Director Greta Gerwig has an exceptional cinematic palette at her disposal – and nowhere is that clearer than in her newest film, Barbie. In collaboration with Letterboxd, Gerwig revealed the titles she included in watch parties she hosted for the cast – mainly technicolor classics such as The Red Shoes, The Young Girls of Rochefort and The Wizard of Oz.
Given that Gerwig’s previous two features have both been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it would be safe to assume that she draws influence from mainly art films – but according to Gerwig herself, the world of reality TV served as a huge inspiration for Barbie’s storytelling.
Those that have watched Barbie will be aware that Barbie Land is a matriarchal society where all the Barbies take on leadership roles, where the Kens are sidelined without malicious intent by the Barbies. As Ryan Gosling’s Ken tells Stereotypical Barbie (played by Margot Robbie) at one point, it’s “Barbie and Ken”, never “just Ken” – prompting his musical existential crisis.
As Gerwig discussed on the SmartLess podcast, Gosling pitched an idea to her early in production about the role the Kens play . Gosling, a noted fan of reality TV and outspoken lover of 90 Day Fiancé, took an observation from The Bachelorette.
“When we started talking about Ken, [Gosling] was like ‘Oh, Ken reminds me of the men on The Bachelorette when the woman isn’t around, they don’t know what to do with themselves, and they get stressed out, and they’re doing pushups’.” Like Barbie Land, the setting of The Bachelorette is female-led, and men are not assigned any real decision-making.
Throughout Barbie, Gosling’s Ken has a bitter rival with another Ken, played by Simu Liu. Liu challenges Gosling to win over the affections of a rather ambivalent Barbie, who frequently rejects his advances. When Gosling’s Ken brings patriarchy to Barbie Land, renamed “Kendom,” the fight among the Kens for power causes a civil war.
“They kind of are competitive with each other. And it’s like, if one guy wears glasses and then another guy wears glasses, he’s like ‘No you took my thing! I’m the guy with glasses!'” Gerwig recalled. The director clearly took those ideas on board, as the Ken war occurs right at the film’s climax. It took mere days for the Kens to turn to violence out of jealousy and threats to their identities.
Like the guys on The Bachelorette, then, any of the Kens in the movie have their own, nondescript “thing” that they’re known for – and Gosling’s job is just beach.