Ryan Gosling's Gift To Barbie's Cast And Crew Perfectly Encapsulated Ken
Judging by some of the stories to have come out of the production of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie," the making of the movie was a delight for everyone involved. For instance, /Film recently reported that the cast of the film kicked off filming with a slumber party for all the Barbies. Kens were not invited, although they were welcome to visit briefly, send gifts, or call in to say hello. Not surprisingly, Michael Cera, the actor to play the nondescript non-Ken Allan, was not invited to even say hello. Gerwig also held screenings every Sunday morning — a kind of "movie church" — to communicate to her cast what vibe she was seeking. The director even wrote a short prayer to Barbie that she recited to Warner Bros. executives. The film was playful and bubbly because the production was playful and bubbly.
Ryan Gosling plays the most prominent Ken in "Barbie," and his performance as a wounded puppy-dog-man is certainly one of the film's many highlights. Over the course of "Barbie," Ken learns, for the first time, that the patriarchy exists in the faraway "real world." Ken takes this forbidden knowledge back to the Eden of Barbieland and spreads discord in the female-run utopia. He feels it's time for the men to be in charge, although, in his mind, that merely means merely having the uninterrupted ability to mansplain "The Godfather" and sing Machtbox 20 songs unironically. He begins adopting absurd, masculine-sounding language as well, calling his home the Mojo Dojo Casa House.
Gosling wanted to represent Ken's half-hearted assertions toward the patriarchy as well, giving his fellow cast members a series of gift-wrapped t-shirts. According to a recent video interview with the BBC, Gosling gave out shirts that said "When you Ken like lightning, you crash like thunder."
When you Ken Like Lightning, You Crash Like Thunder
The phrase, like much of Ken's naive attempts to sound manly, is entirely meaningless in the context of "Barbie." But it sounds cool, right? Savvy filmgoers will likely be able to recognize the phrase as a variant of a line of dialogue from Gosling's dour 2013 intergenerational crime drama "The Place Beyond the Pines." If you ride like lightning, the quote goes, you're gonna crash like thunder. It was used in several "Pines" previews.
In addition to the phrase, Gosling pointed out that his shirts also featured an image of a long-maned blonde horse with a headband. Ken is obsessed with horses.
In a different BBC interview, Gerwig also commented on Gosling's t-shirts, and it seems that he had made several, each one with the blonde horse. Gerwig also pointed out that such t-shirts may count as licensed merchandise, so Gosling had to get permission from the studio to print them. It seems he was able to make collectibles of this nature because he left Barbie herself off of them. Gerwig said:
"Because we shot most of it here in Leavesden, he made these shirts that say, like, 'Kenergy tour, live from Leavesden,' with, like, a horse with a blond wig on it. Anyway, I remember when he was making these t-shirts, he — at one point — had had Barbie on it too. He had to go through a process with Mattel and they said, 'You can't use Barbie. [...] We're very sensitive about Barbie.' He was like, 'What about Ken?' They were like, 'Oh you can do whatever you want with Ken, we don't care about Ken.'"
Indeed, no one cares about Ken, which is, Gerwig points out, a central theme of her movie.
We don't care about Ken
Gerwig even said:
"And it was like, literally, that's what the movie is! And they were like, 'You can use that, it doesn't matter.' They really were like, 'Hmm, you can't use Barbie, we don't want you to make a shirt that's anything Barbie, but yeah, go for it, Ken, who cares?'"
In Barbieland, Barbie is everything while Ken doesn't exist unless a Barbie is looking at him. Without anyone really realizing it, Ken is beginning to feel neglected as a love interest. He dates Barbie, but she's too busy throwing slumber parties and being blissfully happy in her perfect life to notice. What happens to a whiny male deferred? Does he explode?
Warner Bros. may have been sensitive about Ken, although there was no word as to whether or not Roadshow Films, the studio behind "The Place Beyond the Pines," minded if their line of dialogue — written by Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder — was used in such a fashion. Given the phraseology, it seems that it was in fair use. It's delightful to hear, though, that Gosling has a sense of humor about one of his most humorless movies.
One might wonder if Gosling also had pink scorpion jackets made for the cast and crew.