Re-Porter Blog: The Porter Report #16

 

Kendom Come!!!

Dissecting The Mad Power Trip of Barbie's Disposable Companion 

By Brandon Porter

Individuality is at the heart of our development as humans. It helps us craft an identity that allows us to set ourselves apart from others. But what happens when our individuality is robbed or sacrificed for the sake of someone else’s happiness? The question is complex in a multitude of ways. In Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, released this past weekend, the question is brought up in addition to many others and has sparked strong conversation among those who have seen the film. While the movie has garnered strong praise for the uplifting messaging regarding female empowerment, it has also drawn predictably strong criticism from those on the opposite side of the political and gender spectrum for its portrayal of men within the narrative. Knowing how much I want to avoid that emotionally draining minefield of online baggage, I wanted to use this Porter report to dissect some of the messaging layers within the film via the lens of one of the film’s standout characters, Ryan Gosling’s Ken. His arc is full of hilarious hijinks but it also raises some interesting questions about what happens when the person with no power gains some. Spoilers will be present in this post so be warned if you haven’t seen the film.

In Barbieland, all Barbies have incredible agency and power within their society. They are doctors, lawyers, award-winning authors, astronauts, scientists, and even Presidents. In Barbieland, you can be whatever you want to be and have a strong sense of individuality and purpose. However, this rule only applies to the Barbies. The same cannot be said if you are a Ken. For Kens, their entire existence is as an optional accessory. Their purpose and validation only come from being noticed or accepted by Barbie. The hope that Barbie smiling at them and acknowledging they exist is the sole purpose for their living. She doesn’t need them around all the time if at all. She never says that Ken is her boyfriend or if she’s his girlfriend. She has the power to cut Ken out of activities, vehicles, and places if she doesn’t want him there. For Ken, you are just..well..there. The life of Gosling’s Ken revolves around being noticed by Barbie. A desperate puppy always vying for her attention and wanting to be accepted as a worthy partner. Competing with other Kens for Barbie’s love. Ken loves the idea of being with Barbie but because Barbies have all the power, she has the control and more than likely, denies him his desires. When Ken asks to spend the night, Margot Robbie’s Barbie firmly shoots down his request in favor of a sleepover with the other Barbies, aka girl's night, and also reminds him that it is BARBIE’s dreamhouse. He gracefully accepts this while still bringing up that it’s girl’s night every night. When Barbie goes into her house, he’s left alone and forced to leave somewhat defeated but hopeful that next time his “girl” will make time for him. Through the smile, there is a bubbling resentment that has been festering within him that doesn’t begin to manifest until later in the film.

Once some of the problematic changes start happening to Barbie. She sets out to the real world in an attempt to fix herself. To complicate matters more, Ken has stowed away in her car still desperate to be around her. Reluctant to have him tag along, she agrees while continuing to remind him that she’s in charge. Once they both get to the real world, things begin to change for both of them. In the real world, Ken and Barbie’s experiences are polar opposites. Barbie is quite jarred by the way she is seen here as opposed to Barbieland. In Barbieland, she is respected and validated. Here, she is objectified and looked at as an object rather than a person. Men look at her not as an equal but as a literal plaything for men’s entertainment and eye candy. The “reality check” becomes more brutal when she runs into Sasha at her school. Sasha berates her by highlighting all of the things that she has contributed to negatively regarding women’s mental health and body image. This is a pretty devastating gut punch to Barbie who, in her oblivious sense of hubris, believes she has contributed to society positively. While Barbie is drowning in the depths of her own shattered ego, her companion is experiencing something equally eye-opening.

Though played for laughs, Ken’s time in the real world has given him something he’s never had before. A sense of self-worth and importance. Here, people talk to him, treat him with respect, validate his feelings, and treat him like a person as opposed to a disposable accessory. He is caught off guard by the woman who asks him for the time because nobody else cares about Ken’s thoughts or asks Ken for anything. As I said before, this is played mostly for laughs, but there is something sad within this character’s revelation. We all know how destructive not being seen as a person can be for women but rarely do we see that same sympathy being shown toward men. Objectification and dismissing someone because of their supposed unimportance is bad on either side of the gender line. It’s just the negative effects that it has on women sometimes get more attention and sympathy than it does on men. Just look at how people view men’s mental health and expression of self as opposed to women’s. It’s a night and day difference. Men get dismissed or vilified for expressing themselves causing men to either suppress or kill their individuality for fear of being bullied by other men or even by women. This could lead to severe depression that also be seen as a sign of weakness causing more severe stages of mentally destructive occupancies. While the real world is seen as cold and hostile by Barbie, Barbieland is actually no different. It’s just that the problematic elements are conveniently covered by the non-threatening aura of pink and Barbie variants with individuality and agency. 

Ken’s time in the real world reminds him that he has the ability to be just as powerful and important as Barbie. Obviously, he takes all this skewed information to heart and returns to Barbieland ready to spread the new gospel to his fellow Kens. When Barbie returns home, she sees the effects of Ken’s newfound agency. All of the Barbies are reduced to lesser submissive roles like cheerleaders, maids, and waitresses, The Kens take over all of the Barbie dreamhouses, and the Kens also plan on "changing the constitution" to fit their rhetoric. This is a horrifying event for Barbie to witness knowing how much she disliked her experience in the real world. For Ken, it opened his eyes to different possibilities. The possibility of having a power he's never had or in this case, been denied. One of the most impactful scenes is when Barbie attempts to take back control, he boldly claims it's Ken's mojo dojo casa house (thank you, Greta Gerwig, for this iconic line) and it's guy's night every night. He essentially throws the words she said to him when he asked to spend the night right back at her. Even going as far as to say "How does that feel?".

Ken has always felt like the optional outcast. That line reveals that even when it didn't look like Barbie's brush-offs bothered him, they deep down truly did. He now has the ability to take the wheel and craft a world where he matters. In a sense, Barbie is responsible for the tyrannical rise of Ken. Something she doesn't realize until it's too late. For this character, having the chance to matter to someone or just to matter at all is all he ever wanted. It's actually spelled out in the lyrics of his solo: "I'm just Ken, Anywhere else, I'd be a ten." 

Ken has always been in Barbie's shadow. A product of the times where Barbie doesn't need a male companion to feel whole. In doing so, they made all of the Kens expendable without a sense of identity. While most of the blame can be set on Barbie and how she treated him, we can look at Mattel as the main culprit in regard to their lack of investment in him. All of the Kens exist to be an optional accessory but never had the option of being their own person. Barbie sees the issue and reminds Ken that he has the ability to be his own person separate from Barbie. The ability to be someone outside of Barbie's shadow. After this, Ken vows to live for himself and not for someone else. Granted, he still cares for Barbie, but now he is free to live life on his terms without taking away the free will of someone else. That is the culmination of Ken's arc in the Barbie movie. While there is plenty of blame to go around in relation to why Ken ends up almost sending Barbieland into anarchy, the realization that Ken can break out of Barbie's shadow and be his own man is a solid enough foundation to rebuild himself on. 

Regardless of what gender you are, living for the approval of someone else is never healthy. It will only lead you to a path of low self-esteem, depression, mental destruction, and in some cases, harm to yourself or others. Be sure to live for yourself and know that you can are not defined by other people's opinions of you. You are loved, you matter, you are Kenough!!!