In 1997, Aqua belted out the iconic lyrics ‘I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world’, and decades later, in 2023, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie PR team secured over 100 brand deals to further cement this fact. But just weeks before the movie’s premiere on the 21st of July, Ryan Gosling has turned the tides and made all the Barbie mania about ‘Just Ken’.

The Barbie movie is not short of stars or the color pink, and ultimately it is not short of excitement. Fans are wondering what could the genius of Greta Gerwig have churned out this time. But not in a million years would anyone have anticipated the plot twist that Ryan Gosling has brought by being, well, ‘Just Ken’.

‘Just Ken’ starts with Gosling’s Ken, who finds himself caught in the shadows of Barbie’s larger-than-life person. After all, she is Barbie, and he is just Ken. While it seemed like a running gag in the trailer, the song presents to us a Ken’s quest to navigate the labyrinth of his own existence, joining hands with the other Kens in a sort of revolution to prove that it may be Barbie’s world, but he is also living in it.

Ryan Gosling famously took a jibe at fans who clutched their pearls at the thought of him playing Ken earlier this year, as he said, “Like you ever thought about Ken before this?” It makes perfect sense now after Warner Bros. shared the Barbie single.

As Ryan Gosling melodiously sings, ‘Doesn’t seem to matter, what I do, I am always number two‘ it has unraveled a range of emotions in fans.

Fans bask in Ryan Gosling’s Ken-ergy in ‘Just Ken’

The song was released by Warner Bros. in an attempt to make fans feel the ‘Ken-ergy’ and safe to say that Ken-ergy feels a lot like coming close to the scorching sun. The studio may have released the track to build more anticipation for what the movie holds, but fans are allowing nothing less than a Grammy for this banger.

The reactions to this track have mirrored its title, as everyone is now thinking about just Ken. If Gerwig was hoping to make Ken’s self-discovery the plot of her Barbie movie, then she might be in a bit of a pickle as that is what fans have derived from the track.

There are very few phrases in the realm of brilliance that stand a chance against Deborah Moggach’s “You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you,” but ‘Just Ken’ proves to be a worthy rival (all puns intended).

It is also important to note that through this soulful track crafted on the grounds of Ken’s insecurities, Greta Gerwig has just tackled the biggest criticism that the Mantel Barbie dolls received. Safe to say, audiences will storm in hoards to watch Barbie for ‘Just Ken‘.

Did you also feel the Ken-ergy as Ryan Gosling belted out ‘Just Ken’? Let us know in the comments below.