Barbie: Exploring Body Biases & Societal Expectations through the Barbie Movie - Ep 92

Imagine the emotions stirred when a simple Barbie movie touches the core issues of body biases and societal expectations. That's what happened to me, your host, Christine DeFilippis, as I immersed myself in the film's brilliant marketing, powerful performances, and resonant themes. We're exploring how this movie brought to light the struggle against diet culture and the patriarchal standards that women grapple with daily. From toe-tapping dance sequences to America Ferrera's heart-piercing monologue, prepare to dive into a discussion that extends beyond the screen.

Barbie's world is not just about pink convertibles and dream houses; it's a reflection of our struggle and resilience. The movie's portrayal of the maddening standards we're subject to is a poignant reminder of the empowerment and beauty that lies in challenging these norms. We're going to dissect the movie's impactful moments: America's impassioned speech, the dance sequences, and more. Join me as I share my reflections on the movie and how it resonates with the overarching challenge of navigating life in its varied aspects.

As we wrap up our journey through the Barbie universe, we ponder the film's subtle yet profound messages. The celebration of aging, the beauty of adaptability, and the necessity to dismantle patriarchal norms and diet culture take center stage. In our quest for a more equitable world, these conversations matter. Together, let's be part of this change. So, get ready to challenge, reflect, and inspire as we delve into the impact of the Barbie movie.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to Breaking Body Biases, a podcast about health and fitness that's not centered on your weight. I interview fitness professionals, dietitians and wellness practitioners that take a different approach. I'm Christine DeFilippis, your host, and I am a certified fitness professional, a studio owner and the creator of FitProEd. I've had my own history with eating disorders and very disordered behavior around my fitness, and I want to change the industry to make it much more inclusive and much more accessible to all, and it starts right here on the podcast. Join me every week as I interview amazing fitness professionals and dietitians and practitioners that are helping to destroy diet culture. Let's take this journey together.

Speaker 1: 0:51

Welcome to episode 92 of the Breaking Body Biases podcast. This is Christine, your host, and this week I am reviewing the Barbie movie, and let me just say this was probably one of the most challenging episodes I've had to record, partly because of the emotions that came up for me as I'm talking about this movie and like recapping it or reviewing it, because it's affected me in such a deep way and I've started to record it that I've had to stop, and I appreciate your patience as I get this one out a little behind schedule. It's really an interesting movie and, again, it was emotional for me, but not in like a sad way, or I just want to express that. It was like emotional, like I don't. It doesn't need to be negative or positive. It just pulled emotions from me in a way that made me reflect, made me be filled with gratitude and also make me want to really live my life to the fullest. So I'm going to get into some of that today.

Speaker 1: 2:00

If you are someone that hates spoilers and you have not seen the Barbie movie yet, I will be talking about some of the things that happened in the movie. If you are on social media, you've probably heard about this amazing monologue that America for gives during the movie, so some of it may be hard to stay away from because, let's face it, the marketing for this movie has been extraordinary. In fact, I want to take a page out of their marketing textbook and use it for my businesses, because they did an excellent job of marketing this movie in so many ways it shows by the box office records that it set and, on top of it, it's really a great movie. It's going to be something that people will see again and again. I can't wait for it to stream, but if you are someone that hates spoilers. Maybe save this for after you watch the movie.

Speaker 1: 2:58

I'm not going to give too much detail like too much. I want to say spoilers. I'm not going to give too much away the ending in particular. I won't share the funny little ending. You'll need to watch that on your own and if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. But I will share some points that I really loved about the movie and why and how it's affected me, and then also some things that maybe could have been done better, and it's kind of why we have this podcast here that we are trying to destroy diet culture and there are some things in the movie that I just wish they would have done a little bit better. But again, great strides in what they've done and I'll get into some of that in this episode.

