Ken in the Longhouse
Barbie isn't the only one who had a classic character arc
Jacob Falkovich recently published his two-part analysis of the Barbie movie, arguing that it is a coming-of-age story wherein Barbie goes through a hero’s journey, transitions from child to adult, and rejects the false, childish framing of the longhouse - collectively-enforced female norms - in favor of living in the real world where she can choose her own path.
He argues that the director hid an esoteric meaning underneath the surface-level interpretation. On its face, the movie is all about corporate girl-power feminism, but underneath it is a critique of the way women police each other’s behavior. I don’t disagree with anything in Jacob’s analysis, and I think it’s quite insightful. But I also think, intentional or not, there is another classical Greek story structure hidden underneath the surface: the story of Ken. Much like Barbie, Ken embodies a classic literary archetype. While Barbie goes on the hero’s journey, Ken’s story is that of a tragic hero.
Ken is the designated villain of the Barbie movie. He is a member of an oppressed underclass, who is kept marginalized, powerless, and even homeless by the ruling faction. In a different story, his uprising would be seen as heroic and its ultimate failure seen as disasterous. In Barbie, it’s played for laughs.
That’s because in Barbieland, Kens are not the equals of the Barbies. They are not even on the same plane of existence. In Barbieland, Kens are mortals and Barbies are Gods. Ken’s ultimate crime is that of hubris - the arrogance to think of himself as equal to a God.
Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility?
The theme of death is interesting in the Barbie movie. Death is the primary thing that separates Gods and mortals. The word “mortal” means “a being capable of dying.” Barbie’s crisis begins with thoughts about death - obvious inappropriate for a God - which causes her fellow Barbies to completely freak out. Yet Ken mentions death in his solo aria and nobody bats an eye. And of course they don’t. Death is natural for mortals.
The classic Aristotelean tragic hero is virtuous but capable of error. He is extraordinarily capable but has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. He typically holds a high place in society, but due to his flaw, commits great wrongs which ultimately lead to his fall from grace and punishment. Tragic heroes whose flaw is hubris typically defy the Gods, leading to a temporary increase in fortunes, only to be ultimately discovered and punished.
Ken begins the story as the highest of mortals. There is no explicit hierarchy, but the other Kens all seem to defer to him. He’s the most stereotypical Ken and he’s dating the most stereotypical Barbie. Due to his hubris, he demands more, leading to his downfall.
I have feelings that I can't explain drivin' me insane
Jacob describes the Kens this way:
The Kens are not just little boys, but little boys as seen through the eyes of little girls: obsessed with horses and trucks, posturing at each other with “beach offs”, acting out to get mom’s attention, socially naive. They are past the fart-joke stage but, crucially, have not yet entered sexual pubescence. Developmentally, they are perhaps 8-10 years old.
I mostly agree with this, except I think it’s a more accurate portrayal than Jacob does. In face, the Kens remind me an awful lot of myself in elementary school.
I had my first crush at age six, in first grade. From that point on, all that mattered to me was attention from girls. They might as well have been Gods to me. All day I would look forward to an opportunity to speak to the object of my worship. At the slightest indication of her favor, my heart would nearly fly out of my chest. At the same time, I had no idea how to get that kind of attention and no inkling that it could be taken by force. All of my efforts were the equivalent of prayer - demonstrating my devotion (but not too much lest she be annoyed) in the hope of becoming her champion.
When we meet Ken, he is in a similar state. He’s not “acting out to get mom’s attention.” He’s desperate for attention and validation from his girlfriend, despite not knowing what he even wants to do with her.
The problem is that Barbie is not really Ken’s girlfriend. Barbie is an divine being who, much like Zeus, occasionally descends to Earth for a dalliance with mortals. Ken has no hope for what he wants - an egalitarian relationship. The best he can ever hope for is a “long term long distance low commitment casual girlfriend.” If he could be happy with that, he would have been fine. But his arrogance leads him to want more, so he defies his God and stows away with Barbie to the real world.
Anywhere Else I’d Be a Ten
On Olympus, Zeus ruled with an iron fist. In Barbieland, the Gods all share collective power and responsibility for norm enforcement. In modern discourse, this is called “the longhouse,” which Jacob describes as
a culture, one whose cardinal values are equality, surveillance, and safetyism. Barbie Land is the platonic ideal: a panopticon of transparent houses, a safe space where no one dominates and where nothing ever happens.
Fundamentally, the longhouse is a political regime. That is: a system for enforcing collective power over the individual. It is not an autocracy ruled by a queen; Barbie Land’s own president does no actual presiding. The longhouse is the rule of female norms enforced collectively by all women.
One of the central tenets of the longhouse that Jacob doesn’t mention is that men and women are fundamentally different from one another. In Barbieland, women are Gods, and Gods have a role to play. They live in dreamhouses, like the color pink, enjoy all-night dance parties, and have pointed toes. This is evident when Barbie’s heels touch the ground. The other Barbies are horrified and insist that she go fix herself immediately lest she be nonconforming.
