Do we like them?

Do we like Ken?

A character from Barbie (2023)

Our score: 6 out of 10. A big-hearted, hopelessly insecure goofball who does real damage by accident. We'd back him, though only after he sorts himself out and with a firm word first.

Ken lives in Barbieland, a bright pink world where every Barbie has an important job and every Ken is just a Ken. Ken's own job is "beach". His real purpose is to look good and be near Barbie, and he lives for her attention. She barely notices him.

Ken isn't a villain by nature. He's more a sweet, ditzy boy with no sense of self, who treats Barbie's small rejections as big heartbreaks. That mix of sincerity and neediness is what makes him funny and a bit sad. It's why we lean toward backing him.

He stows away on Barbie's trip to the real world. There he sees how men are treated and decides he likes it. He takes the idea back to Barbieland and leads a Ken takeover that pushes the Barbies aside. It's a bloodless coup, but it's still a real wrong.

He ends up learning that his worth doesn't depend on Barbie. That earns him a decent score. His stumble is real, but the film plays it as a boy who needs to grow up, not a tyrant, and he gets there.