Speaker 1: 3:41

So when this movie was first being filmed and produced, I didn't think that this would be a movie that I would go and see. I wasn't really into Barbies as a kid I had a madam Alexander doll and I had cabbage patch dolls and I don't know. I just I really wasn't into the Barbie craze. But on top of it, barbie sets really unrealistic, unattainable standards for us. So I wasn't really vibing with the thought that like, yes, there's going to be a Barbie movie and I'm going to dress in pink and we're going to go see it. But again, partly because of the marketing but also partly because the movie itself, the theme of it, is not what I think we all anticipated it to be. It is definitely a look at the patriarchy and why it's such a problem and there is so much positive feminism in it. I know there's a lot of critics around this movie, in particular conservatives that are saying that we are belittling men as if we haven't, as women, been faced with misogyny and the patriarchy for many, many years, decades. So I think that's kind of ironic that all of a sudden men are feeling threatened.

Speaker 1: 5:06

No-transcript On this podcast. I'm sure if you're listening to this podcast you probably don't feel that way, so I don't even have to get into some of the criticism. That's completely pointless and not relevant for us. But I will share some other things about the movie that, again, I feel like could be improved upon.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Now, I originally was invited to a pre-screening of this movie, so I was really excited to see it. Like I said, once I started hearing what it was actually about and who was starring in it. I was really excited so got invited to this pre-screening. That did not work out the PR company that was running this Screening overbooked it and we ended up just standing outside the theater not being able to get in, so that was a bummer. But I was able to get tickets on opening night and the blessing in that is that I got to take my mom and my cousin and it was kind of a nice little fun family night. And especially Because I'll talk about this later on at the end the end scene really Not the end-end scene, but right before the end scene got me in a very Big way. Emotions really came out for me. So I'll get to that in a little bit Now.

Speaker 1: 6:20

As I said, I wasn't a huge Barbie fan. I had my Madame Alexander doll. But Barbie is a cultural icon for over 60 years now. So my generation, gen X, we grew up on Barbies. I remember my cousin having like the Barbie birthday album and there were all these movies and again, barbies were this doll, that that you aspire to, almost. But you knew that like you were never going to look like Barbie. I mean the measurements on Barbie were crazy. I mean, who can look like that? And it kind of set me up to have again between Barbie and all the unrealistic standards that society puts on young girls to look a certain way. That's where it all started, but it was really interesting to me to learn the real Point of why Barbie was even created in the first place, which I will get into.

Speaker 1: 7:21

One of the questions I get a lot is is this movie for kids? Because Barbie was for kids, right? Well, it's PG 13, so you have to use your judgment on whether or not this is appropriate for your kids that are younger than 13 or even older than 13. Like you have to decide. But I find that like I have a five year old so and he's a boy and he's not even sat through an entire movie, so it's not for him. But I could see younger Under 13s being able to watch this movie and enjoying it.

Speaker 1: 7:52

I don't know if the younger generation gets Barbie, like it's a cultural I Con that we've had for decades. So if you're younger, I'm not sure if I know a lot of friends of mine that brought their tweens and teens and a lot of it. They just didn't get. They were just like I don't. I don't get it, but Anything that's like inappropriate, especially if you have younger kid, it just goes over their head. It's not like Blatant in your face sexuality or anything like that. It really is so, so colorful. The cinematography, the set design, like every like it just visually Such a great movie. So it just really depends on your child. So, that aside, this movie Takes you on such a journey and if you are a movie fan Say you're a movie buff and you love watching all different kinds of movies You're going to be able to pull out different references in this movie and this Podcast episode is not about comparing it to other movies, but you can really go down several rabbit holes on like finding Easter eggs in this movie, and it's just really interesting how Greta really made this into a very, very interesting movie. So I mentioned that as a kid I really wasn't into Barbie.

