#Barbie meta

[catharsistine]

The scene in the Barbie trailer when Barbie is skating around with Ken and asks "Why is everyone staring at me?"

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE AN ADOLESCENT GIRL.

Living in Barbieland (childhood girlhood) but then suddenly you're all grown up in the real world subject to scrutiny and sexualisation (the guy slapping Barbie's ass) and feeling like existing is a crime?

Being forced by adult men into a box (which leads to the not like other girls syndrome) and exploring the 'real world' (being forced to grow up too quickly) while fighting the realisation that maybe the world sucks and being a woman is so difficult while hoping with all your heart that it's not always going to be this way.

Losing touch with the very things that made you happy because they're considered immature and girly? (The group of teens that said they hadn't played with Barbies since they were five.)

Older women telling you that you have to learn the truth about the world and that you can never have your old life back (Kate Mckinnon's Barbie) despite it being the only thing you yearn for, but also older women being a bright spot and support (the old woman on the bench) in the endless slough of life.

And this is just the trailer!!! I'm so excited for this movie I can't breathe, Greta Gerwig the woman that you are 😭

#barbie #more thoughts on this when my mental coherence returns #but ahhh! #im also really excited to see america ferrera's role because I have a feeling it's gonna be pivotal #Barbie meta #the barbie movie #barbie (2023) #shut up im so excited #ken is the emotional support pet every adolescent girl needs #THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A TEENAGE GIRL #i already love this movie so much #and it hasnt even released #thoughts r scattered cuz the trailer is that good

[joyful-soul-collector]

I've seen a lot of people talking about how Barbie talks about how the patriarchy affects women and how well it does that, so I wanna talk about how Barbie talks about how the patriarchy affects men and how well it does that. Because it does that really well tbh.

At the beginning of the movie, it's made very clear that the Kens are constantly competing with each other, and trying to prove their worth, their Ken-ness, to both the Barbies, and more importantly, to the other Kens. In fact, multiple times through the movie it's shown that Ken seems to find the opinions of other Kens as a motivator for him to do things. He tries to show off to Barbie only after he sees the other Kens saying hi to her. He only starts dancing with Barbie when he sees the other Kens dancing with her. He only goes with her to the Real World after another Ken accuses him of cowardice and he decides to prove him wrong. Barbie says "Ken's not cool!" and Ken responds "He is to me."

This shows so damn well what the patriarchy is like for men. Because for the Kens it's not necessarily about Barbie, it's about what other Kens think of you. Being a man you are constantly, incessantly trying so damn hard to prove to the other men around you that you are a man, the manliest man to ever man, the best Ken to ever Ken. Literally doing backflips trying to prove yourself. And this is before patriarchy is even officially introduced to the story, there's no undertone of power yet, this is just what it's like to be a man around other men. It's toxic masculinity.

And when the patriarchy is introduced, that's increased tenfold. At first it looks like they've banded together to take power, but really they're still competing with each other, they're just doing it differently. Rather than competing to see who can get Barbie to fall in love with them, they're competing to see who can be the manliest, have the manliest stuff, wear the manliest clothes, have the manliest house and decorations.

And then they literally go to war. War is considered one of the few places where it's socially accepted for men to be more emotional, form deep and personal bonds with other men, and that's exactly what happens in the movie. They go to war, and there's an entire song where they bond and learn not to fight with each other anymore.

And that I think is the message from the Kens. For men, the way the patriarchy affects them is it forces constant competition and animosity, even around people that are supposed to be your friends. It makes it impossible to express your feelings unless they're with a romantic partner, and all of this turns you into a pent up ball of emotions with nowhere to go.

Which means that the message is: In order to fix the way the patriarchy oppresses men, men need to learn how to form close bonds with people, especially other men. Because like Barbie said to Ken, he needs to discover who he is without her. Men have learned to lean on women as a crutch, using them to figure out how to Be A Person and express emotions in a healthy way, but this can very quickly turn into a woman feeling like she needs too be his mother and teach him how to do these things. And Ken was 100% doing this, or at least he was trying to throughout the movie. Ken was so desperate for Barbie to be in love with him, not necessarily because he loved her, but because he needed a person he could just exist as himself around. Because he couldn't do that with the other Kens, the only person he could be himself around was Barbie.

