Movies

Of Course The First Trailer For Greta Gerwig's Barbie Is An Extended Stanley Kubrick Joke

Margot Robbie's legs in the Barbie teaser Warner Bros.
By BJ Colangelo/

Ever since it was announced that Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie was going to be hitting theaters the same day as Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," film fans have been having a field day making comparison memes — the underlying juxtaposition in how tonally, thematically, and aesthetically opposite the films are from one another. However, these playful jokes also unnecessarily bring a tinge of elitism regarding what is true "artistry" and what is visual junk food.

Don't worry, my fellow Friends of Barbie™, I know that you understand that the "Barbie" film is going to be a pictorial wonder, I'm talking to those who have already written off the possibility of "Barbie" being one of the best films of 2023, simply because the film centers on the most glamorous, feminine, fashionable doll in the history of toys.

It's been plenty of fun hyper-analyzing the look of Margot Robbie's Barbie and Ryan Gosling's Ken, and speculating wildly about where the rest of the cast might fit, but due to the playful nature of the subject matter, there are plenty still treating "Barbie" like nothing more than meme fodder. In the first teaser trailer for the upcoming film, Gerwig chose not to show a shortened scene from the final cut or a flashy mash-up of Margot Robbie in different Barbie outfits — she instead made a parody of the opening of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Barbie arrives like the alien monolith that confused a primitive society and inspired evolution, by showing a group of children that there's more to dolls than just training young girls how to be mothers. It's perfect, it's inspired, and it's exactly why Greta Gerwig was the perfect person to make "Barbie."

No different than a superhero movie

Margot Robbie as Barbie Warner Bros.

It's extremely frustrating. As someone who grew up on the receiving end of countless rage-filled rants from classmates holding Batman figures and screaming, "this isn't a doll, it's an action figure," it's tough to see those people (men) get to see their beloved heroes dominate the film industry with legitimacy, while "Barbie" is being treated like a cute punchline. It absolutely reeks of misogyny and more specifically, femme-hatred. Greta Gerwig is so clearly treating "Barbie" with the same reverence for the material as any other fanboy director getting a shot at making a movie about his most treasured childhood IP, but because Barbie dolls are "for girls," there are plenty treating the film with the same amount of respect they hold for women in other areas of life — none!

Look, I get it, not everyone shares my appreciation for the magical world of Barbie, and there are plenty of #NotLikeMostGirls folks who pride themselves on hating the doll. I get it! I do! I'm not here to convince anyone to ride shotgun in the pink convertible on the way to the Dreamhouse with me. What I am here to do, however, is point out that a "Barbie" film is no different than a "Spider-Man" film. In fact, our girl is actually three years older than the first appearance of Peter Parker in a comic book, so if anything, she's overdue for a live-action adaptation.

If you can understand the excitement folks have whenever their favorite superhero gets a new movie, you should be able to understand why it's so exciting that Barbie is coming to the big screen.

Greta Gerwig embraces pop culture

Margot Robbie as Barbie Warner Bros.

Hollywood has been trying to make a "Barbie" movie for years, with Amy Schumer previously attached to a version of the film that was completely scrapped in favor of Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach's script. Schumer's version was supposed to be a subversion of Barbie's legacy ... which would have been fine except the documentary "Tiny Shoulders, Rethinking Barbie" now exists. We still don't know much about Gerwig and Baumbach's story, but we know from the teaser trailer and behind-the-scenes photos that "Barbie" embraces everything that made the character a cultural staple. That's the thing people keep forgetting — Barbie is not just a toy or an easily recognizable IP, she's an American icon and carries a powerful legacy. Of course, it's a legacy that's often dismissed or meticulously criticized because it's "for girls," but that's an entirely separate conversation.

A thing people often forget about the Oscar-nominated Gerwig is that much like beloved filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino — she's a filmmaker who unapologetically loves movies and pop culture. The letter she wrote to Justin Timberlake to get permission to use his song "SexyBack" during a pivotal scene in "Lady Bird" alone is proof that when it comes to impactful cultural landmarks for young women, she just gets it. And for what it's worth, Stanley Kubrick's estate gave their seal of approval.

Greta Gerwig took an American icon that people dismiss as unserious fluff and presented her in an homage to a film people are very serious about, because of course she did. It's a move as hilarious as it is subverting what people would expect from a "Barbie" movie. Wake up and smell the glitter — Barbie is just as important to culture as anything Kubrick made, and Gerwig is putting some respect on those plastic heels by drawing her own comparison.

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