Fall 2023

nomination for Best Actress. She shared the screen with Brad Pitt in “Babylon” in 2022, where she says she kissed Pitt in an unscripted impulse. After “Barbie” opened to $162 million in box office sales just in its first weekend in North America—a record-breaking event for a movie directed by a woman—it became evident that Robbie is the perfect match for Gerwig’s direction, which encouraged actor improvisation and paired her with Ryan Gosling’s Ken, who steals nearly every scene.The backdrops are eye-poppingly bright, with hand-painted details that make it both charming and nostalgic for anyone who has ever witnessed a Barbie doll and her dream house. Elaborate costumes, choreographed dance numbers, Gosling’s compelling singing voice, and a scene of the Kens playing guitar “at” the Barbies while singing MatchboxTwenty’s “Push” are unexpectedly captivating. The Ken messaging is equally hilarious as it is complicated: Gosling and his fellow Kens are billed as merely accessories to the Barbies, who run the government and hold every profession imaginable, when they aren’t throwing epic dance parties with bespoke tracks (the movie’s soundtrack is performed by A-list artists, but it’s Gosling’s inspired “I’m Just Ken” that is pivotal to the plot development). So, while Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie” embarks on a journey down the pink brick road from Barbieland to “The Real World” in her pink Corvette, hoping to discover why she’s become flat footed, having intru- sive thoughts of dying, and even developing cellulite, stowaway Gosling is just beginning his own awakening as well. Upon arrival in Southern California, Robbie’s Barbie is horrified by the way 100 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 3 Barbie cruises around in her pink Corvette saying “hi” to all the different Barbies and Kens in Barbieland. The movie was directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach. Photo: FlixPix/ Alamy Stock Photo Gosling and his fellow Kens are billed as merely accessories to the Barbies, who run the government and hold every profession imaginable, when they aren’t throwing epic dance parties with bespoke tracks.