The trailers for the live-action Barbie movie directed by Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) give us a glimpse of Barbie Land, the different versions of Barbie and Ken, and more. Some suggestive references were made, which raises questions as to whether the Barbie movie is for adults.
The Barbie movie follows Margot Robbie's Barbie living in Barbie Land. Living in Barbie Land means being perfect in a perfect place.
But Barbie goes through an existential crisis and leaves. She journeys to the real world with Ken and realizes the true meaning of perfection and happiness.
In the teaser trailer, Ryan Gosling's Ken mentions staying over for the night because he and Barbie are boyfriend and girlfriend. Gosling's Ken also argues with Simu Liu's Ken about "beaching" each other off.
These raise questions as to whether the Barbie movie is for adults. This article discusses the age rating for the Barbie film and whether the movie is kid-friendly, or if it is for adults.
Why Is the Barbie Movie Rated PG-13?
According to the Motion Picture Association's official website, the Barbie movie is rated PG-13 for "suggestive references and brief language."
Thus, the film contains some content that may not be appropriate for children under 13 years of age.
Some of this content was already seen in the trailers, like references to sexual acts and the "beach you off" argument between Gosling's Ken and Liu's Ken.
Although the original Barbie films are for children and Barbie dolls are basically children’s toys, the film's rating shows that Barbie is not really aimed at kids.
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Is the Barbie Movie for Kids or Adults?
While a PG-13 film contains some content that may not be suitable for children, such content does not reach the level of intensity of an R-rated film.
So, while the Barbie movie is not entirely kid-friendly, it also isn't a film that only adults can watch.
The Barbie movie is more suitable for teenagers and adults, not kids. The movie contains mature themes as Barbie does go through an existential crisis.
The film also deals with gender roles, patriarchy, and other issues that are geared toward an older audience. There's also talk about private parts.
So, there are things that kids would not fully understand. However, they could still get entertained by the comedy in the movie as well as the musical sequences.
But despite that, parents are urged to be cautious in PG-13 movies as the films have some content that may be inappropriate for children or pre-teenagers.
So, the original Barbie movies such as Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie as Rapunzel, Barbie of Swan Lake, and Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper would be the more appropriate Barbie movies for kids.
You can watch the trailer for the Barbie film below:
The synopsis for the Barbie movie reads:
"A doll living in Barbieland is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world."
The Barbie movie stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The cast also includes Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Ariana Greenblatt, Helen Mirren, Connor Swindells, Nicola Coughlan, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Reha Perlman, Ritu Arya, Alexandra Shipp, Emerald Fennell, America Ferrera, Jamie Demetriou, Issa Rae and more.
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