It’s brutal. It is also brilliant. Jeune / Barbie is not a movie for children. It is not a movie for people who want to feel good about their nostalgia. It is a movie for those of us who grew up brushing synthetic hair and wondered, Who is brushing ours?
The crack is the film’s central metaphor. Through it, we see the pink foam interior of her construction. We see the wires. We see the suffocation. Je--e - Barbie -Dir. by John Buchanan-
The narrative is sparse: Unit 01 walks away from her Dreamhouse (which looks like a Richard Neutra house after a meth lab explosion) and wanders through a purgatorial Los Angeles. She meets a group of "Molded Men"—discontinued Kens played by a rotating cast of bodybuilders with duct tape over their mouths. There is no "I’m Just Ken" musical number. There is only a 12-minute static shot of a Ken trying to cry and producing only the sound of squeaking vinyl. What makes Jeune / Barbie essential viewing (it is currently sitting at 92% on Metacritic, despite an "F" CinemaScore from general audiences) is Buchanan’s refusal to mock or celebrate his subject. He treats the doll with religious reverence. It’s brutal
Have you seen Jeune / Barbie ? Did you walk out during the "Molded Men" ballet sequence? Let me know in the comments below. It is not a movie for people who