Whoever had “synthetic women coming to life and grappling with the existential weight of female autonomy” on their 2023 Movie Bingo Card is having a great year, as boththe year’s biggest box office smashandone of its most critically acclaimed featurestake on the patriarchy through fantasy, philosophy, and attempted courtships. But for all the similarities betweenMargot Robbie’s title role inBarbieandEmma Stone’s Bella Baxter ofPoor Things, it’s within the men who try to control them that the movies find their biggest similarities. Indeed, both films boaststunning supporting casts, whether they be Ken dolls, Mattel employees, mad scientists, or deceptively charming lawyers. They may not all bethe most likable, but each antagonist offers the perfect foil for their headstrong protagonists, particularly when it comes to confronting their self-discovery.
Major spoilers for bothBarbieandPoor Thingsahead. Respectively directed byAmerican iconGreta GerwigandGreek FreakYorgos Lanthimos, both films star women who are throughout their films, punished for their desire to learn beyond what they’re being spoon-fed; whether it’s the plastic, cotton candy dreams ofBarbie Landor the tightly regulated education of Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Of course, each character faces a dilemma in their own right.Barbie is overcome with flat feet,irrepressible thoughts of death, and cellulite, while Bella has had her infant brain placed into the body of her late suicidal mother, growing exponentially smart despite being introduced with the mental capacity of a toddler. The ladies just can’t catch a break! While you’d think they’d have their work cut out for them with setbacks like that alone; as any woman will attest, there’s hardly a problem in the world that isn’t made worse when a certain type of man gets involved.
Poor Things
The incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.
Barbie and Bella Are on Similar Missions but Differ in Their Approach
It’s not just the names of these two female protagonists that are similar — both are catapulted onto a journey to find self-empowerment. Stereotypical Barbie is forced to enter the real world alongside an invasive Ken (Ryan Gosling) after discovering several “deformities” on her otherwise perfect, plastic body. Meanwhile, Bella allows herself to be “swept away” by the suave charms ofMark Ruffalo’s Duncan Wedderburn in an attempt to explore the world beyond the heavily aestheticized Steampunk-inspiredVictorian-eraLondon. Yet, ironically, it’s Bella whose actions hold the greater agency of the two. This marks the greatest and perhaps the most important difference between the two leads.
Simply put, Barbie doesn’t want to discover herself; she has to, initially even refusing the challenge put forth to her byKate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie.She explicitlyprefers to remain in the illusory dream that is Barbie Land, where every night is girl’s night, forever and ever and ever.Meanwhile, Bella’s self-discovery is entirely propelled by her immense curiosity and eagerness to learn.She leaps into the arms of Wedderburn despite her engagement to the goodhearted Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), not because she’s in love with him, but because he’s her ticket to freedom — and she has recently discovered that she enjoys sex… a lot! Of course, even though both heroes set out on these journeys of their own accord, their invasive andself-obsessed companionsget in the way at every turn.
Ken and Duncan Wedderburn Are Two Sides of the Same Coin
Calling Ken and Duncan Wedderburn identical characters would be doing a disservice tohimbos everywhere, even if the accusation is far from unfounded. As refreshing as it is to seea male love interest define themselves solely by how they appear in the eyes of their beloved(“I only exist within the warmth of your gaze”), Gosling’s Ken represents a different kind of toxicity defined by a possessive eagerness that he feels grants him the right to pester Barbie at every turn. At no point does she ask for his help. At no point does he even think of asking her if she wants him to help her. He just shows up in the back of her car, only to prove time and time again that yes, he is, in fact, completely useless. It’s a sense of entitlement rooted in a lack of his own identity, something that he interprets as heroically pure love even though it does the woman of his affections more harm than good.Ken might be a dream boyfriend, but it’s a dream that Barbie never asked for, which means that no matter how slavishly kind he is or how many eggs he can fry over his six-pack abs, he’s still a man hellbent on possession who can’t take no for an answer.
Duncan Wedderburn is a character who’s a loteasier to hate. A self-proclaimed gift from God to women everywhere, his affections for Bella are initially returned with excitement, only for him to react aggressively at every instance of her exercising her independence. During his introduction, he invades Bella’s room under the guise of her liberator, offering to show her the world and all its secrets, but only for as long as their adventures conform to his interest in polite society. WhenBella starts to explorethe fantastically re-imagined cities they venture through on her own, in escapades that see her making love to strangers and picking fights at dinner tables, Duncan swiftly turns abusive.
When Duncan’s attempts to “reel Bella in” fail, he responds by literally trapping her on a cruise so that he may keep an eye on her every movement, ensuring that she’s dependent on him for survival.Ken’s form of possession sees him exercising his entitlement towards Barbie through his niceties, while Duncan’s form of possession is much more physical and direct.Even more importantly,both men represent patriarchal figures terrified by the amount that their crushes are learning about the world, determined to stop it at every turn.
