The Big Picture
- Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie embodies comic timing and absurd mannerisms in her role, breaking away from harmful stereotypes.
- The presence of a trans actress in Barbie challenges societal norms and provides a subversive portrayal of trans identity.
- Hari Nef's performance not only enhances the film's comedy but also reinforces the importance of embracing vulnerability and breaking free from societal expectations in the journey of self-discovery.
In April 2023, the world finally saw Hari Nef as a Barbie. A poster displaying Nef’s Barbie character Dr. Barbie was released, and this performer had to celebrate the occasion on social media. In addition to sharing the poster, Nef also revealed a letter she wrote to writer/director Greta Gerwig about what being in Barbie would mean to her as a trans woman. In the piece, Nef noted that "Barbie's the standard; she's The Girl" before noting that she and her other trans gal pals had begun calling themselves "the dolls" in recent years. Even though there was more than a hint of irony in this term, it still meant something to her and her comrades. "We call ourselves 'the dolls',” Nef explained, “In the face of everything we know we are, never will be, hope to be. We yell the word because the word matters."
In her Barbie performance, “doll” Hari Nef indulges in her gifts for comic timing and committing to extremely absurd mannerisms (the latter quality hysterically featured in her intense depiction of faux-vomiting) throughout her role as Dr. Barbie. Even better, it’s a role that doesn’t force Nef to occupy harmful stereotypes that dominate many roles trans folks are cast in. Dr. Barbie is never even defined as being trans within the narrative of the film! Writer/director Greta Gerwig’s treatment of Nef in Barbie doesn’t sensationalize the presence of a trans lady in Barbieland… but, of course, that hasn’t stopped dumb criticism over Nef’s presence in Barbie. Right-wing bigots and grifters have tried to turn the very existence of a trans person in the cast of Barbie as a reason to claim the apocalypse is occurring. For instance, the Christian website Plugged In referenced the presence of Hari Nef in its "Sexual Content" section while warning parents about the fact that the actress is simply in the film in the first place.
It's all intolerant poppycock that reaffirms how no handling of trans identity will ever please people predisposed to hating this community. However, none of it takes away from the countless joys of seeing Hari Nef occupy her specific role within the narrative of Barbie.
Barbie
PG-13ComedyAdventureFantasyA beloved doll, known for her perfect life in an idyllic, colorful world, finds herself on an unexpected journey when she starts to feel out of place. Seeking answers, she leaves her fantastical home and steps into the real world, where she experiences the highs and lows of human life. With the help of new friends, she navigates the challenges of identity and purpose, discovering the importance of authenticity and inner strength.
Release Date July 21, 2023 Director Greta Gerwig Cast Margot Robbie , Simu Liu , Ryan Gosling , Helen Mirren , Ariana Greenblatt , America Ferrera Runtime 114 minutesHari Nef Was Perfect Casting For ‘Barbie’
In the 2014 short film, She Told Me She Was Dead, Hari Nef, in one of her very first acting roles, portrayed Amber Mugabe, a famous figure tormented by relentless paparazzi. This role, combined with her forays into modeling in 2015, immediately instilled a sense of splendor in Nef's silver screen persona. She wasn't just an ordinary soul, she was so glamorous she inhabited L’Oréal ads and played fictitious movie stars. Nef has the chops to play more grounded characters, like her role on Transparent or her various forays into the New York theater scene in plays like Daddy. However, she’s also shown a gift for playing human beings that instantly convey a grand sense of magnificence. Even her high school character in Assassination Nation is shown to be so powerful that she can snap her fingers and inspire music to just suddenly start blaring.
This quality meant that she was a perfect choice to play a member of Barbieland in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Within this movie, Nef’s talents for playing uber-polished and commanding figures, not to mention her knack for superb comic timing, are the focus of the role. Nef’s Dr. Barbie is primarily introduced by helping Ken (Ryan Gosling) heal from a surfing injury, while later on, she displays skills in operating a DJ booth. The confident energy emanating from Hari Nef makes the multi-talented facets of Dr. Barbie incredibly believable. They also provide a great contrast to Stereotypical Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) increasingly vulnerable qualities. As a cherry on top, Nef is an obvious expert on camp cinema legends like John Waters. If there’s anyone who would know how to inject some gloriously campy energy into Barbie, it’s her.
