Barbie Has Never Been a Great Symbol， but She's an Excellent Mirror

芭比從來就不是一個偉大的象征，但卻是一面絕佳的鏡子

By Andi Zeisler

The “Barbie“ movie arrives today as the culmination of a nearly 15-year process that started when Universal Pictures acquired the rights to the character. But Barbie's film debut also comes in the context of a much longer and more tortuous journey with an existential question at its core: After all these years， does Barbie still matter? And if she does， then… why?

電影《芭比》終于上映了，如今距離環(huán)球影業(yè)獲得芭比版權(quán)已過去近15年。但其實，這部電影上映的背后，是一段更漫長也更曲折的旅程，決定它存亡與否的核心問題在于：這么多年過去了，芭比還重要嗎？如果重要的話，是為什么？

Barbie looms as simultaneously an unrealistically proportioned airhead and a striving Everywoman. The trailer's tagline (“If you love Barbie， this movie is for you. If you hate Barbie， this movie is for you.“) is confirmation that Barbie is， in the most literal way， everyone's business.

芭比以一個身材離譜、大腦空空的形象問世，同時又代表了努力奮斗的普通女性。正如預告片中的宣傳語所言（“如果你喜愛芭比，這部電影適合你。如果你討厭芭比，這部電影也適合你。”），以最直白的方式表明，芭比和每個人都有關。

The “Barbie“ movie is about becoming your own hero or at least taking a hero's journey— one that leads Barbie into a real world that， for the most part， finds her either dangerous or irrelevant. It's a fitting approach， since the most interesting thing about Barbie has always been our reactions to her.

《芭比》這部電影講述的是如何成為自己的英雄，或者至少踏上一段英雄之旅的故事——旅程中芭比來到現(xiàn)實世界，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在多數(shù)時候，要么身陷險境，要么無足輕重。這一情節(jié)設計得恰如其分，因為芭比最有意思的點一直在于我們?nèi)绾慰创?

She never had to be a zero-sum figure， a thing you were either with or against. Many of us definitely saw her that way. That we did speaks only to the continuing challenges of a world that， even now， isn't sure whether women can be free of stereotypes or expectations and be allowed to simply exist.

芭比從來就不必是一個非黑即白的形象，一個你只能支持或抵制的形象。盡管我們中很多人就是這樣看待她的。這種做法只能說明，即使到了現(xiàn)在，這個世界仍然面臨重重挑戰(zhàn)，即我們?nèi)匀粺o法確定，女性能否擺脫外界的刻板印象或種種期待，能否被允許不被桎梏地簡單存在。