And what's so great about the end of the movie is that the Kens did eventually figure out how to form close bonds with each other! They went to war, argued and fought, but by the end of the song they were holding hands, kissing each other on the cheek, telling each other they were enough. Even when Ken is up in the dreamhouse, crying and saying that he looks stupid, all the other Kens start shouting back up to him, saying that he looks cool. And Ken responds by giving one of his new friends his coat, which was clearly very important to him.

What the Kens did, that's what men in the real world need to do. They need to form close bonds with other men and stop competing with each other. Hopefully not by going to war the way the Kens did, Barbie isn't a blueprint for solving the patriarchy lol.

I'd be happy to do it through a song though.

#barbie #barbie 2023 #the barbie movie #ken barbie #barbie movie #greta gerwig #ken #barbie ken #meta #barbie meta #barbie movie spoilers

[sflow-er]

So many thoughts on the fabulous Barbie film, but especially on how anyone who thinks it’s “hateful towards men” clearly isn’t getting the message.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

[Credit for both gifs goes to their makers!!]

I mean... Ken’s arc is secondary to Barbie’s, and rightly so. This is her film, and her message deserves to be the main takeaway.

That being said, I just find it really sad that the people who could’ve definitely used the point of Ken’s arc just let it go right over their heads. Maybe it’s because they aren’t great at reading subtext, or because they just balk at anything presented as feminist, I don’t know.

Because to me, Ken’s arc is about as far from “hateful towards men” as you can get. It’s a multi-layered depiction of how restrictive, outdated views of masculinity can hold men back and make them susceptible to harmful ideologies that promise easy solutions for all their problems but only make those problems worse and hurt others around them.

The first layer is an allegory for real men don’t show their feelings. In the movie, this is represented by Ken’s need to look tough and cool all the time, and to keep his insecurities and sadness bottled up. Barbieland is a utopia where being happy is a social norm, and the main Barbie also starts to struggle with that. The difference is that she eventually tells her friends, and they all support her. Ken just puts pressure on himself not to look weak - in front of Barbie, or in front of the other Kens.

Which brings us to the second level: a competitive and inherently hostile view of the other Kens, aka. toxic male relationships. Some of them are friends, and all of them work together for a while to build the Patriarchy, but they don’t actually bond for real. Even their boys’ nights are mainly about getting back at the Barbies for all their girls’ nights (which really were about bonding). When push comes to shove, the Kens still see each other as competition, which is one of the reasons why the Barbies are able to play them against each other.

Another reason is the third layer: the idea that Ken only has value if Barbie loves and admires him. It starts out as unrequited love that makes you feel sorry for him...until he turns bitter. He basically starts on the path that could lead him down the incel/mra rabbit hole and into a mindset where Barbie owes him love and admiration and the relationship he wants in exchange for his devotion to her. He decides that everything would be better if Barbies were subservient to Kens, but of course that’s not true. None of the Barbies’ newfound admiration for their Kens is real, and his own Barbie still rejects him.

All this is of course underpinned by the final layer, which is Ken’s lack of self-respect and sense of purpose. He’s got a pointless job, he’s not particularly qualified for anything, and he just feels kind of lost in Barbieland - a society run by successful Barbies who are living up to their full potential. That’s why he gets so caught up in the idea of the Patriarchy, which is supposed to make him successful, get others to respect him, and give him a sense of purpose. (This can be generalised to all kinds of harmful ideologies in the real world, e.g. the alt-right movement.)

However, the success he achieves is superficial and not based on any real passion; he even admits that he wasn’t happy in his new position and already lost interest in the ideology. The (forced) respect of others does feel good for a while, but it only goes so far. At heart, the whole thing is still mostly about his feelings of inferiority and unrequited love for Barbie, and instituting this harmful new system did not resolve those for him.

So what does? In essence, breaking out of all these harmful patterns and internalising the idea that he is enough.

He ends up reflecting on his feelings, finally puts them to words (or rather, song and dance), and manages to connect with the other Kens through those feelings. He even cries in relief and acknowledges that it doesn’t make him weak. He and Barbie finally have a proper talk, he lets go of their (non-)relationship, and he listens when she says he needs to figure out his real self. He starts to see himself not through his job, his girlfriend, or even his competition with the other Kens, but as just Ken, who is enough.