It also can’t be stressed enough that Hari Nef is an incredibly hilarious person, a quality that further makes her casting in Barbie a no-brainer. After all, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumabach’s screenplay is an incredibly wacky creation that often evokes classic Simpsons episodes and David Wain films in its nonchalant absurdity. Hef has no problem handling whatever outlandish comedy Barbie threw her away. Most notably, her gift for comic timing and line deliveries make Dr. Barbie’s attempts to mimic what a “brainwashed” Barbie would sound like outright hysterical. There’s such an intentionally stilted quality to her line deliveries as if Dr. Barbie is just repulsed by the idea of even faking she’s not the smartest person in the room.
As folks like Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights have demonstrated, it takes a lot of talent to accurately convey “rigid” or “artificial” acting. Nef’s stiff portrayal of Dr. Barbie in this sequence exudes that level of talent and then some. It’s a remarkable supporting performance that proves incredibly charming and memorable without overwhelming the lead turns of Robbie, Gosling, and America Ferrera. Just in terms of Nef’s acting, her work as Dr. Barbie is something remarkable. However, the way Barbie handles a character portrayed by an actress who happens to be trans adds another deeply moving layer to how wonderful this character is.
Why Seeing Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie Is So Important
It’s no secret trans folks haven’t been portrayed well in mainstream cinema throughout history. The sensationalism and misery that have defined so many trans figures in American cinema make the presence of Hari Nef in Barbie already immediately a subversive act. This is a feature rooted in the visual influence of Jacques Demy and Powell & Pressburger rather than the cinematography norms of The Danish Girl or The Crying Game. It’d typically be preposterous to even expect a trans performer to have a throwaway role in such gloriously bubbly confines. Plus, presenting trans folks in any context might make some cis-viewers uncomfortable and that can never ever happen!!
As a rebuke to these deeply entrenched norms, Dr. Barbie is casually depicted as just another Barbie in Barbieland. The character is never even referred to as trans. Her primary attributes instead are her medical and DJing skills, not to mention her repulsion at the sight of flat feet. This allows Hari Nef a chance to establish a personality for the character beyond just being potentially seen as a “token” trans figure. Still, trans viewers conscious of Hari Nef playing the role will undoubtedly get an irrepressible grin seeing moments like Dr. Barbie brushing a lady’s hair and urging Stereotypical Barbie to join them for “girls' night.” A trans woman is just a part of the gal group, a development never treated as something unique or unusual. If only that was the norm in the real world!
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Returning to the ways Dr. Barbie subverts cinema norms, it’s also great to see Hari Nef’s character occupying a movie planted firmly in the world of mainstream comedies. These crowdpleaser affairs often would only reference trans folks as punchlines. Their very existence would be boiled down to their genitals before cis-characters began vomiting profusely. Just look at titles like Ace Ventura Pet Detective, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, or The Hangover: Part II for proof of how widespread this phenomenon is. As late as the second half of the 2010s, projects like Zoolander 2, Baywatch, and Deadpool were still engaging in transphobic rhetoric to score easy laughs. By contrast, Barbie’s rampant silliness finds humor in more inspired sources than regurgitating trans jokes that were tired in 1997. Hari Nef is here to deliver a performance that reinforces the absurd, comedic atmosphere of Barbie rather than get relentlessly mocked by cis-people.
A genre of mainstream entertainment previously used to dehumanize trans folks is now a vessel to reinforce the talents of Hari Nef. Even better, the third act includes a moment where Ryan Gosling’s Ken refers to Dr. Barbie as “beautiful.” Granted, that comment comes as Ken is displaying chauvinism. Still, it’s still disappointingly rare to see a big-budget movie pause for a moment where a cis-man recognizes a trans woman as pretty without it being the prelude to a dehumanizing joke.
Barbie doesn’t draw attention to the fact that one of the more prominent and comedically memorable residents of Barbieland is played by a trans woman. However, whether intentional or not, the treatment of Dr. Barbie throughout the story subverts various harmful stereotypes of how trans folks are often portrayed in movies. Even better, the inclusion of Hari Nef in the confines of a big mainstream comedy redefines the kinds of roles trans people can occupy in American cinema. In so many ways, Barbie nonchalantly shatters the norms for mainstream representation and gives trans viewers the bubbly, brightly-colored vision of trans existence they may have never realized they’d been craving. Even better, the presence of Nef and other queer performers in the cast of Barbie reinforces one of the key themes of the entire movie.
What Was I Made For?
