How The Giver Inspired Kate McKinnon's Character In Barbie
Although we still don't know exactly what "Barbie" will be about, we've gleaned enough from the trailers to know that Margot Robbie's Barbie is trapped inside a fake Barbie world, and that she'll have to journey into our world to see what else life has in store. That decision is shown in the first trailer, where Kate McKinnon's Barbie offers her a choice. She can either choose the comforts of delusion (represented by the Barbie slipper) or embrace the uncomfortable reality that will set her free (represented by the far-less-glamorous sandal.) Unlike Neo in "The Matrix," Robbie's Barbie picks the blue pill, only for McKinnon's Barbie to bluntly tell her, "You have to want to know, okay? Do it again."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, co-writer and director Greta Gerwig explained that Kate McKinnon's character is basically the personification of a Barbie doll that's been played around with way too roughly by her child owners:
"We grew up in a neighborhood where there were a lot of girls older than me. So I had a lot of hand-me-down Barbies that had already gotten a haircut by the time I got them. It was like, 'Well, we have to do that.' It felt almost like a spiritual conduit to the world of play through that Barbie."
In the movie, it seems like McKinnon's Barbie is going to play a contrasting role: Instead of introducing the main character through the world of play, she'll be her conduit into the world of reality. "Remember that book 'The Giver,' by Lois Lowry, where the giver has all the colors and the feelings and stuff?" said Gerwig. "That's sort of what I thought about Kate's character. She would be like the giver in a way like she had the knowledge that everyone else didn't have."
What's this about The Giver?
"The Giver" is a 1993 YA dystopian novel about Jonas, a 12-year-old boy who's picked to basically take on the memories and emotions of his entire society. Everyone else in the town is seemingly happy with their lives, but that's only because all their real-world concerns have been taken away from them. Sure, it might seem good that nobody has to deal with hunger, pain, war, and so on, but they also don't get to experience anything like desire or love or independent thought. Much like Neo in "The Matrix" again, or probably like Barbie in this new film, Jonas ultimately finds that leading a full life in harsh reality is preferable to being half-alive in a comforting dream.
Undoubtedly there'll be plenty of differences between Lois Lowry's YA novel and "Barbie," but the big one will be when each story chooses to end. "The Giver" concludes with its main character leaving behind his emotionally-numbed community, unsure if he can survive outside of it. "Barbie," meanwhile, looks like it's going to have its main character leave the commune by the end of the first act.
For Kate McKinnon's Barbie's sake, let's hope this isn't the only difference between the stories. The Giver spends his whole life stuck in this dystopian society, choosing to stay behind at the end and buy time for Jonas to pursue freedom; hopefully McKinnon's character won't suffer the same fate. The trailers indicate she's not traveling with Barbie out of Barbieland, but maybe she'll still get to properly experience the Real World by the end.
"Barbie" opens in theaters on July 21, 2023.