I honestly can’t think of a less hateful message to send men and boys.

#barbie spoilers #barbie movie spoilers #barbie 2023 spoilers #barbie movie #barbie 2023 #barbie meta #greta gerwig #barbie #ken #and of course the perfect ken #ryan gosling #he is kenough

[beekneebabey]

I don't know how to say this intelligently but something is really bothering me about the reviews for the barbie movie complaining that she didn't go deeply enough into feminist critique? Like,,, it's the Barbie movie. It's not Feminist Theory 402. Also, it's a movie about how women are expected to be spectacular at everything they do and how exhausting it can be to be the representative for all women when you're just one of them and people really watched that and turned around to tell Greta Gerwig that the movie wasn't enough because it wasn't perfect?

It was heartfelt and funny and silly and hot pink and that is enough!! Where is the media literacy!! You all are legitimately hurting my heart with this trash take!! It's fine to not like the movie but how come movies about the "male experience" can be about SOME men but movies about women have to be the balm AND rage AND catharsis AND call to action for every woman ever??? It's the Barbie movie!!! Not Gloria Steinem's latest manifesto!!! Let it fucking be!!!

#barbie 2023 #barbie spoilers #barbie #barbie meta #greta gerwig #im just so legitimately tired of this let people enjoy it and stop bringing up how conservatives want us dead you internet poisoned weirdos

[daughter-rhaenyra]

"Why isn't anyone talking about how Ken's character is so reminiscent of growing up with boys? Watching someone you care about go from gentle and innocent to cruel and hateful. From a friend to treat you like an object."

@yellenabelova I'm sorry I need this quote, but you deleted it, and I can't find it anywhere else either, so I copied it. If you have a problem with it, I'll take it down.

#this is exactly my little brother #he was such a gentle kid #and he used to IDOLIZE me #now he criticizes me all the time and looks down on me like hell #tp #barbie #barbie 2023 #ken #barbie spoilers #barbie meta #myquotes #100 #500

[doctor-mccoys-sanity]

All the bad reviews I have seen of Barbie are about the feminist theme. On google the reviews are split between 1 star and 5. The thing is people aren’t necessarily criticising the feminism but the treatment of men and the patriarchy (as well as saying it shows a matriarchy is superior). If that is the message you got then you did NOT understand the movie.

These reviews make the film about men.

The film isn’t about men or women superiority, it’s about girlhood and how women are treated by both men and women. It also doesn’t say the matriarchy is superior as shown by the ending. Even the men’s roles in the film are about WOMEN (real world and Barbieland).

The film empowers women by embracing them. It’s about accepting different types of women, portrayals of femininity, the choices they make and empowering them. It also shows the effects of toxic masculinity and that it is okay to break away from expectations (shown by Ryan Goslings Ken)

The film doesn’t hate on men because the film isn’t about men.

#in this essay i will #barbie #barbie movie #barbie spoilers #barbie 2023 #greta gerwig #barbie movie spoilers #barbie 2023 spoilers #barbie review #barbie meta

[greetings-humans]

so. some things could be a lot better in the barbie movie.

i really liked sasha and her view on barbie and society. I like how she didn't see barbie as something empowering but still chose to help. I like her, I think she's a cool character. she's not one for traditional femininity, though. so what the hell was that pink dress??? she can be strong and connect to her mother and her girlhood and still wear her cargo pants and dress in dark colors. she can decide that she doesn't want to be feminine and still be a girl/woman. (she can also decide that she's not a woman, but that's mostly just me projecting my weird asf gender)

also. weird barbie was noticeably more "presentable" in the end of the movie and I believe that taking away most of her weirdness really diminishes the point. she's not getting an apology and being recognized as a person that deserves rights and agency and control and to not be shunned, because wow now she's more feminine. that's not the point, and I think that they could have showcased a lot better. she should be getting all of the above, because the barbies realized how bad shunning her because of her differences is. because not being a barbie ""correctly"" is such a bad reason. because not being what they expect of her is not a good reason.

