In the Pics section, film critic Floortje Smit casts her eye on contemporary visual culture.
It all started with Ryan Gosling. Okay, a promotion picture had already appeared for Barbie: Margot Robbie in a candy pink convertible. Fine. But then it came photo van Gosling, with an orange-leaning chest as smooth as plastic, peroxide blond hair and a toothpaste smile. Above his bleached jeans are a fringe of knickers with ‘Ken’ on them.
For once, everyone on the internet was in complete agreement: what is this? And why is it so great?
The pop culture world fell into a swoon this week when a set photo leaked out showing Barbie and Ken inline skating together, in matching neon pink and yellow outfits including a visor – as if they’ve stepped straight from the 1990s and out of their box on Malibu beach. That Barbie movie (release 2023), you can already feel it, is going to be a hit.
That’s amazing. Eight years ago it was considered one of the most uninteresting film projects. It was the heyday of toy-based films – risk-free vehicles that often wanted to score easily through a well-known brand. The whole concept of Barbie seemed outdated. Actresses like Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway sniffed at the project and didn’t do it anyway; a little-known female director also dropped out. Meh.
But then suddenly producer, star and feminist Margot Robbie was named as the protagonist. One of the most interesting directors of the moment, Greta Gerwig, was going to write the script – and film it. The screenplay is surprisingly great, it’s been buzzing for a while. a cartoon series, Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, already showed that toy manufacturer Mattel is not at all afraid of satire, self-mockery and meta jokes. The set photos promise all this in overdrive now.
Which movies are doing well post-corona, and why? US analysts call since the monster success from Top Gun: Maverick ‘nostalgia’ as an important factor. But it doesn’t explain why light year it’s not doing well. It plays a part, but it’s something else that audiences to movies like Top Gun† Elvis and later Barbie pulls: fun. They are movies that you enjoy. Balm for the soul. Watching made up, unadulterated, brazen entertainment all together is healing. And we want that now.
Told me ten years ago that Barbie would be one of the movies I would most look forward to, and I would have thought you were crazy.
‘Whatever you think beforehand’, Gerwig promises, ‘we’re going to give you something completely different – something you didn’t know you wanted.’
She’s already right.