One of the most talked-about moments in the entire movie is, without a doubt, Ken's wild dream ballet. Set to Ryan Gosling crooning the absolute earworm "I'm Just Ken," where he laments his "life of blond fragility" and wonders if he really matters next to Barbie herself, the interlude watches as the Kens battle it out on the beach and then move to a technicolor liminal space, where they have a sort of dance battle before teaming up and dancing all together. They're also careful to make sure the audience knows that not only are they "enough," but they're "great at doing stuff."
The design of this dream ballet is no accident, which mimics two classic movie musicals in its execution. Gerwig spoke to Letterboxd shortly before the film's release about the movies that inspired her, and Ken's dream ballet definitely has shades of both 1948's "The Red Shoes" and 1952's "Singin' in the Rain," both of which feature a dream ballet. In a corresponding interview with the site, Gerwig said "The Red Shoes" influenced the dream ballet: "The Red Shoes' [is] all over the movie ... just the theatricality and the colors and the way that it never pretended to be anything other than on a soundstage, I like that authentic artificiality. It's really heightened. That whole ballet sequence was very inspiring in that way."
As for "Singin' in the Rain," that film also features a dream ballet between Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly set to a song called "Broadway Melody," and it, too takes place on a soundstage. All in all, these influences are quite clear if you're familiar with these classics.