however, on to some good things about the movie, there are some pretty cool examples of the "conform to the expectations or else" part of society that it showed.

weird barbie should have had a decent amount of power in the matriarchal barbie society, but was shunned for being weird and different and expressing herself in a non-traditional (and thus unacceptable) way. this shows that sometimes the criteria for the powerful harm more than just those that are obviously oppressed. (e.g., men feeling uncomfortable with expressing affection because it's not manly and thus repressing themselves).

allan also serves as a similar example. even in kendom, allan didn't have any sort of power because the way he expressed himself didn't fit with what the kens expected of him

and also of themselves. (yeah I'm at it again with the "stupid criteria for who gets power don't just harm those that are generally considered the powerless")

and I'm saying this because the kens thought that the world expected men who had power to act like this, and because they wanted to have agency and control and power, they conformed.

in the end, ryan gosling's ken addressed that by pretty much said that he didn't even really get why he was behaving like that, that it wasn't what he wanted. we can assume that what he wanted to not be a second-class citizen, to not be powerless, and in achieving that via patriarchy, he behaved in a way that he thought he should, not in a way befitting of his personality.

aaand this is the basis of why equality and equity are cool and why matriarchy or patriarchy can lead to a lot of oppression for everyone involved. no one wants to lack agency or control over their lives. so, yes, this movie made some pretty good points.

#barbie #barbie meta #barbie 2023 #barbie analysis #thoughts on barbie #weird barbie #barbie sasha #barbie ken #barbie allan #deelay words

[ravenpureforever]

The Barbie movie was absolutely incredible and I adored how it was funny, satirical, genuinely meaningful and so aesthetically pleasing but one thing that got me, spoilers ahead, was how they had a genuinely pleasing plot twist within the movie.

I, like many people, assumed that the movie would be Barbie goes to the real world and shenanigans ensue and there’s some beautiful meaning of life, but I never thought about the impact going to the real world would have on Barbieland, so it was a genuinely fun and well done surprise when Ken brings back the patriarchy to Barbieland and they have to find a way to defeat it. I didn’t see it coming but it makes perfect sense and foreshadows it beautifully.

Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him, his entire life is built around Barbie’s acknowledgement, and the other Ken’s are competition for Barbie’s acknowledgement, Barbie doesn’t even know where he sleeps, so of course going to the Real World where he’s treated where he has actual capabilities and can do something, it becomes incredibly warped for him in how he perceives it and how he brings it back to Barbieland. I thought Ken would just be Barbie’s token boyfriend, but really it’s just as much about Ken learning how to exist outside of Barbie and being enough just as himself in a healthy, mature manner.

Additionally it was so refreshing how Barbie cares about Ken, but there are little details, where she just smiles as he kisses her and even looks a little uncomfortable, how she doesn’t even want to consider the prospect of him staying the night or being a part of her Dreamhouse, and doesn’t really communicate with Ken that show the cracks in their relationships from the beginning, and how Barbie doesn’t want the relationship that Ken wants, and that’s not the fault of either party, and she doesn’t have to be with him and he doesn’t have to be with her just because that’s the way things are and in the end it’s healthier for both of them when they finally communicate their wants and needs, and walk away from the idea of a romantic relationship between the two of them.

Its how codependency and defining yourself by your partner are unhealthy and can’t have a sustainable relationship because it’s fundamentally unfulfilling for both parties. It’s how compulsory heterosexuality (AroAce Barbie my beloved) creates uncomfortable standards and pressure to be in a relationship in particular way that leaves both members unsatisfied in different ways. It’s about toxic masculinity and how the patriarchy hurts every person involved and is fundamentally unsustainable for every person involved.

Barbie was such a witty, fun but also really meaningful movie and genuinely good.

