Why I, an intelligent person, loved “Barbie”

If you had told me a year ago that I would go not once, but twice, to see Barbie in theaters, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m not a girlie girl. I don’t love pink. But when friends proposed seeing the movie on opening weekend, I said yes. It just sounded like fun. Plus, Greta Gerwig was involved.

And fun is what I got. I knew Greta Gerwig would do something clever with “Barbie”, but I was totally delighted by what I saw. The first 20 minutes start off as a movie about a doll, but as the plot develops, things get more interesting. “Barbie” gets both funnier and deeper as it goes on- culminating in both a rock ballad sung by Ryan Gosling as Ken and a touching scene between Barbie and her creator where she ponders what it means to be a person. I loved it. I’ve now seen it twice.

It seems to me like the movie is resonating with younger views (sure, let’s call me and my 40-something friends young), whereas older women are more critical. Can they not allow themselves the pleasure of enjoying something frivolous? I am happy to let people know that this movie has unexpected depth. But I’m equally ready to defend its humor, too. It’s just fun. Allow yourself two hours to be swept away by a story that’s silly and sweet. Plus, it’s made by women, for women. Isn’t that enough?