She floats. Weightless. Slowly, Jane Fonda peels off a silver space suit to the sound of psychedelic lounge pop, and suddenly, the 1960s found its definitive fever dream.
Jane Fonda in Barbarella isn't just a movie. It’s a 1968 time capsule wrapped in shag carpet and Paco Rabanne chainmail. Honestly, if you try to watch it today as a serious sci-fi flick, you’re gonna have a bad time. It’s weird. It’s messy. It’s got a "Matmos" (basically a lava lamp of liquid evil) and a scientist named Durand Durand—yeah, that’s where the 80s band got the name.
But there’s a lot more to the story than just the kitsch.
The Sexpot She Didn't Want to Be
People look at those posters and see a confident "intergalactic aviatrix." The reality? Fonda was struggling. Hard.
At the time, she was married to the film's director, Roger Vadim. He was the guy who had already "discovered" Brigitte Bardot, and he wanted to turn his wife into the next great European sex symbol. Fonda has since been very open about the fact that she was battling bulimia during the shoot.
She hated her body. She was terrified of the nudity.
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Imagine being deeply insecure about your physical self and then being told you have to perform a zero-gravity striptease in front of a film crew. She actually said she used to get drunk on vodka just to get through the daily shoots.
What the History Books Get Wrong
Most fans think the movie was a massive hit that launched her career. Not exactly. It was a cult success in Europe, sure, but critics in the U.S. mostly hated it. They called it "sick" and "heavy-handed." The National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures even gave it a "condemned" rating.
"I had an idea of how to do it... it could have been a truly feminist movie." — Jane Fonda, reflecting on the film decades later.
She actually tried to give notes to the producer, Dino De Laurentiis, about making the character more empowered. He didn't listen. To the men in charge, Barbarella was just a "doll" to be put in bizarre, erotic situations.
The Style That Changed Everything
We have to talk about the costumes. Even if the plot makes your brain itch, the visuals are undeniable.
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While Jacques Fonteray is the credited costume designer, the heavy hitter in the background was Paco Rabanne. He used plastic, metal, and wire to create clothes that looked like they belonged in the year 40,000.
- The Chainmail Bikini: It defined the "Space Age" aesthetic.
- The Thigh-High Boots: These basically haven't left the fashion runways since 1968.
- The Shag Space Ship: Everything was soft, furry, and orange. It looked like a disco exploded inside a lava lamp.
The "Excessive Machine"—a literal organ of pleasure intended to kill Barbarella with too much "joy"—is one of the most absurd props in cinema history. Barbarella, in her "purity," ends up breaking the machine because she has too much sexual energy for it to handle. It’s camp at its highest level.
From Barbarella to "Hanoi Jane"
The most fascinating part of the Jane Fonda in Barbarella era is what happened immediately after.
The movie wrapped in late 1967 and released in '68. By 1969, Fonda was cutting off her long blonde "sex kitten" hair into that famous choppy shag. She was done with being Vadim's muse.
The transition was violent, at least in terms of public perception. She went from being the face of "free love" space erotica to a radical anti-war activist. She started educating herself on the Vietnam War while she was still pregnant with her daughter, Vanessa.
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She's mentioned that being pregnant made her like a "sponge" for the world's problems. She couldn't just play a girl in a silver bikini anymore while the world was on fire.
The Sydney Sweeney Connection
As we look toward the future, Sydney Sweeney is set to take on the mantle in a remake. Fonda has expressed some worry about it. She’s not being a "hater"—she just knows how easily this character can be objectified if there isn't a woman at the helm making the creative choices.
She wants the new version to actually be what she dreamed of in '68: a woman who owns her sexuality and her power without being the butt of the joke.
Why You Should Still Watch It
Look, it’s not Citizen Kane. It’s a trip.
If you want to understand the 1960s, you have to see it. It represents that weird bridge between the 1950s "innocence" and the 1970s "radicalism." Barbarella is innocent to the point of being a total space-cadet, but she's moving through a world of total debauchery.
Practical Next Steps for the Curious:
- Watch the Opening: Even if you don't watch the whole thing, the opening title sequence is a masterclass in 60s practical effects.
- Check the "Klute" Comparison: Watch Barbarella and then watch Klute (1971). The difference in Jane’s acting and "vibe" is one of the most drastic shifts in Hollywood history.
- Research the Comic: The movie is based on Jean-Claude Forest’s French comics. They are much more explicit and give you a sense of the "Adults Only" vibe the movie was aiming for.
Don't go in expecting a coherent plot. Just go in for the colors, the music, and the sight of a woman who was about to set the world on fire, even if she didn't know it yet.