Barbie (2023) (2 Viewers)

[Winston T. Boogie]

I got a mild chuckle out of that 2001 parody trailer. My granddaughter, 12yo and likely part of the target audience, wasn't impressed, didn't "get it," and is completely uninterested in the picture after she discovered it's "live action."

I am thinking the "target audience" for this is over 30. They have to walk a difficult line here in that if the picture were to be made to appeal to children that play with the dolls, it likely would have no appeal to adults. My guess here is that all of the jokes and gags are going to be aimed at forward thinking adults.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Agreed. An unusually ”smart” trailer. “Smart” as in its use of 2001.

So, the one thing the trailer told me was, no child is going to have a clue what that trailer is a parody of. Hell, it could be said that most people under 35 won't know what that trailer is doing. So, they create a teaser that appeals, probably mostly to people over 40, those people and or film buffs will get it. Everybody else, no clue.

 

[Joe Wong]

So, the one thing the trailer told me was, no child is going to have a clue what that trailer is a parody of. Hell, it could be said that most people under 35 won't know what that trailer is doing. So, they create a teaser that appeals, probably mostly to people over 40, those people and or film buffs will get it. Everybody else, no clue.

Those who don’t recognize the reference to 2001 will probably take it at its face value. Which may or may not speak to them.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

No idea, mainly what it says to me is the filmmakers are fans of Kubrick. I love the trailer for that reason. Not sure what the trailer would say about Barbie to someone that is not familiar with Kubrick's work.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

My feeling is they are going to attempt to do something smart and interesting with this film that comments on our society...not make a film about a toy doll. There is nothing interesting about a toy doll, it gets interesting when you use the toy to comment on human beings.

Based on who is making this picture, this looks like it could be a very biting satire. I love satire but sadly, at this point in human history, people really dislike satire. I obviously don't know what they have done on this film but when I think of the possibilities of what could be done with a Barbie picture, I see them as potentially hilarious but of an adult nature. So, oddly, were I making a Barbie film, it would be an R rated adventure. The older generations grew up with Barbie and all of the idiotic commercials for the toy and I think they would appreciate it more than kids would. Even my 5 year old niece seems fairly uninterested in Barbie.

 

[TravisR]

Those who don’t recognize the reference to 2001 will probably take it at its face value. Which may or may not speak to them.

Yeah, I think it will play as a joke to someone who wasn't alive in 2001 (let alone having seen 2001: A Space Odyssey) and it plays as a fun parody of 2001 to those that get the reference.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I am thinking the "target audience" for this is over 30. They have to walk a difficult line here in that if the picture were to be made to appeal to children that play with the dolls, it likely would have no appeal to adults. My guess here is that all of the jokes and gags are going to be aimed at forward thinking adults.

Plenty of movies manage to appeal to kids and adults - it doesn't have to be either/or.

That said, I agree this one seems to be shooting 99% for adults.

You don't hire Gerwig and Baumbach to make a movie meant for 9-year-olds.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Why not? This seems like a film meant for parents and children to enjoy together, with each appreciating different things about it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I agree with Josh.

I don't think Gerwig and Baumbach would make a movie exclusively for nine-year-olds that adults would be bored by. They'll make something that works for children and also works for adults. But there is no question that children are certainly going to be a big part of the target audience for a Barbie movie, and that's fine. It would be a misunderstanding of the Barbie brand not to expect children to be part of the audience for this film.

 

[TravisR]

Wasn't Noah Baumbach a writer on a Madagascar movie? I don't really think of him as a guy who makes "kids' movies" but he has done it before.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Wasn't Noah Baumbach a writer on a Madagascar movie?

Yes. That is an excellent point. I had forgotten about this until you mentioned it, but Baumbach is one of multiple writers credited for the screenplay of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted from 2012. As far as I know, Gerwig was not involved in that project.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Smart and bonkers. I'm more likely to go see this than I was before, so the trailer did its job.

 

[BobO'Link]

So, the one thing the trailer told me was, no child is going to have a clue what that trailer is a parody of. Hell, it could be said that most people under 35 won't know what that trailer is doing. So, they create a teaser that appeals, probably mostly to people over 40, those people and or film buffs will get it. Everybody else, no clue.

Yep - I had to explain it to my 12yo granddaughter and followed with "You really need to see the first 10 or so minutes of 2001 to fully understand."

 

[Edwin-S]

If children are the main target audience for this film then a parody of the "Dawn of Man" sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey does not exactly look like the smartest way of generating interest in a demographic that doesn't even know that 2001: A Space Odyssey exists.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If the 2001 reference is in the movie, and not something that they filmed just for the trailer, it will be just one sequence in a movie that will run an hour and a half or two hours. I'm sure there will be a lot of things in the movie that children will understand.

I was four years old when Aladdin came out and I didn't understand all of the Genie's pop culture references at that age. But I still loved the movie because it wasn't about the pop culture references. In those moments, I just saw the Genie being funny and wasn't even aware I was missing a reference. But it still worked for me. There was enough in that movie to speak to me as a child for me to love it, and then I grew up and understood more of the winks and nods to other things later in life. But I didn't love the movie any less at age four.

If Greta Gerwig has made a good movie here, it will work the same way. Children will get one thing out of it and adults will get another and hopefully everybody will be happy.

 

[jayembee]

If the 2001 reference is in the movie, and not something that they filmed just for the trailer, it will be just one sequence in a movie that will run an hour and a half or two hours. I'm sure there will be a lot of things in the movie that children will understand.

I could very well be wrong about this, but I have my doubts that any of the 2001 parody shots in the trailer will be in the film itself. If anything, that's what makes this trailer so wonderful. It makes me nostalgic for the days when people knew how to make trailers that were their own thing and not just a concatenation of scenes from the movie.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

They are smart to be selling the Barbie movie not just to little kids with brand awareness who will automatically want to see it, but also to the parents who will have to decide whether to take the kids to the theater and pay for tickets or wait until home video.

 

[Edwin-S]

A Space Odyssey parody doesn't seem like an ideal way to sell this film to parents either. 2001: ASO doesn't strike me as a film that the average parent would have any knowledge or care about. It only works for film fans with an interest in SF.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's not like this is the only piece of marketing Barbie is going to have. The purpose of this trailer seems to be to announce the movie is coming to people who didn't already know about it. I'm sure there is going to be a lot more to come between now and next July when the movie actually comes out, probably including more traditional trailers. This one certainly got people like us talking. The other ones closer to the release date can focus on drawing in other segments of the audience.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Plenty of movies manage to appeal to kids and adults - it doesn't have to be either/or.

That said, I agree this one seems to be shooting 99% for adults.

You don't hire Gerwig and Baumbach to make a movie meant for 9-year-olds.

Yes, I mean I feel like they are intelligent filmmakers. I think they are capable of writing and creating a picture that plays to kids or adults or both. Obviously, I think this first trailer is to hook adults. It hooked me and I had no intention of seeing this. Now I will because the 2001 parody got me. I don't expect that to be in the film. It seems unrelated to whatever the picture is about. The trailer goes from a great 2001 parody to a sort of disco Barbie thing, with the music and dancing and the brightly colored plastic sets. That part of the trailer did not hook me, but the 2001 bit did.

To me the 2001 joke was telling me, "Hey, we're going to do something funny and satirical with this." which I hope is what they do. The disco Barbie part of the trailer kind of reminded me of that Flintstones movie with John Goodman, which I thought was a pretty lousy picture but did have a couple actors in it that I liked. I hope Barbie turns out better, but I basically think that with Gerwig at the helm it will be much more than a lame attempt at a toy movie.