“Wake up and see the sparkle!” is an iconic Barbie catchphrase that every person who grew up with a Barbie doll is familiar with. After playing with Barbie dolls during childhood, Barbie fans are finally able to wake up to a live–action version of their favorite role model, Barbie. Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of the classic “Barbie” franchise recently released a second teaser trailer on April 4, 2023 — perfectly capturing all the pink glitz and glam.
Within the one minute and forty-five seconds of flashing pink dream houses and glamorous musical numbers, viewers are introduced to the possible dynamics of the characters. For example, Asian Ken (Simu Liu) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) fight for the attention of the oblivious, but most ultimately affectionate Barbie (Margot Robbie).
The iconic first shot of the trailer shows Barbie slowly stepping into her sparkling, pink high heels and then stepping out of them with her feet still in the default bent position that plastic dolls assume, as if they were still in the heels. The goosebumps that the audience collectively felt while watching those first few seconds will forever mark the influence that the doll toy had on its wide range of fans.
There are also other Barbie characters who reflect the influential diversity that the franchise has been aiming to promote since it started. To flow with the ever-changing generations of children, Gerwig made sure that body inclusivity, character diversity, and the pursuit of big influential careers are central focuses of the film since they impact the way children see themselves and their place in the world and their future. This development of spotlighting diversity is shown through the stacked cast of characters: President Barbie (Issa Rae), Doctor Barbie (Hari Nef), Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), Gymnast Barbie (Kate McKinnon) and Journalist Barbie (Ritu Arya). At this point, audiences would assume that Gerwig threw all her efforts into the casting.
The trailer is perfect in many ways, but what sets it apart from many other trailers is that it gives away nothing about the plot of the movie. Despite the trailer’s ambiguous nature, there are some commonly predictable theme anticipations. For instance, Gerwig is celebrated for her feminist and quirky twist to her adaptations, which is most famously seen in “Lady Bird”, spotlighting the life of an emotionally and physically maturing teenage girl. Therefore, audiences can predict deep and symbolic messages that reflect current social issues, that range from fights for feminist movements to present problems that are imposed on the youth, through the eyes of Barbie. Based on her past projects, like “Lady Bird”, she has never disappointed in satisfying the character archetypes that fall under some sort of feminine growth and self-empowerment driven by determined women.
While looking over the reviews of the trailer, there were many comments emphasizing the fact that most movie trailers today tragically fail to execute a decent tease compared to the way the “Barbie” trailer was executed. The purpose of a trailer is to give away what the movie might look like and who the characters might be played by. It is evident that many movie trailers today fail to entice the anticipation of their audiences by giving away half the gags and revealing the whole basic plot. This is the very thing that the “Barbie” trailer doesn’t do. Only the characters and the dreamy Barbie world were introduced to us, as well as some hints of comedic elements that the audience should expect to see. But other than what Barbie fans already know about the characters and the Barbie world, nothing much about the plot is revealed at all. Audiences are left in awe and confusion as to what Gerwig might pull on us this time.
When trailers give away most of the movie’s plot, it gives the audience the feeling that they’ve seen what they needed to see, not allowing for that yearning and captivation of wanting more to fulfill their curiosity. The main function of trailers like “Barbie,” though, is that they promise a visually pleasing and cinematically delightful experience. Simply put, the audience is in for a bumpy ride, but they’ll still enjoy every single moment of it. The fact that nothing was fully explained allows for that imaginative openness and allure, which is the thing that really pulls an audience in.
The audience is also teased with some gags that allude to the simplistic comedy genre that is going to be emphasized throughout the movie. There’s a “beach-off” gag that further gives us insight into the trivially hostile relationship between Ken and Asian Ken. The trailer also shows Barbie driving on the highway while passing a sign that says, “Real World This Way,” indicating that Barbie might be leaving her perfect plastic dream world for a reason that we have yet to find out.
While viewers still have until July 21 to watch the film, it will be no surprise when Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” hits the screen and blows up in positive numbers of views, profit and praiseworthy film critiques. What a perfect plastic way to start the summer!
Cameryn Nguyen is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at camerynn@uci.edu.
