Barbie Diaries

Back in the days when I was a kid my sister always loved Barbie, she had a disc with all the collections in one for all of the Barbie movies. One movie that stands out and got my attention is Barbie Diaries.

One of my favorite parts of the movie and my favorite song on the soundtrack is This Is Me by Skye Sweetnam. That intro is just so amazing to hear that I can't stop thinking about that song until now. As for today, this song gave me absolute nostalgia as a kid and is my favorite original Barbie song. It brings me back to my childhood memories of the Y2K Era.

For the movie, the graphics didn't age through the years because mostly it's the background that looked like it was a PS2 Game back in the day. Still, it gives a fitting Y2K aesthetic and I mostly loved the clothing of the characters in the 2006 high school generation. I give points for making the characters change their clothes in different styles rather than just having the same characters wear the same clothes every day.

As for the story, it's not exciting or perfect. It just remained good. As much as the movie talks about diaries it did not show much of the magic just some of the typical 2000s aesthetic high school shenanigans that I see in every Y2K high school I watched.

Barbie Diaries is not the most perfect movie to watch even as a Barbie fan but this movie brings you back to what it was like in the good old days in a 2000s aesthetic high school life.

I adore teen movies, and I had a blast with this one.

The animation has not aged well, even for the 2006 standards. It looks awkward and I can't get over Barbie's hair and how it's animated. Now that I've seen this way too many times I can see some awkward textures in the background, but it was never too much to take me out of the movie.

Barbie isn't suddenly a Mary Sue who is adored by everyone and instead has to face the worst place anyone can go to..high school! She faces the world of teenage drama and worries if she is doing too good at schoo. She has her two friends, Tia and Courtney to keep her back and they are in a band together and also Kevin who eventually develops feelings for Barbie. There is also Rachel no wait..Raquelle and her two 'minions' who take everything from Barbie and are portrayed as bullies, and Rachel as the 'popular girl'. I'm surprised they didn't give Raquelle black hair like in the other movies. They are one dimensional at times but also had their moments where they felt like real teens.

I was surprised on how good the dialogue is. I could say it's realistic but the movie is probably too old to apply on modern teenagers. They managed to sneak in a few jokes that I didn't notice until years after. (Eg, Kevin saying he recorded the cheerleading practice and managed to capture drama between Rachel and her boyfriend. He is asked why he recorded the cheerleaders and he just avoids it by saying ''Do you want to see this or not?'') I haven't seen it like this in any other teen movie. Yes my expectations are low, I'm used to these types of movies having lackluster dialogue.

Since Barbie is now in a band, there is music, and I can say that the songs her band made are either okay or good. The background songs in this are just the same three or four but it fit the 'aesthetic' of the movie well enough.

(Also this movie has bloopers in it's extras! Remember back when we had these?? This movie has really good ones!!)

The story itself...if you have seen any teen movie with a romantic plot, you have seen this one. It's a bit overdramatic but hey, teens are overdramatic and it never felt too much. And I enjoyed this despite knowing excatly what would happen just after the first 10 minutes had passed.

I can understand why the preschoolers who watch Barbie movies might want to skip this one but if you are a bit older, give this a shot. It's actually really great.

I say this as a 20 year old female who actually does like the Barbie movies, especially Nutcracker, Diamond Castle, Prince and the Pauper and Island Princess, Rapunzel, 12 Dancing Princesses and Swan Lake I also have a soft spot for. But I didn't care for Barbie Diaries. It is better than Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale, unlike those two while lame it isn't completely awful. The soundtrack was great, the ending with Barbie redeeming herself was nice and the voice acting was good, unlike the two I just mentioned Barbie Diaries actually has the advantage of Barbie being voiced by Kelly Sheridan. However, the animation is not as vibrant or as detailed and at times even looks rough. The writing lacks heart and is corny a lot of the time, the story is shallow and predictable, I didn't like the messages of vanity and obsessing about being popular and boys and the characters while not as bratty as Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale are not very likable and are very stereotypical. All in all, pretty lame but not the worst. 4/10 Bethany Cix

Okay, so I'm a 16-year-old, and I watched this movie when I was younger, and it was practically my favorite movie, and honestly probably still is.

This movie is fantastic for so many reasons, one of them is it's difference from other Barbie movies. This movie is real. Stuff in this movie really happens in high school, and it helps young children realize how cruel the world really can be, but also how you can get over it. People say it "scares" kids, or makes them "deal with something they don't have to deal with as young girls". But, honestly, by watching the movie, the viewer isn't being harassed by the kids in the school, they are just understanding how high school works.

Another reason I love this movie is because it is practically a G-rated version of Mean Girls, which is a fantastic movie with a great lesson to be learned, just like this movie.

Thirdly, there aren't a lot of super famous people in this movie, making it even better. The movie isn't aimed to show the top celebrities playing Barbie and her friends, making the movie more raw and able to spread it's message better. Additionally, the music isn't by very well known artists, especially at the time it came out (i.e. Ke$ha sings one of the songs, but she wasn't very popular in 2006). However, it's still fantastic. The music is mostly sung by the singing voice of Barbie, Skye Sweetnam, who is now one of my favorite artists because I seeked out her work after falling in love with this film.

People say this movie is cliché, and it is, but it's played out so well. It's cliché without being annoying, and any kid who would watch this doesn't know it's cliché, so what does it matter? Simply, this movie is aimed for a young audience, and the producers definitely achieved their goal there.

Lastly, the humor in this movie is great. There are jokes I still find funny, and practically anyone will.

For anyone who wants to trash this movie, it's really not worth it. It's a Barbie movie. It's not meant for the theaters, it's meant for young kids to watch and learn from.

Unlike other Barbie movies, I didn't watch this one when I was a kid. I was really surprised when I watched this. It was really good: a lot of neat jokes, a pretty good plot.

It's a bit cheesy, and the animation isn't that great, plus the songs aren't the best, but this movie is really enjoyable.