Kens, as mortals, do none of that. Barbieland, much like Olympus, has no defined role for mortals/men, and instead views them as unruly lesser creatures to be managed or ignored. They serve no actual purpose. Each Barbie is self-sufficient, with a job, her own house, a fully stocked pantry, social life, and “girls’ night every night forever.” There is no sexuality, or even any genitalia. His only job is “beach,” which isn’t a thing he actually does. So what is Ken for? At best, he’s an accessory, the equivalent of the Barbie Dreamcamper Vehicle Playset, there to add some context to Barbie but ultimately unimportant.
The Kens feel this intensely, but much like I felt in elementary school, they feel their only opportunity to be valuable is by receiving the favor of the Gods.
Is my moment finally here, or am I dreaming?
When Ken and Barbie exit Barbieland and encounter the real world, Barbie is horrified but Ken is thrilled! The surface-level reading is that Ken is excited that men are in charge. He craves the power to subjugate women and keep them in their place, and that’s exactly what he does upon his return to Barbieland. The Kens team up to brainwash all the Barbies into being subservient and marginalized in order to serve their unbounded egos. They flip the script and start treating the Barbies the way the Kens had been treated. Kens on top. Barbies off to the side, relegated to accessory.
Of course, that’s not what actually happens. When Ken learns about patriarchy, he’s not excited at the prospect of controlling women. The idea that he should force women into anything never even occurs to him. He’s excited at the prospect of throwing off the yoke of the divine order. He is giddy to discover a world outside of the longhouse where men are useful. They have an actual role to fulfill that’s valued and supported by society beyond as playthings for the Gods. That’s why his first move, far from trying to subjugate women, is to try to get a job. He just wants to feel valued. Unfortunately, he has no skills, and despite what his feminist books promised he can’t just walk into any room and be awarded a position.
After several rejections, Ken realizes that what he read about patriarchy was a lie and he’s not any more useful or valued in the real world than he was in Barbieland. It’s only then he returns to Barbieland and commits his ultimate act of hubris. He attempts to overthrow the Gods.
What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me?
Ken’s quick and decisive conquering of Barbieland is a way to show his competence, fitting of a tragic hero. While he had nothing to offer the real world, in Barbieland he is able to transform society while seemingly barely lifting a finger. Jacob how he did it:
why do the Barbies immediately capitulate to Ken’s “patriarchy”? He doesn’t threaten or lie or coerce them — he doesn’t need to (and almost certainly couldn’t). Yes, the Barbies get to take a break from their jobs. But these jobs don’t really demand much work of the Barbies, they’re not burned out by long days in the office.
What the Mojo Dojo Casa House offers the Barbies is freedom from the tyranny of the longhouse. From the constant surveillance and social punishment they are forced to subject each other to. From the cognitive dissonance of chirping “we’re in charge!” while being utterly powerless to change anything about their lives.
Ken, meanwhile, doesn’t seize power out of a sense of superiority or desire to dominate. He does it because he read a book that told him this is what a world looks like where he can have a purpose. At the end of the movie, he admits that he didn’t even like it.
He’s just doing what children do - acting out to get attention. Despite his pretentions to the contrary, all he actually wants is to bask in the glory of the Gods. The other Kens feel similarly. What do they actually do once they’ve seized power? Do they isolate and ignore the Barbies they way the Barbies did to them? Of course not. Despite their declarations of “boys’ night,” most of what they do is spend time one-on-one with Barbies, showing off and attempting to win their favor. Once they have the power to do anything they want, it turns out all they want is the favor of the Gods.
From an ancient Greek perspective, this is an act of monstrous blasphemy. Mortals simply cannot rule over Gods. It’s wrong. It’s wrong! Your typical movie viewer sees it the same way. They are fully bought in to the reasoning of the longhouse. Women rule. Men drool. Anything else is unacceptable. And so, when the Barbies play on the Kens’ adoration of them to deceive the Kens into giving up the shreds of autonomy they’ve managed to scrape together, it’s presented as a happy ending. Barbies are in charge, and the Kens are relegated to accessories once again, without so much as a single Supreme Court Justice. Zeus rules over Olympus. Everything is right with the world.
I’m Just Ken
The climax of Ken’s story comes during the big musical number. The Kens start out warring with each other for the Barbies’ attention. But during the song, they realize that they are a brotherhood. They don’t need to fight for the Gods’ attention. They are “Just Ken” and that’s enough. In the final scene, Ken sports a sweater emblazoned with his new motto: “I am Kenough,” emphasizing that he has learned his lesson and will no longer make demands of the Gods for attention or favor. He will be content with what he can provide for himself.
The reason Ken is a tragic hero is that this represents his ultimate defeat and capitulation to the natural order of Barbieland. The surface reading is that Ken has gone through personal growth and realizes that he doesn’t need external validation to feel good about himself. But that doesn’t make any sense. While the Kens were fighting, the Barbies put everything back to how it was at the beginning. Ken still has no role and nothing to do. He’s even worse off than at the start because now he has no girlfriend. While Barbie escapes the longhouse, Ken stays behind. He does not get a chance to grow up and be an adult. Instead, he is welcomed back into the Barbieland, sufficiently chastened such that everyone is confident he won’t try any more shenanigans. It was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.
Whereas tragic Greek heroes tend to get punished in more overt ways, such as having their heart eaten every day or being cursed to roll a stone up a hill for eternity, Ken’s punishment is more gentle, but no less tragic. He is sentenced to eternal purposelessness. His punishment is girls’ night, every night, forever.