Speaker 1: 9:14

I Remember having a madam Alexander doll. That was my baby doll and I think it was in part because my mom had my younger sister. She was pregnant when I was six, born when I was seven, and I used to carry around my madam Alexander doll and Sometimes put it underneath my shirt to look like I was pregnant, just like my mom, and then I would breastfeed just like my mom would do. Just you know, lift up my shirt and just put that baby's face right on my nipple and I would Be mimicking a lot of what my mom was doing. And that's how we played with dolls. Right, we are babies, we would be moms. We would emulate what our mom was doing or what moms did, and that's Basically what dolls were used for until Barbie.

Speaker 1: 10:09

So when Ruth handler designed Barbie, she wanted to give more options for kids like myself To play with their dolls in different ways. At the time, we could only be moms, we could only emulate that. I mean, maybe we would play like house, we'd play like going shopping, but like always as a mom, with our baby. So with Barbie, barbie could be so much more than a mom. Your Barbie could be president. Your Barbie could be a scientist, a reporter, a doctor, so many things. And it was just different and I think initially it was designed to be Aspirational, beyond the aesthetic, like these Barbies had Jobs that maybe women didn't even have back then or it was not as known well, we definitely haven't had a woman, even now, as president.

Speaker 1: 11:09

But Having a woman doctor or woman scientist like they were. You know, six years ago this was not as common and I think that it gave little girls the idea that, yes, I can be anything that I want to be. So initially, barbie had some good goals, right, wasn't as problematic as we kind of think it to be. I mean, yes, aesthetically she was one look and Just one option of what women should aspire to look like. So, yes, bad in that way.

Speaker 1: 11:49

But Barbie had a bigger goal and I think that's part of what the movie was bringing out as well, saying like this is what in Barbie land, women are Doing all these things? Women were the president. Barbie land was a woman. Like I said, reporters, the lawyer, the doctors, the Supreme Court all were women. And it's kind of opposite of what we've seen historically in the world with with women. Right, men had all these positions. So it was just interesting to see this on the screen and having this Empowerment with these women that were doing all these things. And what I really loved, what I really loved about it, was that at no time did they say this is Black Barbie who is the president. It's just, this is the president and she happens to be black, but they don't even talk about that. So when we got to lawyer Barbie and you see a Barbie that is Not your stereotypical Barbie which stereotypical Barbie was the main character in this in the Barbie movie. But there were so many other Barbies I but we've never seen larger Barbies. They always had these really unattainable measurements. So it was nice to see a larger Barbie and that not be her title Cause.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Most of the time when you see someone that's a minority or you see someone that isn't a larger body or someone that has a different ability, we tend to label that as their thing and that's not really their main thing. Like lawyer Barbie is lawyer Barbie and she just happens to be a larger Barbie and just like stereotypical Barbie happens to be a smaller Barbie. I really love that. I like the progress we've made in this area. Could there have been more larger Barbies? Yes, and it would have been really nice to see larger bodies that weren't proportionate. We tend to see larger like plus size models or actors always being proportionate and not just having like different shapes. Like I'd like to see pear shaped. I'd like to see an apple shaped Barbie. I'd like to see different shapes just like in the real world and to see that representation and to not beat yourself up as a kid and say like, oh, I don't look like I'm supposed to look. If we saw Barbies in all different sizes and as a kid you'd say like, yeah, we can all look different, we can all be different. And if you've seen the movie, I'm gonna share.

Speaker 1: 14:52

One other thing that I really loved is weird Barbie. I think if I would have played with Barbies, my Barbie would have been a weird Barbie. I look back at when I had my Madam Alexander doll and I used to draw on her and my mom luckily took the time to send my Madam Alexander doll to. They have doll hospitals that will repair your doll and make it look as new as it can look. I mean, I did a lot of damage to my Madam Alexander doll Putting on makeup. We didn't have access to makeup. We would use markers and crayons to draw all over your doll. And I have my Madam Alexander doll to this day and I always thought I'd pass it on to my daughter. But maybe Niko will like having Miss Madam Alexander one day. But I had weird Barbie.

