Barbie (2023) and The Power Elite

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    The photo above was taken by myself of a scene in Barbie (2023), wherein Barbie goes to the Mattel headquarters in the real world. At the headquarters, Barbie is taken to a meeting room in which the board members are meeting. The meeting room, pictured above, sits in a high rise building and has floor to ceiling windows all around the room. The chairs the board members are given are hot pink velvet, which surround a heart shaped table. Though not in the frame, the CEO's tie is pink, matching the furnishing of the room. Besides the CEO, all of the other board members are wearing identical suits and ties while standing in identical stances. Most notably, all of the board members are men, which is shocking to Barbie within the scene. Furthermore, the majority of the board are white men, though there is some racial diversity amongst the members. 

    C. Wright Mills posits the concept of the power elite as the few who hold the power to make decisions within groups and societies. This group of people is not necessarily a class, but rather people (men) from similar backgrounds with similar interests. They are the top few in each of the domains Mills defines: economic, military, and governmental. When interests, such as maintaining power, coincide the domain leaders (power elite) can co-operate to create ideal results for the elite. Furthermore, not only do these men have the power to make important decisions within their domains, but the consequences of these decisions impact the rest of the domain. 

    In the context of Barbie (2023), the board of Mattel acts as the power elite within the movie. While they exist outside of Barbieland, their decisions impact life in that world and Barbie's life in the real world. Because Barbieland does not have the same domains as our world, the power elite are not separated into different groups. Rather, they all have input into all domains of Barbieland. Additionally, while all of the board members could be considered power elite within the context of the movie, Will Ferrell's character, the CEO, is the ultimate power holder. The other board members follow his direction, and it is ultimately his decisions that dictate the events of the movie and what happens to Barbie. Overall, Barbie (2023) offers an imaginative existence of the power elite that, while dramatized to a certain extent, mirrors the reality we exist in. 

Gertwig, Greta. 2023. Barbie. Warner Bros.

Mills, C. Wright. 1956. “The Higher Circles.” Pp.1-21 in The Power Elite.

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