The Barbie movie, released on July 21st, 2023, skyrocketed sales in the box office, made a huge effect on the media, and left an imprint on our hearts.
The movie has been all the rage since its release. Thousands lined up in front of their local movie theater, decked out in pink, waiting eagerly for the movie to air. After the surge of viewers finished taking in the film, many had something to say, some good things, and some not-so-good things.
The movie was praised by many for calling out society for its misogyny against women. Many felt as though they could relate to what Barbie was going through. But, just like the movie said,
“We have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.”
Several viewers saw the Barbie movie as anti-man and felt that the film was targeting men, essentially aiming to make them seem less intelligent, or demeanors of women.
“Some accusing it [the Barbie movie] of being “woke” and “anti-man,” and others lamenting it not being feminist enough,” (Collider – The Negative Reactions to ‘Barbie’ Only Prove the Movie’s Point).
Unfortunately for these viewers, some of these comments backfired. Hateful viewers only strengthened the message in the Barbie movie that women can never be good enough for society. The movie was picked apart, searched for imperfections, just like society does with women.
At the Golden Globe Awards, the Barbie movie finally shut down the critics by taking home not one, but two Golden Globes.
The first award Barbie took was “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement”. Barbie was battling with seven other movies for this award. These movies included, but are not limited to, Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse (690.5 million USD), Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (250.6 million USD), Oppenheimer (953.8 million USD), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (845.6 million USD). Barbie’s box office value stood at a staggering 1.446 billion USD, easily going above and beyond the box office of any other movie released in 2023.
The second award Barbie snagged was for “Best Original Song in a Motion Picture”. “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish took home the award. The song from the soundtrack is easily the most prominent and recognizable (see the “What Was I Made For?: In Review” podcast by Julia Dommel).
The movie was by far one of the most successful of its year. Although it faced a large amount of backlash and criticism, it had more positive comments from those who related to the movie, and saw it as a great lesson. Women around the country felt increasingly more understood and unified after the movie’s major premiere; it lives on in their hearts as one of the greatest movies of 2023.
