#Barbie not only chooses to become human she chooses to become a human woman in a patriarchal world

[sunny-blue]

Barbie movie be like: you’ve seen and felt the pain that patriarchy will inflict on you,do you still choose this?you choose to be a woman,be yourself,endure this pain?do you choose girlhood,despite everything you will lose?and the answer is yes.

#that’s what I got out of the scene with Barbie and Ruth at the end #Barbie not only chooses to become human she chooses to become a human woman in a patriarchal world #and she’s happy to do it because she’s being herself and doing what she wants and being who she wants #fuck dude #barbie #barbie movie #barbie spoilers #this movie is so trans babey holy shit #I don’t have a vagina and he doesn’t have a penis #ALSO:NOT CHOOSING BEING A WOMAN TOO FUCK!!!!this movie man…bro…

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

Also I dunno whether you've watched Barbie movie in the end, but there is an actually good message of one embracing their life in their *entirety* and not just at the time of youth, energy and beauty in like period from 20 to 30 or something. Though I'd think mention of a scene where Barbie tells an old woman that she is beautiful (thus embracing the idea) and thing about her choosing to become a human and live whole life rather than always be a (literal) doll already would reach anyone by now? 🤔 And also I personally think the message that a person is already valid and enough as their own entity, even without a partner (of the opposite gender in this case) has a good merit (when Barbie and Ken let each other go). Plenty of people still think that they have "failed" in life if they don't have husband/wife. It is important to love yourself first and foremost, rather than place your worth on having a partner! Some people simply will live and die single, and it is not always a bad thing (for example, plenty of scientists of the past never found wives, instead choosing life of solitude for proper pursuit of knowledge). Basically it strangely speaks with men too, not just women. If you didn't have context for the "I am Kenough" pictures here it is yeah

Basically what I am saying is, this movie actually has kinda valid existential messages that maybe *should* be obvious but most people will get caught stressing over dumb things. Like, seeing your "worth" as a human being only in period of youth and beauty is very 'human' message. Recently one feminist movie after another fails and evokes nothing but arguments and hatred, but this movie feels different? But now I do want to know what do you think of it. Would you say that 1) they boosted it with actually very 'human' sentiments to push the agenda better (the 'giving medicine with a spoon full of sugar' kinda logic) or 2) there was *genuine* intention and positive vision of feminism? Like... do you think this is "all part of the plan" but this time trying to be "nice" instead of just insulting their own audience (like feminism movies normally do), or creators had genuinely optimistic vision and what they *think* feminism means? Or maybe the secret third thing where the movie is not bad because it doesn't take itself all that seriously + did NOT have advertisement campaign built on fabricated audience's outrage (you know, THE ones)?

I'm glad you found things in the movie to provoke thought, but I've no intention of ever seeing it myself. It's good to remind oneself sometimes that just because something's in the news this week, you don't have to jump on board the coach and go pay to look at it, with either your money or your time. I've heard in passing many detailed reports on the plot of the film, from many differing points of view, so I feel I've received enough of a multifaceted picture of what it does to know I don't want to waste two hours of my life on it. There are tens of thousands of actually good films out there that aren't trying to smuggle in radical feminist hatred of men, so I'll choose to watch those instead.

[abandoned-as-mustard]

I gotta get this off my chest. Am I the only woman who didn't like it? Really???

Here's a spoiler (rant) review, (not) sorry

To start off with, I really appreciate the effort into set design, fashion, music, choreography, casting, all the historical barbie references, how important barbie is to many girls, the nostalgia, HOWEVER....

'It's not meant to be taken seriously!!' The movie preaches about patriarchy and feminism, they literally go to the real world and interact with these real concepts, we are made to sit through feminist speeches about women who hate themselves, how are we not meant to take that seriously?

Fucking hell, I was being whammed on the head with a sledgehammer, the plot can literally be summarised with 'taking down the patriarchy'. And that itself isn't the bad thing, it's how they framed it -

Because just when that plot concept itself became clear, as if I was entirely stupid and needed to be reinformed, they then had several feminist quips and jokes (which can be summarised as 'haha look how women don't have any power in our US centric world view!') and speeches (used as actual plot devices to un-brainwash the barbies once the kens took over) wherein if I was a woman who already fucking hated myself and had no self esteem and hadn't seen any other movie in my life, I would've loved. While I understand many women hate themselves, the fact that there are women who don't hate themselves wasn't acknowledged at all when 'women' is used as a general term.

So guess I'm counted out.

