'Barbie' spoofs a very specific kind of 'softboy' masculinity through Ken — and it's glorious
- "Barbie" pokes fun at a variety of masculine tropes.
- In particular, it ridicules the "softboi" — an art lover with a superiority complex.
Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" is a wild spectacle about mortality, gender, and consumerism — all clad in a wash of pink.
The film, which takes place in both the real world (patriarchal society) and Barbieland (a matriarchal pocket dimension), takes Barbie (and Ken) on a journey of self-discovery. Barbie learns that women can get old, and contain multitudes. Ken learns that men can actually be more than accessories whose only job is to "beach."
Amid the chaos, "Barbie" also takes on the "softboi" archetype — an artsy, patronizingly considerate kind of guy with a superiority complex.
[Warning: Spoilers for "Barbie" ahead.]
Ken brings his newfound knowledge of the patriarchy back to Barbieland, quickly flipping the status quo to put the Kens on top.
In order to take back their world, the Barbies must free their peers from the grip of patriarchal thought and distract the Kens from their positions of power. They do that by catering to their most "softboi" tendencies: mansplaining, faux sensitivity, and hipster posturing.
The film's assorted Kens are more than happy to explain "The Godfather" to hapless, ignorant Barbies, name-dropping producer Robert Evans in the process because they are connoisseurs of cinéma. Or perhaps they could reveal to a Barbie how beautiful she actually is with her glasses off — after all, how could she ever know her own beauty? Maybe Ken could even serenade Barbie for literal hours with "Push" by Matchbox Twenty. To be clear, these are all things that actually happen in the film.
Ultimately, Ken — all the Kens — isn't very smart. To be fair, the guy basically learned what it means to be a man from a middle school library and one trip to Century City. His masculine identity is a bizarre mish-mash of odd signifiers like horses and "brewski beers" as a result.
But by targeting the "softboi," "Barbie" paints a more comprehensive portrait of modern masculinity, spoofing an archetype that's been the subject of discourse in recent years. Combined with Ryan Gosling's excellent performance as the pathetic, but empathy-inspiring Ken, it's an absolute delight.
The Barbies topple the Kens through playing to these "softboi" tendencies, distracting them by playing to their superiority complexes and eventually turning them against each other through jealousy. It's a silly, but effective, display of feminine collective action — and one that only requires some batting of the eyes and abandoning your Ken to listen to some other guy play the guitar.