Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Gebunden

Klappentext

This volume brings together an international array of contributors to analyse Greta Gerwig's unprecedented success, Barbie (2023), exploring how a film released in a moment of industrial crisis for Hollywood became the highest-grossing film directed or co-directed by a woman.

Contributors delve into the film's cultural context, exploring how it engages with the ambiguities of contemporary feminism, reproductive politics, race and representation, and contemporary ecological issues. They contrast the film's commercial success against its lukewarm critical reception, considering why it was snubbed at the Academy Awards and criticised as a prime example of 'Marketplace Feminism'. Chapters also examine the central significance of music within the film, as well as the critical role played by male characters, particularly Ryan Gosling's 'Ken'.

Placing Barbie within the wider context of Gerwig's career, contributors trace her continuing exploration of gender, identity, and consumer culture. Finally, they assess Barbie as an 'out-of-character' event film that not only unsettles the boundaries of the media industries but may have permanently reshaped the landscape of cinema made for and about women.