Speaker 1: 15:44

If you've seen the movie you know that Kate McKinnon's character was weird Barbie and she was always in those crazy splits, because who hasn't put their doll in like a split and just left it like that and drawn all over them to make them look crazy? And we thought we're making our Barbies look beautiful because we're like teasing the hair and putting makeup on it. But you know, I thought that part of the movie was hilarious because I was one of the kids that would even though it wasn't with a Barbie, it was with my man. Alexander Doll would draw all over my dolls and my mom would get so mad because I'm ruining my very expensive doll. So that was really fun.

Speaker 1: 16:23

And then another part that I really liked was all the dancing. If you're a fan of dance sequences in a movie, they had a few that were really great. I again can't wait for this to be on streaming so I could really watch it, learn the choreography and do it in my classes. And the Dua Lipa song was excellent. That was like kind of an opening when she's having a party at our house. And then there was a scene with all the Ken's and the Ken's man. They were some good dancing in that section Again, very funny throughout it very well written. And again, the costumes were amazing, very cheesy, but so well done.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Now I'm gonna get into the two most poignant parts of the movie, as I found them to be, and if you are again not living under a rock, you have probably heard of this. First, with America for Heirs character giving this monologue about the frustration that we feel as women, like what are the expectations upon us? To be perfect but not too perfect, skinny but not too skinny. You can't talk about things, but you have to be like assertive but not too assertive. And it was a really well done scene, well written, and if you're anything like me, you were probably talking back to the screen, going yeah, oh my God, yes, yes, and saying like amen and right, along with you and just agreeing.

Speaker 1: 18:02

So the premise of the whole movie is that something's wrong with Barbie, because whoever's playing with Barbie in the real world, because they live in this Barbie land, someone is playing with Barbie and making Barbie not be Barbie anymore, like weird. Barbie is crazy looking and doing splits all the time, because whoever her owner in the real world is playing with her and making her weird right. So someone is playing with stereotypical Barbie, who is America for Eris character and she is starting to be sad, and that's not normal for Barbie. Barbie lives in perfect world, with perfect hair and perfect feelings and everything is perfect. And she's starting to feel not so perfect. So she is challenged to go out into the real world and find her person that's playing with her and in the process, ken goes and Ken discovers the patriarchy in California and decides wow, this is fantastic, ken is just an accessory in Barbie land. Roll reversal here, right, and he brings patriarchy back. At the same time, barbie goes back with America for Eris and her daughter and they are surprised to find that the patriarchy has now overtaken Barbie land and all the Barbies have been brainwashed. And this scene with America really is the point where they're able to get to all the Barbies that have been brainwashed and make them realize that you don't need to be an accessory Like. We have the power here. So it was really a great scene and, although I'm not an actor, just in case you haven't seen the movie or just in case you want to hear it one more time, I am going to share with you the speech in this entirety from this section of the movie. And again, if you're not a fan of spoilers, you probably shouldn't still be listening, but I am going to share with you my rendition of America's speech, cause I really feel like, wow, this is a powerful speech and you have likely seen it all over social media, because I have seen it all over social media and I'm going to share my inside the actor studio with Christine and remember, I'm not an actor, but this speech really got me.

Speaker 1: 20:45

It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful and so smart and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin, and you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say that you want to be healthy, but you also have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money, cause that's crass. You have to be a boss, but don't be mean. You have to lead, but don't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out.

Speaker 1: 21:36

You're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of this sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that. But always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's all too hard, it's too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you. And it turns out, in fact, that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault. I am just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tire herself up into knots so that people will like us. And if all that is true for just a doll representing women, then I don't even know.

Speaker 1: 22:45

End scene that just moved me so much and I want to like just read that every day to remind myself that it really is impossible to be a woman in this world because of all of that that I just said. It's so powerful, because it's so true that there's no winning. There's no winning. Too much, too little, it's just a mess. It's unattainable, just like Barbie's beauty standards. So it brought me to a very emotional point, an empowering emotion. Like I said, not always every emotion has to be sad, but it just brought out emotions and we face this in all aspects of our life.