The Parallels Between the Male Characters Extend to Willem Dafoe and Will Ferrell’s Characters
You’d think that the possessive interests of Ken and Duncan Wedderburn would be enough of a similarity for us to call it a day, but that’s only scratching the surface of the sheer amount ofpatriarchal controlthat the female protagonists of both films are forced to deal with. Another parallel comes in the form ofWill Ferrel’sMattel CEOand Godwin Baxter himself. These characters hold no romantic interest in Barbie or Bella but strongly desire each of them to conform to their expectations. Both characters represent their “father figures” so to speak, but whether it’s profit or scientific discovery,the value they perceive within them comes from the fact that they bolster their very male-dominated careers.Godwin is the one who prevents Bella from going outside and exploring the world, to begin with, and while part of this concern comes from fear over her safety, it’s made clear throughout that his real interest lies in his monitoring of her scientific progress. Even when he allows Bella to leave out of his kinship for her, his immediate reaction is to start a new experiment, mimicking the behavior of his own abusive father who put his career above his love for his children.
This Is Why ‘Barbie’ Changed the Way the Iconic Brand Resonates With America Ferrera
“The fact that there’s a Barbie movie and that the story has shifted and expanded to include more of us … that’s very unexpected.”
In no moment in either of the two films is this fatherly form of possession made more explicit than in the CEO’s attempts to put Barbie “back in her box.” Her journey into the real world, after all, poses strong consequences for the fabric of reality, but more importantly than that, it might put a dent in sales. The risk factor of a woman running beyond the boundaries placed around them by men means that it threatens their position of power, withthe life-sized box speaking to both the very literal restraints that keep Barbie’s limbs immobile, and the picturesque dolled-up look that women are pressured to uphold— especially in the context ofwomen at workand corporate ladder climbing.
As much ofan exciting time it is to be a Mattel executive, the company’s real-world response to the film itself andtheir attempts to underplay its feminist brandingproves wildly problematic and disingenuous towards the spirit of the film (the same film that’s making them all bajillionaires). Even after releasing a billion-dollar grossing feminist blockbuster,a strong attempt has been made to control the narrative surrounding it, attempting to appeal to the broadest numbers of consumers imaginable through the dilution of its radical messaging.Barbiemay have been the year’s wildest fantasy, but its self-effacing commentary against Mattel appears to be a lot more truthful than we’d like to think.
Allan and Max McCandles Show Us That Some Men Do Stand By Women
As sharp and incisive as both comedies are in their satirical debasement of patriarchy, both films still offer their audiences a glimmer of hope by positing that not all men are despicably evil wardens of female freedom. Enter Allan (Michael Cera), Ken’s supposed best buddy who’s pretty muchthe Chandler toFriends’s Joey. A bizarre entry into the lineup of Mattel dolls,Allan was swiftly discontinuedas an item after his introduction in 1964, leading to his brief appearances within the film where he mostly serves as comic relief. But even though he’s meant to serve as Ken’s best friend, he despises the Kens with every fiber of his being, attempting to escape the world of mini-fridges andGodfatherrerunsalongside Gloria (America Ferrera) and Sasha (Arianna Greenblatt). Though it serves his interests, Allan helps the gang deprogram the brainwashed Barbies to restore Barbie Land to its former glory, proving that notevery sidelined Barbie dollis as problematic as its inspirations would imply.
Poor Thingsis given a similar side hero in the form of Ramy Youssef’s Max McCandles; who, for all his faults,genuinely appears to love Bella for who she is, rather than who he wants her to be. Far from perfect, Max initially tries to stop Bella from running away with Duncan, and while this is partially a symptom of his jealousy, he’s more worried about her safety than her abandonment of him.Importantly, however, Max learns from his mistakes. He holds no qualms towards the life that Bella lived as a sex worker in France, and later on, when Bella walks out on him on their wedding day to learn about her past upon the arrival of her ex-husband (who’s also technically her biological father),Max never attempts to stop her beyond his use of words and reason. It certainly hurts him — as being left at the altar tends to — but like Godwin, he grows to respect her agency, trusting her to take care of herself in her quest to discover who she was. There’s a learning curve for these Victorian-era Londoners; but after enough deprogramming, some men can learn to stand by women after all!
Bella and Barbie Need to Become Their Own Best Versions of Themselves, Not Anyone Else’s
With such expansive mythologies and a plethora of fantastic characters to choose from, it’s remarkable just how many straight lines you can draw between the films’ supporting casts. While one of the primary joys of both films comes from the fact that we get to experience the funny side of the"fish out of water" / “alien among us” tropeas we watch empowered, otherworldly women ponder the peculiarities of our patriarchy, what’s the most fascinating is how consistent and varied these male attacks of female repression can be.Both Gerwig and Lanthimos were seemingly dedicated to attacking female marginalization from every major perspective that there is, whether it’s via the lover (Ken and Duncan), the father (Godwin and the Mattel CEO), or the other side in the supportive friend (Allan and Max). Of course, none of this would have mattered if they didn’t each have some ofthe strongest female film protagonistsof all time.
Bella’s greatest weapon is her curiosity and Barbie’s is her anxiety, but both are characterized by their burning desire to ask questions and understand the world around them. Whether it’s thedangers of repression, sexual or otherwise, orraising attention towards the impossible contradictions that every woman is expected to uphold, each film offers its own hilarious cocktail of razor-sharp satire funneled through the context of two women’s existential journey to become the best versions of themselves that they can be.What’s most important, however, is that they becometheir ownbest versions, and not anyone else’s.Least of all, his.
Barbieis available to stream in the U.S. on Max.Poor Thingsis in cinemas now.
