forced them to do repetitive tasks that did not reflect their abilities or stifled their ambitions.
Simone de Beauvoir, a French philosopher, argued in her 1949 book The Second Sex that women must reject the myth of motherhood as the pinnacle of feminine achievement if they want to be empowered. Betty Friedan, an American author, echoed this sentiment in “The Feminine Mystique,” published in 1963. She railed against the idea of the “happy wife heroine,” who finds fulfillment as a mother and wife.
No coincidence that these two ideas coincided with the creation of Barbie in 1959. Ruth Handler’s design of Barbie was designed to encourage girls to imagine themselves as adults rather than just playing the role of mothers with baby dolls.
Motherwort is a valuable asset.
Motherhood is not just a pleasure for many women; it also plays a vital role in society and life.
In her 1976 book, “Of Women Born,” feminist Adrienne Rich makes a distinction between a mother’s relationship with her children that can be fulfilling and the patriarchal institution called motherhood, which controls women.
In the mid-1990s, Patricia Hill Collins created the term “motherwork” to emphasize the struggles of working-class women and women of color who lack the financial resources to prioritize their ambitions above caring for their children and community. If you are trying to get by on a daily basis without wealth or any other form of privilege, hiring a nanny and paying for graduate education is not an option.
The survival of their child is not an absolute for these mothers. Motherwork recognizes that mothering is not a chore or a burden but a labor of love. It can also be a source of empowerment.
These contradictions are found in the relationship between Gloria (played by America Ferrera) and Sasha (played by Arnette Greenblatt ), played by Arnette Greenblatt.
After seeing Sasha, Stereotypical Barbie assumes that Sasha’s tween anxiety is what has caused her to leave Barbieland. Gloria’s loneliness and her nostalgic longing for a time when she and her daughter played Barbies together is what caused the rift.
Sasha’s and Gloria’s adventure with Barbie, first escaping Mattel executives that want to lock Barbie into a box, and then returning to Barbieland to save the other Barbies from Kens who are trying take over the land – repair the relationship between mother-daughter.
Gloria recalls the joy of motherhood, and Sasha understands that her mother’s values are not just something to rebel against. Gloria is a full-fledged person who has a rich inner world. She is, in her own words, “weird, dark, and crazy,” and Sasha is impressed.
Gloria has a lot to teach Sasha and the Barbies.
Gloria is shocked that Barbie, who has a perfect reputation, feels she is not good enough. She delivers an emotional monologue, capturing, in Barbie’s own words, “the dissonance of being a woman living under patriarchy.”
Gloria, a mother who struggles to reconcile the love she has for her child and her fear of failing as a mother, understands how this cognitive dissonance can wear women down.
Letting go
Jacqueline Rose, a scholar, argues in her 2018 book “Mothers: An essay on love and cruelty” that motherhood can be tied to notions such as citizenship and nation and become the “ultimate scapegoat” for personal and political failures.
The conclusion of “Barbie,” however, rejects the idea that mothers are responsible for their children’s errors. Rhea’s character, Ruth Handler (founder of Mattel), offers a different perspective. Handler shows Barbie what she will face if she decides to become a human.
Ruth encourages Barbie to follow her path by letting her go symbolically and encouraging her. She tells Barbie she can’t control her, just as she couldn’t control her daughter. Mothers should guide their children and not hinder them.
She explains that “we mothers” stand still so that our daughters can see their progress.
The film’s humorous and critical portrayal of motherhood, which is laced with humor and criticism, seems to be at odds with this sentimental and selfless message.
But “Barbie” also invites the viewer to question its structure, tenets, and messages – and presents a variety of perspectives on motherhood.
It can be a thankless job and sometimes even a hard one. It can be boring or disappointing. It can be uplifting, heartbreaking, or both. It is about leading and following. Holding on and letting it go.
Motherhood shouldn’t be about sacrifices or trying to fit into some impossible ideal. Motherhood can instead highlight the possibility of living with and in contradictions.
