Actresses Kate McKinnon and Issa Rae, who both will star in the upcoming Barbie movie about the iconic toy with the same name, gave a hint as to some of the themes the motion picture will touch upon, including gender roles.
Speaking with Fandango, the film’s stars discussed the Barbie script and how baffled they were when Mattel, the company behind the beloved toy, essentially let the filmmakers get away with the movie they wanted.
“I thought exactly like, ‘This is genius and they’re never going to let us make it. What a shame. This is all going to go to waste.’ Just because I think it’s a little more unexpected,” actress Margot Robbie said. “It’s not just that the movie is unexpected, I think it’s like Greta kind of pushes it in directions that I didn’t think they would let us go in and I think a big part of that was acknowledging the things that people find problematic about Barbie as well as the things that people love about Barbie.”
“And to be able to do both whilst also kind of having a relevant conversation about where the world is today and then also be acknowledging like this long 60+ year history,” she continued. “It’s just a lot of things to do at once and she does it so deftly and ultimately the whole experience is still fun. Like it’s so fun and weirdly emotional.”
Actress Issa Rae later talked about the character Ken, as played by Ryan Gosling, and how he becomes a supportive part of Barbie’s “can do everything” world.
“I think a Ken for me is just kind of there. I think a Ken is just a great accessory. That’s what I loved about Greta’s imagining of Barbie is that the Ken’s are just supplemental characters to these Barbies while Barbies can do everything Kens are there to kind of support and don’t necessarily have their own story,” she said.
“And I think that’s not necessarily a negative thing. It’s incredibly strong for men to be in supportive roles and to support the greatness that is women/Barbie,” she added.
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Former SNL alum Kate McKinnon took it even further and said that the script explores how “gender roles deny people half their humanity and how like we need to just like be ourselves and it’s a like a very powerful message.”
“And so like I spot a Ken, everyone’s themselves, you know,” she said.
A promo for the film seemed to touch upon some of the subjects discussed by Issa Rae and Kate McKinnon, which most notably featured a scene wherein the character Barbie, as played by Australian Margot Robbie, tells a group of girls, “Basically, everything that men do in your world, women do in ours.” Take a look:
The exact subject of Barbie has remained murky thus far, with varying accounts and opinions from people associated or previously associated with the film.
While some commentators have celebrated the movie for its inclusion of a transgender actor, others have said the movie does not have enough feminism. Amy Schumer, who had originally been slated to play the iconic character, claimed that the movie was not “feminist and cool” when she first signed on.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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