#it was just really fun but also I loved the themes and messages with in it #ken himbo villian era was not what I saw coming but it was really enjoyable #and Barbie being implied aroace was so wonderful and I thought it was done really really well #barbie #barbie movie #barbie 2023 #barbie meta #kind of at least #aromatic #asexual #toxic masculinity #communication #ken #barbie and ken #barbie movie spoilers #barbie spoilers

[marielle-heller]

I think one of my favourite little moments of the Barbie movie was when Ncuti's Ken says that he misses his friend Barbie

I think it says a lot of different things in a really succinct moment, starting with how isolating upholding the patriarchy can be. you can also see this when the Kens turn against each other, of course, but the maintenance of this power erodes at friendships, and especially sacrifices these relationships in order to serve something that is perceived to be much more valuable: dominance

it also shows that while the Kens thought that they wanted Barbies who hung on their every word and served them, they didn't. oppressing and dominating the Barbies in this way stripped away core elements of their being. they weren't their smart, capable, wonderful selves anymore, they just existed as servants. upholding the patriarchy requires dehumanizing those seen as lesser or beneath you (as much as you can dehumanize a doll), and I think it's important that the Kens realize that this dehumanization is not worth stripping the Barbies of everything that makes them special. in the end, they want the women they've always known, been friends with and fallen in love with, not empty, vapid shells. and I love that this Ken loves this Barbie for who she truly is

I also really like the use of the word "friend" because it contrasts with what Ryan Gosling's Ken thought he wanted, to take the relationship to a more romantic place. I think this serves to show that Kens learn they love their Barbies platonically, and that they'd rather have her in their life in this way than try to pursue something romantic because it's what they're told they should want. overall, I think it really is one of the best feminist moments in the film and also just really touching when she goes to him and they can be reunited

#barbie (2023) #barbie meta #barbie movie spoilers #ncuti gatwa #i know some of the film's feminist critiques feel a little iffy but i think this one is SO well done!

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Thoughts on Barbie - Feminism, Power Fantasies, Isekai, & Existentialism - SPOILERS!

I really like how the feminism in Barbie is actually kept simplistic. I don’t think the feminism in it needs to be super layered to make for an excellent and engaging movie, especially due to how Barbie the Movie, itself, is structured.

Of course the feminism presented in it is rather simplistic in nature. This makes sense since this is Stereotypical Barbie’s first exposure to feminist ideology and thoughts. She was a doll with a very childlike understanding of how the world works and functions. This also makes sense, since the Barbies in general are all toys geared at young girls. Their world is a reflection of the fluffy promises and hopes that we, as adults, feed to young children (especially girls). This idea that they can be anything and do anything.

But the reality is much more messy and complicated than that. We see the Barbies (and Kens) beginning to understand this towards the end of the movie - after they have all been “touched” by the Real World. They have engaged with Gloria and Sasha and the CEO of Mattel and so on and so forth. There is now no instant change in ideology (like what we see happen when Ken brings over patriarchy to Barbie Land), instead, we see the sort of social change that happens in the Real World - slow moving and made in small intervals. But, at the same time, we see Stereotypical Barbie and Ken working through more complex ideas and emotions surrounding feminist thoughts and ideologies. 

I also feel like it was less the feminism itself that makes the movie stand out in a way, but the way they present it. They don’t hide it behind a dark and grim story, they don’t have it being presented just generally to the audience or subtlety hinted at - instead the movie is bright and colorful and silly - and we have two older women (Gloria and Ruth) guiding younger women (Sasha and the Barbies) through the ups and downs of womanhood. Right, Sasha is a teen girl in the Real World who is starting to understand more and more of life’s complexities, but still missing some of the time and experience that can add more nuance and understanding to many areas of life. While Barbie is like a young adult woman - a college girl that is just getting ready to graduate and really head out into the actual Real World. 

So it’s all about being able to relate (whether in a big way or a small way) to the shared experiences that are being depicted on the screen. It’s a movie created by a woman specifically for women (and yes, that includes trans women - the Youtuber, Kat Blaque, who is a trans woman, did a review of Barbie where she talked about the trans rep and how they got it right - I’ll link her video below). It is speaking directly to us women. All of us.

Which also gets me into thinking about power fantasies, isekai (and reverse isekai) a genre that is about “normal human ends up in a fantasy land,” with the reverse being that a fantasy being (usually of some high power or standing) ending up in the normal human world, and how men and women tend to play into these narratives. 

Many power fantasties that we see tend to involve men - even the ones aimed at women - such as the take I’ve seen of how “teen girl x immortal (usually male) being” in YA novels is about girls seeing themselves in a place of emotional power over men. Superhero narratives are all about normal people gaining superhuman powers - usually in a way that makes them physically stronger - and these all tend to play into male power fantasies and gazes, even when the superhero is a woman. Even if they may touch on feminist ideologies, the way the power fantasy element is handled is still very different from what we see here in Barbie.

