Review of Barbie (2023)
Seen in 2025.
The Producers (1967) is a musical comedy built around a thin plot. Barbie doesn’t really have a plot, and no interesting characters. Its setting puts the core metaphors right up front instead of doing self-consistent worldbuilding. Those are all good choices. In place of the dramatic and the epic, the film is literally lyrical, zoning out into Busby Berkeley dance numbers. Despite many self-conscious jabs at the project, this lyrical style ultimately meshes with the sincere feminist sentiment. It’s vibes and meditation, not a solemn thesis statement, and that’s fine. Given how good this gets, I wanted even more lyricism, up to the level of Maya Deren.