If you haven’t seen Barbie yet, this post contains spoilers. So be forewarned.
Also, if you haven’t seen Barbie yet, go. It will give you a lot to think about.
I was disturbed by the ending of Barbie, but I don’t know why.
Was it because it seemed like the ending defined a real woman as one with a vagina and reproductive organs?
Barbie’s last line in the film is: “I’m here to see my gynecologist.”
It’s a mic drop line. It was supposed to be funny…and it was. In a way.
But for me, it reframed Barbie’s choice to join the real world, from one where she might be able to forge a more complex relationship with Ken and society to, “Omg, I get to have a vagina!”
It implied that what defines a woman as real is the fact of her reproductive organs.
Getting a vagina definitely took Barbie out of her doll box, but then it put her back into an equally restrictive biological one.
I was rooting for more from Barbie in the Real World than glee at having sex organs.
I was hoping that her release from her own pink stereotype would launch her into a crusade against all stereotypes.
When Barbie tells Ken he is himself apart from her gaze, he realizes he exists apart from his stereotype for the first time.
I was rooting for a Deep, Reflective Barbie to emerge from her box.
The ending of Barbie the Movie was disappointing for me. But it didn’t foreclose any possibility that Barbie couldn’t evolve into a deeper, more powerful human.
I hope there is a sequel.
Inspiration Location 