2001: A Space Odyssey influenced Barbie

Barbie opens with a shot-for-shot parody of the Dawn of Man sequence: small figures around a monolith that has appeared overnight, a slow low angle, Also sprach Zarathustra on the soundtrack, and a tool raised and brought down. The joke depends on the audience recognising it. Kubrick's monolith begins human history with a weapon; Gerwig's is a giant Barbie, and what the children smash is their old baby dolls. It is a single sequence rather than a structural debt, which is why this is weighted low, but it is the film's opening statement and it is quoted precisely.