In Barbie, we follow Stereotypical Barbie. She is like that ordinary human. Nothing about her really stands out and she doesn’t have any amazing job. That being said, there are elements about her existence that we, as humans, would find to be almost superhuman or advantages over us - never aging, never dying, being able to float from the top of your house right into your car, etc. But, Stereotypical Barbie herself, like within her own world, doesn’t hold any kind of power or high standing. Her journey into the Real World is essentially a reverse isekai. 

In the end, Barbie chooses to stay in the Real World and become a human. She chooses the more flawed existence over the more perfected one (or seemingly perfected one anyway). And I think it is the moments that touch on this aspect of Barbie’s journey which is what makes the movie so special to so many women. Not necessarily the Feminism 101 aspect, which is just an element to Barbie’s journey into womanhood. It’s Barbie seeing the elderly lady next to her on the bench and seeing the beauty in her. It is Barbie meeting Sasha and Gloria and learning from them about how hard life is for women in the Real World still. It is Barbie’s talks with Ruth. Quiet and introspective and filled with a soft patience that comes with age and life. And it is Barbie seeing and experiencing all of these things and then choosing to become human and live in the Real World.

Not because of men. Not because of romance. Not because of any sort of power fantasy that engages in a male gaze and perspective. But because of the women she has met in the Real World. The connections she made with them and the hopes, dreams, and feelings of all girls and women in the Real World.

That’s the moment that makes Barbie so special. That’s the moment that really makes everyone in the theater feel connected, especially the other women and girls present there. That moment is what made the movie for me. The culmination of Barbie’s exploration of existentialists ideologies through a purposefully and specifically woman focused lens. 

#Barbie #Barbie the Movie #Barbie spoilers #Barbie 2023 #Barbie 2023 spoilers #Barbie meta #thoughts post #long post #feminism #isekai #reverse iseaki #power fantasy #existentialism

[fiddlepickdouglas]

Disclaimer: This post is an interpretation of some of the Barbie movie's themes and messages, particularly struggles men are faced with. That's its focus. It is not exhaustive of all possible takes or understandings of the film, either mine or others. If talking about men as equal human beings is a problem for you, feel free to ignore this post and then block me. Otherwise, carry on.

One of my favorite parts of Barbie is when Gloria is doing Barbie's makeup toward the end and they're talking about overturning everything that the Kens have done to Barbieland, where Barbie expresses how she just didn't expect her Ken to act out so drastically. Gloria tells her it's because he has feelings for her, hinting that creating Kendom is how he tried to express those feelings and his upset with the constant rejection he's gotten. And when Barbie starts to say she's afraid of hurting him by going behind his back Gloria stops her.

I could praise that moment alone for showing how women need to stop apologizing for the feelings of others, but this is really key: Gloria doesn't trash talk Ken. She states the bad things he did but she never equates those actions with who Ken is, because they're not. I feel like any other film would've gone the route of "He's an asshole/You don't need him/Dump the douchebag/Why do you care about him when he's treated you like this?" (and to be fair I have a huge tendency to go that way myself)

Gloria doesn't even know Ken! But she was right not to immediately act like he was garbage. I don't know if she got that understanding from Barbie herself or just from being a long-term Barbie doll lover and employee at Mattel, but it stands out to me. We even see proof that none of the Kens are truly bad! In the beginning of the film they're just dudes (Just Kens, lol, I set myself up for that)! Dudes that don't even know what they don't know and can't be blamed for it.

Because the truth is that men are not inherently trash and their actions do not come from an innately evil place. Unfortunately for men, especially in the west, society has come up short in teaching them how to deal with and properly express how they feel in favor of power and saving face. Emotions hold bigger weight than they even know, but the modes they've been allowed are generally aggression, romantic passion, and cool. Nothing outside the lines. Imagine trying to sort a giant ball of complex emotions into one of those three things and stay normal.

