BARBIE AND THE FRAUDULENT REALITY: How can Critical Gender Discourse have an Impact on Mass Audience, and Dreams?

This paper intends to interrogate the mainstream scenario where the recent Barbie movie (Gerwig, 2023) has been seen as having an impact on, at least in quantitative terms. I have argued that there is, first of all, a peculiar style rather than a story that is being told, that is responsible for such an impact: the campy aesthetics of Barbie (Gerwig, 2023). Moreover, I have analyzed the trajectories of subjectivity, anonymity, and inclusivity when it comes to unpack what constitutes womanhood and gender equality. I have also argued that the status of the body in the filmic representation of Barbie has important implications for the gender/sex/sexuality interplay. The present analysis of Barbie movie (2023) offers a new perspective on how to conceptualize a doll beyond childhood putting it in dialogue with visual and cultural studies about gender. History in the movie happens when crossing the two worlds of representation and reality by encountering patriarchy in the daily-life. I have elaborated, consequently, on how masculinity and patriarchy play the role of changing forces in the movie, and what this means in feminist material terms when it comes to approach the allegedly eternal dream of Barbieland.