Speaker 1: 23:42

In your career as a mom, if you have a child too young, people criticize you for being too young. If you have a child too old, people criticize you for that. If you go to work as a mom, if you don't work as a mom, if you're not like doing all the activities with your kids, if your whole life is your kids, you're criticized. I mean, you can't. You can't win, and that's why this speech resonates so much with so many people. We see it. We see it all the time. So again, this is a part of the movie that I can't wait for the movie to be streaming, because I'll watch this again and again and I'd love to know what your thoughts are on that.

Speaker 1: 24:27

How did that scene make you feel? Did you want to just stand up and be like right on and like amen, and just it gave? It gives you like a sigh, but then at the same time, you're like what can we do about it now? Like we're saying these things out loud now, like we are actually saying it out loud instead of just thinking it in our head. And then the other scene that really moved me and in fact this is the scene where I lost it and tears were just streaming down my face. And even recording this, I've had to record this podcast a few times because when I tried to do it immediately after the movie, I was just so emotional that I found myself just unable to get my point across as well as just being able to talk without tears in my voice. And so we're going to hopefully get through this today. But again, I've had to pause a few times with this episode because it brought up so much emotions for me.

Speaker 1: 25:32

And Rhea Perlman, who plays Ruth Handler, is talking to Barbie at the end of the movie, and it's her words, combined with Billie Eilish's song, which, mind you, I cannot listen to that song without just crying, like if I am by myself. I'm driving down the road and I start listening to that song. Tears will just start flowing down my face and I can't control it, and I found myself really feeling that way before I saw the movie. Like something in that song just moved me for different reasons. And then, when I saw the movie, that combination of Ruth's words, the song and the visuals that are attached to this part of the movie, just oh, my goodness, if you didn't cry during that section or felt some kind of emotion because I know not everyone is a crier, I find myself crying more as I'm in this perimenopause stage but I probably would have cried at this when I was 20, when I'm 80, doesn't matter. I feel like this just got me.

Speaker 1: 26:43

I think one of the reasons why I love this line is because it celebrates aging. I think Ruth's character and this movie as a whole celebrates aging. Ironically, the Barbie movie is celebrating aging because Barbie has kind of been the epitome of not aging Like Barbie doesn't age, it's just a doll. And we spend so much money and society on anti-aging creams, on doing exercises to keep our skin tight and young, and we do all these things to make ourselves look and feel younger. And in this movie we're celebrating the aging process and the beauty that comes from aging, from living, from living longer lives, because Barbie, you know, she doesn't age, she doesn't feel, and as humans, we feel all these things. We feel the good and the bad, and we age.

Speaker 1: 27:51

So I'm going to share with you. Hopefully today I can get this out without the emotions pouring out. But I can't promise anything, because I have tried to film this, like I said, record this a few times and I really want to get this out to you. So if tears come out, then it will be. I think actually, now that I think about it, maybe it's just better to keep all the emotions in, because that's the reality of it. That's how I feel, that's how the emotions come and I'm sure it's going to happen now. So this is Ruth Handler's conversation with Barbie.

Speaker 1: 28:39

At the end that starts into the Billie Eilish song. That starts into this video montage of like videos and pictures, and it starts with this we mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they have come. And this quote still can't get it out. Well, got me so much because whether you have a very close relationship with your mom or a strained relationship with your mom, or you are a mom, you understand this point, that you're striving, especially as a mother, that you're trying to make the world just a better place for your children, and sometimes that comes with sacrifice.

