Do we like them?

Do we like Barbie?

A character from Barbie (2023)

Our score: 8 out of 10. Yes, we'd back her. She starts out bubbly and a bit clueless, but she's kind and brave, and she owns her mistakes. We'd follow her out of Barbieland.

Barbie is the original "Stereotypical Barbie". She's blonde, sunny and fabulously dressed, and she lives in Barbieland, a pink paradise where every day is the best day ever. The Barbies run everything and the Kens mostly hang about on the beach. Then she starts having thoughts she's never had before, and her flawless routine begins to glitch.

To fix things she has to leave Barbieland for the real world, with an uninvited Ken tagging along. Robbie plays her as sweet and a little bit vacant, then gradually more vulnerable and self-aware. Critics noted that she gives a character with no real personality, by design, both warmth and life, so you root for her all the way.

Why 8? She's endlessly likable and her heart is in the right place. She also begins the story a little self-absorbed, and she takes Ken for granted. Facing that is part of her growth, and it makes her more than a doll in a dream house. We back her, though we'd tell her to pay Ken more attention.

When she returns, she finds Ken has brought patriarchy to Barbieland. She has to win her home back, and she eventually chooses to become a real, mortal human being with all the mess that comes with it. She does that after a quiet talk with Ruth Handler, the woman who created her.