By the end of Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s third directorial effort has revealed itself to be a meditation on identity and the importance of breaking away from societal expectations to embrace our true selves. Ken’s entire “villain arc” is predicated on his wanting to live up to the real world’s idea of “ideal manhood,” not to mention struggling with the notion of defining himself beyond his dynamic with Stereotypical Barbie. He eventually finds solace by embracing vulnerable displays of emotions and remembering that he is “Kenough.” Meanwhile, Stereotypical Barbie grows to learn that the qualities that she thought made her an outcast in Barbieland aren’t anything to be feared. Messy emotions don’t make you a monster. These character details are all a reminder of the complexities that define the human experience.
Having Hari Nef around in the cast of Barbie doesn’t just ensure this comedy contains another incredibly talented cast member. She also provides a metatextual extension of this movie’s primary thesis. Though trans people have existed for centuries, our very existence has been demonized and suppressed by many modern societies. Trans folks, especially those belonging to further marginalized groups (like being disabled or people of color), do not often innately have welcoming spaces to explore themselves in. Because of these external forces, it’s often a conscious choice for trans folks to realize who they are, and to embrace the parts of themselves society says are abhorrent. It’s a daunting experience that many don’t have the freedom or ability to explore. However, once you have the tools and domain to realize how malleable your identity is, amazing things happen. Our bodies are like clay that can be molded to whatever we want. We do not have to be confined to the packaging we first came in, or the labels assigned to us.
In one of her first public interviews, Hari Nef remarked to Vice Magazine that "to be trans is to be vulnerable; to be trans in public is to be vulnerable in public...to be trans is to create yourself in your own image, to insist on something beyond the essentials of your body and circumstance." These comments from Nef echo the core details of the finale of Barbie, where the film’s two lead characters underscore the importance of embracing vulnerable emotions and “[creating] yourself in your own image.” Hari Nef’s presence in Barbie is already a gift to this comedy because of how funny she is and how well her screen persona fits into the world of Barbieland. However, the themes of Barbie also poignantly intersect with ideas Nef has often talked about regarding trans identity as well as the experiences trans folks have in molding who they are.
“We Yell Because the Word Matters”
In that 2014 interview Hari Nef conducted with Vice Magazine, she was asked what she felt the future looked like for the trans community writ large. Nef's response was four words: "With any luck: more." She had no clue what was ahead in her career, but she was keeping a hopeful and ambitious eye on the future. The maximalist visual and storytelling sensibilities of Barbie certainly live up to that hope for "more," as does Nef's role within the feature itself. Dr. Barbie's style of line deliveries and very distinctive personality contribute heavily to the wacky Joe Dante/DavidWain-inspired comedy in the realm of Barbieland. Her function here is to be funny and enhance the atmosphere of Barbie, not just be defined as an "other" in the eyes of the audience. A trans person just gets to exist in this heavily-stylized space and it's incredibly lovely to witness.
Even without Barbie making a flashy deal out of Nef's gender, there is something to be said for how this actress’s presence here enhances the underlying themes of Barbie as a movie. After all, Nef herself noted that the film's core message would resonate powerfully with trans viewers, and having a trans person in this film's cast indicates that Gerwig is aware of which audience members Stereotypical Barbie's journey could especially resonate with. Plus, the nonchalant presence of Hari Nef within Barbie subverts the norms for how trans women get treated in mainstream silly comedies.
In sharp contrast to the mean-spirited references to trans folks in other comedies like Hot Pursuit, Dr. Barbie is not an object to be mocked or used to show how “accepting” cis people are. Gerwig’s script just lets Dr. Barbie exist as one of several Barbies in Barbieland, with the jokes she tells orienting around comic timing and sharply-written dialogue rather than transphobia. Best of all, it’s a role that allows Nef to embrace her greatest traits as a performer and reinforce to people why she's taken off so much as a performer in the last decade. Any way you look at Dr. Barbie's presence in Barbie, it's bound to bring a smile to your face, even if it's just because you're remembering her funniest jokes.
Of course, Hari Nef’s Dr. Barbie isn’t the perfecttrans representation since the character isn’t the protagonist of Barbie and isn’t surrounded by other trans folks. Still, her presence within the confines of a super-mainstream feature adapted from Barbie dolls means something. After all, in the words of Nef herself, "Barbie’s the standard; she’s The Girl; she’s certainly THE doll.” Nef found it important to join this project because “no doll matters more than Barbie.” For countless moviegoers around the planet, Hari Nef’s presence in Barbie will also become incredibly personally important. Just like the word “doll,” nonchalant depictions of trans lives like Hari Nef’s performance in Barbie matter more than words can express.
Barbie is now available to stream on Max in the U.S.
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