Speaker 1: 29:40

And this scene, as I just think about it, it brings up all the emotions again. We're always moving forward, but eventually you have to let go, let them flourish. And it's such a unique gift to be a mom and moments you just think it's impossible, as America brought out. It really is quite impossible under patriarchal standards. But these words, these words is what got me. And again you could have a strained relationship with your mom, or maybe you don't have any relationship, or maybe you've lost your mom, and this scene just gets you the value between that mother and child, that relationship. And I was there with my mom. So again it brought out so many emotions and it made me start thinking about being the best mom I can be, even when we're faced with this patriarchal standard that is impossible. It still makes me want to strive to be the best that I can be, while still maintaining my own joy and happiness. Right, because that's important too.

Speaker 1: 31:11

And this is where the emotions really set in, because at the end of that quote, the Billie Eilish song comes on that I had been listening to for a good two weeks prior. Thank you for watching. That already had like emotions within me. The song starts and there's these flashes of Barbies seeing women Is all playing out before her. There's like home movies of mothers and daughters and it's a coming of age. They're bonding, they're blowing out birthday candles, they're graduating from school, they're getting married, they're becoming mothers themselves. It's a transition from childhood to adulthood.

Speaker 1: 32:00

That montage with Billie Eilish singing what was I made for Wow, it was a lot. I can still feel it now. It really envelops you. It makes you so much more compassionate. I left change by this movie and I'm still changed today. I'm still feeling these emotions now just talking about it. Like I can talk about other parts of the movie and be fine, be like happy, and oh, this is funny and this was exciting and this and that.

Speaker 1: 32:51

But when I get to this part of the movie get the tissues, all the emotions come back up. So how did you feel? I would love to know your thoughts on it. Is this making you wanna go see the movie? Is it gonna make you wanna go see the movie again? Do you have other parts of the movie that really inspired you? It reminds me of another quote from the movie that I now think about a lot.

Speaker 1: 33:29

And Gloria, who is America for Earth's Character. She says that's life, it's all change, and you know what that really is. So true, and it's the beauty of life, but it's also the challenge of life. Right, that it's changing, that we have to be able to adapt and we have to be able to get through those challenging times. But then it also makes it exciting. There are a lot of changes that we go through as humans and then, if we're parents or if we're teens right now, there's gonna be so much more in your future that you go through. But as parents, we go through so much. We watch our kids go through a lot, and it's growth, it's life, it's change. What other parts of the movie landed with you or you feel that should be talked about? Let me know. Go over to breakingbodybiasescom and leave me a message, leave me a voicemail, leave an email. Comment on our social media.

Speaker 1: 34:49

This movie, I think, is going to. Hopefully, not only is it gonna entertain a lot of people and bring up emotion, which I think is a great thing, but I think it'll change a lot of things too. I think it starts conversations and it's broken box office records. Greta Gerwig broke the box office with $155 million in the opening weekend. It's the biggest debut of all time for women directed film. I think it's gonna reach more records. I hope it wins a lot of awards and I hope it again starts conversations and gets us talking about what things we could change.

Speaker 1: 35:34

Like I said, I would like to see much more diversity In film. I've certain things I loved about what they did with it, but more. I want more of that, more of diversity, more of the leads being all different bodies and, of course, I would like to destroy the patriarchy. Not a real fan of the patriarchy or capitalism, and especially not diet culture. So those are areas that we're always looking to change. At least have conversations, because that's the direction to go when you want change.

Speaker 1: 36:17

Get more people talking, change happens, and I hope you will join me on this journey of destroying diet culture and just making not only our lives more happy and joyful and, as America for Errors says, like the impossibility of being a woman becomes more possible because we have our unrealistic standards that have been placed upon us removed. If you like this episode, be sure to give it a rating and review and share it with other people. This is what helps grow our community, and if you're someone that has feelings on this and want to record a podcast with me, an episode, please apply on our website, or if you know someone, that would be a great guest. We're always looking for great guests to join our show. So, on that note, I hope you will let me know your thoughts on Barbie and you'll also go see it again, share your comments and I can't wait to share a brand new episode with you next week.