LOS ANGELES — The movie “Barbie” has garnered admiration on the internet for its ambitious advertising campaign, which included numerous pop-up installations, a Boston boat cruise and even a huge Malibu Dreamhouse available to book on Airbnb.
So naturally the movie couldn’t kick off its world premiere with a normal red carpet.
On Sunday, the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in downtown Los Angeles transformed into a corner of Barbie Land, complete with a wave sculpture, a lighthouse, a lifeguard tower, a pink mini Corvette and a dream house for two floors with a slide for stars to interact and pose with while strutting around on the pink Barbie carpet.
“It’s crazy – I feel like I’m back on set,” jokes Scott Evans, who plays a Ken doll with co-stars Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu, on the mat.
For many film stars, Barbie was an integral part of childhood. Michael Cera, who plays an abandoned Allan doll in the film, describes the iconic Mattel toy as “part of the language of childhood and imagination and developing ideas and experimenting with your imagination”.
As soon as he discovered the film, he said he knew it would be “a huge cultural moment”.
“I’ve never been personally involved in a project that got so much attention before we even finished doing it or started doing it,” he says of the hype surrounding the film, which has inspired memes and a strong reaction on social media since photos of Margot Robbie as Barbie and Gosling as Ken hit the internet last year. “I feel like he had fans even before we did it, and I understand why.”
America Ferrera, who plays a human in the film, says she had a more distant relationship with Barbie growing up, noting that she didn’t see herself portrayed in the toy. The film, she says, seeks to show how all women can identify with the doll, no matter who they are.
“The meaning of Barbie has changed and changed, and it’s not about a standard of beauty, a standard of femininity,” she says. “The message of this film is that you are enough for who you are and what makes you unique is what you should celebrate.”
Greta Gerwig, actors reveal the most morbid things they’ve done to their Barbie dolls
For many people who grew up with Barbie, it was a childhood rite of passage to destroy the doll, cut her hair, scribble on it with crayons, or implicate poor Barbie in otherwise heinous acts.
Greta Gerwig, who directed the film and co-wrote it with partner Noah Baumbach, says most of the abuse she inflicted on her Barbie dolls as a child was “all hair related”.
“First you start by pulling the braid out, then you brush it out, then you see if you can curl it with a curling iron — you can’t, it melts — and then you cut it all off,” she says. , adding that it “ruined the curling iron.”
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Alexandra Shipp, who plays a Barbie in the film, smirks after admitting she once burned her Barbie’s hair “just to see what it would do” (Spoiler alert: it burned), and Hari Nef, another Barbie in the film, says she subjected her dolls to more sophisticated forms of torture.
“I didn’t really mutilate them physically, but I engaged them interpersonally in really messed up psychodramas, like adultery, theft, cheating and crime,” she says. “My Barbies didn’t behave well, but they looked amazing.”
‘Barbie’ Scores Stellar First Reactions: ‘Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar Nomination’
A screening of the film followed the treadmill, and early reactions poured in soon after on social media.
Katcy Stephan, Varied Social Media Editor tweeted that the film “is perfection”.
“Greta Gerwig delivers a nuanced commentary on what it means to be a woman in a game that’s whimsical, wonderful, and fun,” Stephan wrote. “The entire cast shines, especially Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in roles they were clearly born for.”
twitter user @EzeBaum called it “a triumph”.
More: ‘Barbie’ Movie Shares New Images of Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling’s Real-World Dolls
“A pitch-perfect script backed by great performances – especially from Ryan Gosling – transforms what could be a simple studio comedy into a pointed commentary on our society that makes its nuance palatable to those who don’t take it at face value. “, the user writes.
Gosling’s turn as Ken has garnered widespread praise, with some Twitter users already generating Oscar buzz.
“I can’t officially leave Twitter until I tell you all this. #Barbie is currently my favorite film of the year”, @JamieCinematics tweeted. “Greta Gerwig has kind of exceeded my expectations. She addresses the positives and negatives of Barbie so well. Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination, I’m very serious!”
“#Barbie is Ryan Gosling’s best role to date – Greta Gerwig takes everything that made him great in his previous films and combines them into a Super-Gosling” @EHeckler writing. “The Oscar buzz is real, and if it happened, it would be one of the funniest and most inspirational nominations in recent memory.”
More: Margot Robbie Recreates ‘Barbie’ Pink Outfits for Movie Premieres, Press Tour: See Photos
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Barbie’ Movie: Greta Gerwig, Actors Reveal What They Did To The Dolls