What ‘Barbie’ Can Teach Working-Class Men
The movie didn’t have a great night at the Oscars, but Ryan Gosling’s Ken shows how men can find meaning as the economy shifts beneath their feet.
Yet another bad night for Ken.
Photographer: Rich Polk/VarietyEconomists spend a lot of time talking about jobs. Work is not only how people support themselves financially, it can also be the way in which they contribute to society, create unique identities and find meaning in the world. When work disappears or shifts, people can feel as unmoored and confused as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, who had one last moment in the spotlight at last night’s Academy Awards, when Ryan Gosling performed the Oscar-nominated song “I’m Just Ken.”
Gosling lost — to his fellow Barbie nominee Billie Eilish — just as Ken is emotionally lost in Barbieland. Ken’s identity crisis, born from the lack of a clearly defined purpose, mirrors a narrative that has been unfolding for American working-class men for decades. The economy has shifted beneath their feet, leaving many like Ken: struggling with a mix of anger, hurt and confusion.