Spoilers forward for Barbie.
After months of discourse and anticipation, the Barbie film has lastly hit theaters. Greta Gerwig’s film broke field workplace information, and lived as much as the hype that surrounded it forward of the discharge. Barbie completely pivoted between touching moments and comedy, together with some surprising musical moments. At one level Ryan Gosling’s Ken sings the Matchbox 20 track “Push” to hilarious outcomes. Rob Thomas knew that the track could be the “butt of the joke” in Barbie, right here’s why he mentioned sure anyway.
Ryan Gosling bought to return to his Mickey Mouse Membership days by performing a number of completely different musical numbers all through the runtime of Barbie. That features “I’m Simply Ken” and the basic Matchbox 20 track “Push.” Greta Gerwig revealed on the official CinemaBlend podcast ReelBlend that she personally reached out to the band for permission. Rob Thomas share his perspective in a dialog with USA At this time, and the way the band has been portrayed within the media beforehand. In his phrases:
I need to preface this by saying that I believed it was hilarious. However in ‘Convey It On,’ (Kirsten Dunst’s character) has this douchey boyfriend. And there’s a scene the place he was in his dorm room with a Matchbox Twenty poster within the background. There was a complete interval through the ‘90s the place the extra profitable we bought, the larger goal we had been. We had been a straightforward takedown.
Clearly Thomas is aware of the best way his band has been used/referenced in standard media. The Matchbox 20 poster within the Convey It On scene flashes by relatively shortly, however it’s featured with one of the vital villainous characters of the beloved ‘90s film. And as such, Rob Thomas was making ready himself when the Barbie talks about “Push” began.
In that very same interview, the Matchbox 20 frontman spoke about how Barbie was pitched to him and his bandmates. Whereas Thomas was making ready for the worst, he was comfortable to seek out out that the track and the character Ken each develop into beloved by the tip of Barbie. In his phrases:
After I bought the decision for ‘Barbie,’ they instructed me, ‘Ken’s by the fireplace, he’s enjoying the track and it’s his favourite band.’ So I did this considering I’d be the butt of the joke, and I used to be wonderful with that. I’m fairly thick-skinned. However Julie Greenwald (from Atlantic Data) got here to the Hollywood Bowl a month or two in the past. She had simply seen the film and was like, ‘You come out of it loving Ken and loving ‘Push.’ And I used to be like, ‘Aww. Alright, actually good!’
Factors had been made. Audiences would possibly initially snort at Ryan Gosling’s efficiency of “Push”, particularly given his unusual singing accent. However Ken finally ends up having a transferring redemption arc that reveals how the patriarchy negatively impacts each women and men. Rob Thomas signed on to let his track be used on this approach, significantly as a result of he was a fan of Greta Gerwig. As he shared:
Additionally, Greta Gerwig has been one in all my crushes perpetually, to the purpose the place I used to be on a aircraft one time and I referred to as my spouse, like, ‘Child, Greta Gerwig simply got here on the aircraft, oh my god.’ So simply the truth that it didn’t diminish my crush of Greta, that’s even higher.
I imply, identical. Greta Gerwig is likely one of the most wildly profitable administrators of our time, and her work on each Little Ladies and Woman Hen was universally acclaimed. Ryan Gosling is clearly a fan, and even bought starstruck in entrance of his spouse Eva Mendes. And all of this led to his track’s good use within the Barbie film.
It must be fascinating to see how excessive Barbie climbs on the field workplace, and if it finally ends up being an Awards Season favourite. There are many people already calling for Ryan Gosling to get a Oscar nom for enjoying Ken, but it surely’s going to be a protracted street to the Academy Awards.
Barbie is in theaters now. Make sure to try the 2023 film launch dates to plan your subsequent film expertise.