Gloria understands that the lack of emotional maturity and regulation is where Ken's dramatic tantrum stems from. While she has experience with the patriarchy and knows how to deal with it because of the situation in the real world, I find it fascinating that her character is the one to understand both sides because she also has experience as a matriarch. (I could be wrong, but it seems like she's the breadwinner of the household. The role of her husband I have no commentary on other than que Dios lo bendice, el pobre no se puede hablar español).

So while Barbieland agrees to barely give the Kens back any power (an extremely accurate reflection of what women get in the real world), the film and its characters ultimately don't villainize or punish them further for their wrongs. Punishment isn't always the right action when someone is wrong (insert commentary on Barbie and Ken constantly getting put in jail in the real world vs. no such thing happening in their own). Sometimes it's simply helping them understand what they're dealing with and guiding them through the ordeal step by step.

Painting the Kens as all bad would've ignored what a Ken is. He is a doll just like Barbie. Ken's issue is that he's unloved and the only form of love he has been given to accept is romantic love. What he and all the other Kens begin to discover at the end of the film is self love, which is just as important, if not more.

Now I'm going to rephrase that last paragraph.

Painting men as all bad ignores what a man is. They are humans just like women are. Most men's issue is that they are unloved and the only form of love they've been given to accept is romantic love. What the men of this world need to discover is self love, which is just as important, if not more.

#barbie #barbie meta #gloria barbie #america ferrera #god i have such a crush on that woman #barbie spoilers

[reincarnatedasacupcake]

I'm really surprised that no one seems to be talking about the brief cameo at Weird Barbie's house of Teen Talk! Barbie! I knew who she was the moment I saw her and was sad that she didn't get an introduction like the others.

I remember the controversy over this doll and the boycotting of her. One of the things that she said was "Math class is tough" and boy did that piss people off. They thought she was furthering the stereo type of Barbie (and the girls who played with them) couldn't be as smart as a man. This totally missed the point that she also said things like "I'm studying to be a doctor" and "Will we ever have enough clothes?"

I always thought it was stupid. I mean Math class IS hard. The Simpson's also did a spoof of this doll with the Talking Malibu Stacy episode.

Anyway, I was super stoked to see her in the movie and wanted to point her out to anyone who had missed her.

#barbie #barbie movie #barbie 2023 #barbie meta #teen talk barbie #math class is tough #easter eggs #talking Malibu Stacy #the simpsons

[extremeower10100110]

talking abt barbie movie a bit, scroll past if u haven't seen

ok, this is a post about how the barbie movie is a metaphor for being trans.

let's see the plot.

-

Everything is Perfect in this Perfect life and Nothing is Wrong. you are Happy about who You are. You are You.

and then you start to have Thoughts. and Things that are supposed to feel Right are Wrong. things are Happening to your Body that you Do Not Like.

you tell someone about this.

turns out, you have a problem. something is wrong with you.

there is a Solution to this. you have to go on this Journey.

ok, you start the journey. cue harassment, anxiety, and these new emotions ?? what ??

you start dressing differently. you go to new places, do new things as part of this journey.

somebody finds out that perhaps should not have found out, and has an idea, to really Fix you, because you existing is Bad.

Sure That's A Great Idea Please Fix Me

actually no nevermind this is bad. Goodbye.

and finally, you meet someone who understands. someone who is the same as you, feeling the exact same way. you may come from completely different worlds, but you understand each other completely.

you help each other on your journey. you help each other grow, and educate the people around you that things are not as they seem. you can be yourself.

and then something happens.

you give up. stop the journey. just stay in your perfect life, where it's gotten a bit worse.

and then you get back up, and realize

the journey did not end

life is full of change and yes that is terrifying but it is also so beautiful like that

you don't know who you are anymore.

but maybe becoming your real self isn't something you need to ask permission for, it's something you have to discover that you are.

and maybe this is your real self. and it makes you happier than the last self.

and maybe you can't be what everyone expects you to be, because you're not.

you're leaving your old life behind.

this name makes me feel better than the last.

these clothes make me feel better than the last.

and maybe i'm okay being myself now, because i've changed.

i don't feel like my old self, i just feel like myself.

-

now i want you to tell me whether this is about the barbie movie,

or being trans. *

that's right, you can't, they're indistinguishable.

this is a transgender movie.

