(Spoiler Warning) Plastic Doll Would have Worked in Barbie

[27monster27 12,901]

NOTE: Again this thread will contain spoilers for the Barbie movie.

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After having seen the movie myself I wanted to discuss whether or not the song would have actually worked in the movie. I think yes, and I'll explain why.

Prior to the movie coming out, a lot of us believed that the movie would be too light-hearted for Plastic Doll. However, now that the movie is out I personally think that it could have worked. In the movie, Barbie found eventually that she wanted to be in control of herself and her life with out the pressure of being controlled by a human or a man. Obviously the Plastic Doll lyrics come in, "Don't play with me. It just hurts me. I'm bouncing off the walls. No, no, no, I'm not your Plastic Doll". The chorus definitely fits the meaning. The pre-chorus does too in that is discusses growing tired of having to adhere to the same pattern over and over again.

The verses work because of Margot Robbie's character. She's supposed to be the stereotypical iconic Barbie that is built to the strongest caliber ("I am top shelf. They built me strong", "I'm state of art. I'm microchipped."). The "Am I your type?" makes think of how the people playing with Barbie dolls have the ability to affect them in Barbie Land by altering their looks and/or behaviors. The Barbie's have a quest to be perfect in the hands of their creator to keep their utopian lives perfect.

The bridge felt like a reference to how Barbie's life in utopia was slowly falling apart. "Tell me who dressed you? Where'd you get that hat? Why's she crying? What's the price tag? Who's that girl?". While we know this is a reference to how Lady Gaga perceived reactions to the Joanne era, this also discusses the pressures on women to be a certain way. In the movie, whenever a Barbie went "weird", they were ostracized for it and it was always pointed out by everyone else. I mean, several of them literally had live on the outskirts of their society because they weren't wanted where everything fun and happy was happening.

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Obviously Lady Gaga didn't write the song with the intention of the metaphors directly relating to the Barbie movie, but the songs lyrics can easily be reinterpreted to do so in my opinion. Thoughts?

 

[IWantYourLove 1,396]

You’re in my head, I had this exact thought yesterday lol. I totally agree 

[SimonBaetens 8,375]

It totally would have, but they chose to have 98% original music which I respect. Too bad Gaga wasn't on the soundtrack! I do wonder if she was ever in talks for it since Mark Ronson supervised it.

[Prigari 875]

The vulnerable aspect of the song will be destroyed by the reinterpretation in a movie THAT camp but yeah I know what you mean 

[Anderson123 38,067]

It does fit but I guess they didn’t ask, Gaga didn’t submit and they used mostly brand new music for it. It’s also my least favorite song from Chromatica so I never really cared about that happening anyway. 

[FATCAT 59,983]

2 minutes ago, Anderson123 said:

It does fit but I guess they didn’t ask, Gaga didn’t submit and they used mostly brand new music for it. It’s also my least favorite song from Chromatica so I never really cared about that happening anyway. 

Also movies like Barbie are usually looking for a hit song, so they use artists that are considered “hip” with teens. Most of the artists on the soundtrack are relatively new & from the age of tiktok. Even Nicki has Ice Spice on her song. 

[Pharamon 6,839]

random question but is tehre any place i can watch the movie in hd with subs? :))

[TimotheeChalamet 5,536]

13 hours ago, 27monster27 said:

 we know this is a reference to how Lady Gaga perceived reactions to the Joanne era

 

No 😂 it's a reference to her being sad and depressed and fans/public/producers only seeing her as a money or shallow music machine.

But I agree, it would have fitted the movie. It's not that much of a loss though, it works perfectly (from the soundtrack point of view, I didn't like the movie itself very much) without it