* ((i should say that the things mentioned above are in no way universal trans experiences, such as gender dysphoria, experiencing conversion therapy, changing names, etc. ))

#barbie #barbie spoilers #barbie movie #barbie movie spoilers #meta #barbie meta #greta gerwig #margot robbie #transgender #trans #queer #queer identity #queer stuff #queer meta #trans coded #allegory #film #movies #trans allegory

[goofygooberton]

The thing about Barbie is that you can’t call Barbieland a reverse patriarchy. Barbie never did anything to oppress Ken, the only thing that held Ken back was his need for Barbie’s attention.

There were no Ken Supreme Court justices or Nobel Prize Winners or Astronauts because Ken never tried to be any of those things. At the end there were afew jokes about the Barbies being reluctant to let Kens have their jobs, but this was the first time Ken had ever considered wanting to do anything other than Beach. Instead he was focusing on getting Barbie’s attention, because that was what he derived his worth from. The worst thing that ever happened to Ken was being turned down, which is no where near on the level of awful as the brainwashing and subjugation the Kens did to the Barbies in Kendom.

Barbie never prevented Ken from doing anything, but she did set him free from the prison of his own creation. Even after Ken had put Barbie through all that struggle, when she had every right to knock his plastic little lights out, Barbie chose kindness. Barbie showed Ken that he had worth, even though Ken made Barbie believe that she was nothing.

#you are kenough #also in my head barbie went to the real world becuase she wanted to help the women there #barbie meta #ken from barbie #kendom #barbie spoilers #barbie #jenkins.txt

[pinkieroy]

Thoughts on barbie, but not on the movie itself just audience reaction, anyway here is my hot take, barbie isn't a franchise movie in the way comic books movies are BUT it is still a big movie from a big studio based on a product that has been popular for decades, so some people set out to watch it maybe thinking it would offer the same kind of apolitical approach as those other movies, the difference here being that greta gerwig (and also noah baumbach as her co writer) had more freedom to say what they wanted to say than directors under, for example, Marvel's iron fist and absolute need to make movies look somewhat uniform, and having this sort of expectation for one more normal franchise movie be broken by the movie leaning heavily on feminism (and mainstream feminism, mind you, at least for me there was nothing absolutely new there) that it just melted the brains of part of the audience who thought they would just have some easy entertainment (i'm not ignoring the fact that conservatives also go bananas over some Disney movies, that is not my point, i'm thinking about more moderate people here not fucking Ben Shapiro and the sort).

In conclusion or in internet lingo TL:DR: most of the movie going audience got so used to (big) movies trying to stay as neutral as possible on politics and being bland, that getting some spice was too much

P.s. I think the success of this movie proves that studios should give more room to directors/writers say what they believe in instead of forcing creative people into a mold, because even tho it has detractors, they are still making the big bucks they crave so much

#gonna actually tag this properly in hopes of some (polite pls) discussion because this is interesting to me #barbie #barbie spoilers #barbie movie #greta gerwig #barbie 2023 #text #barbie meta

[shaylogic]

we’ve gotta workshop the mechanics of barbieland--real world exchange for the fanfic writers

according to gloria’s experiences, we understand that barbie (and weird barbie?) came from her playing with their doll-selves in reality. based on that, we could assume that whatever humans make-believe happens in barbieland, and maybe that’s the normal situation until the wormhole situation happens with wishing???

but ken goes home with the idea of patriarchy and maybe four stolen library books and suddenly there’s tons of man merch everywhere that he likely didn’t go back and forth to steal from reality, so it just materialized? can the dolls imagine things into reality? and is that always the case, or just when the portal between worlds is open?

then, as weird barbie says in the movie, “the fork in my soup” of those theories is that not only does ken materialize man merch in kendom, but literally within like an hour of the real world’s time (based on how long the mattel execs get to the beach), the mojo dojo casa house ken thought up is already being produced by the hundreds and shipping out in reality? hello?????

when the kens gained autonomy during the rift, did they realize they could imagine things into their reality???

#barbie meta #barbie spoilers #barbie 2023 #worldbuilding #fanfiction #headcanons #fan theory #help i need to figure this out please #text post #kendom #barbieland