There are scenes where the Ken dolls start enjoying stereotypically guy things like 'watching the godfather' and 'liking trucks' and 'having beers' and putting flatscreen TVs everywhere, and they are also even apparently mansplaining to the barbies. It's portrayed in such a silly way that suggests there is something cringe in real men genuinely liking any of those things. Yes, Ken is silly, but you are now incorporating real things.

I was confused the entire time - what is this supposed to be? A fun silly movie? THEN WHY ARE YOU PREACHING AT ME? WHY. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. DOES BARBIE SEE THE HORRIBLE REAL WORLD AND GO 'yes please I want to be there and find myself'

I'm sorry, what? You literally just established that ken's only role was to be Ken to barbie, and that he had to be himself, but you're saying barbie can't do any of that from barbie land just because she doesn't have a 'role'? THE MAN WHO DID NOT HAVE ANY ROLE EXCEPT TO BE A BARBIE SIMP GOT TO STAY BUT BARBIE BARBIE HAD TO BECOME REAL?

oh yeah and the whole 'become human and feel but also you'll just die at the end' because thanks yeah that's what we all believe right, that death is the end of everything but the pitiful excuse of our lives and ~~~~feelings~~~ makes it worthwhile? You can just tell an existential person wrote this

But also there were the weird metaphysical elements with the literal ghost of the creator of barbie being referred to as 'creator' and that she 'can't control you' so yeah, that perfectly sums up the fucked up theology and how humanity really fucking likes to think of themselves as gods.

'Mustard you're taking this way too seriously!! It's a fun silly movie about pink and clothes and dolls!' THEN WHY WASNT I ALLOWED TO ENJOY IT WITHOUT WATCHING BARBIE BECOME SOME RANDOM HUMAN WOMAN IN THE CHEESIEST FUCKING SEQUENCE???? She wasn't even allowed to be 'my' doll anymore!

'But barbie shouldn't only exist to be yours!' SHE IS A DOLL THAT IS HER PURPOSE

'But barbie never got to choose ken' - she's also a doll (Aka, not real, despite what the movie portrays). She has like, 200 careers. Having a hot boyfriend is not a serious problem. Barbie actually LIKES ken in other Barbie movies, and why would their theoretical doll relationship even exist if she didn't like him? (If you say heteronormativity I will bite you.)

His existential crisis was the problem that led to Kendom, but they did not spend an awful lot of time on his character for that. Barbie is allowed to sledgehammer home the points about women's self esteem and needing being perfect, but you LITERALLY HAVE KEN DOLLS RIGHT THERE being toned and sexy and hot, AND THEY DIDNT GIVE ANY LIP SERVICE TO THAT IN RELATION TO REAL MEN. EVEN ONE LINE. the closest they come is 'you're ken, not 'and ken'. Uhh thanks? If I based my feminism on this (which some people already are) then I wouldn't think men have ANY problems being human beings.

Barbie and Ken don't even end up together! It's not even that, but that they separate them so that they can NEVER be together and maybe I don't know, LEARN to love each other?? Clearly some of the other barbies were still attached to kens after they stopped being brainwashed. Why couldn't our barbie?

So the other problem is the heavy marketing of ken's feelings for barbie (complete with music video) made it seem like a romance. It was not a romance. And I felt like an idiot for expecting a little romance.

It swings from wildly silly to heavy concepts and back within seconds.

'But it's about forced heteronormativity' and 'amatonormativity' *BITES YOU BITES YOU BITES YOU* so it's NOT just a silly movie then? Huh?

WHAT IS THIS MOVIE TRYING TO SAY?

That's its real problem.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS PINK, BARBIE MOVIE, COULDN’T YOU JUST LET IT BE A FUN MOVIE WITHOUT FORCING ME TO SEE BARBIE BECOME PART OF THIS SO-CALLED TERRIBLE WORLD?

#barbie movie #barbie spoilers #barbie movie spoilers #barbie

[profound-decay-theory]

Just saw the Barbie movie and was scrolling through content afterwards and seeing all this positive stuff

The movie was one of the better pieces of cinema I've watched. It tried to have meaning, which is more than most other things can say.

It was absolutely gorgeous at parts but still fell short in a lot of places, which I don't see people talking about as much.

Spoilers ahead

This is of course my own takeaway.

The movie was a giant ad. It had to be, if we were going to have a Barbie movie it was going to be full of Mattel. The entire intro for the movie could've been a commercial. I was very apprehensive, and worried that the whole movie was going to be, hey, look at the glorious Barbie™️! It's been progressive since the very beginning. Women were forced to become mothers to baby dolls, but then they got an adult doll! And eventually the adult doll got different jobs! And eventually different skin colors! And eventually even, the "curvy" barbie. Sorry for the body image issues, kids 😔

To give credit to Mattel, Barbie is 100% one of the more progressive brands out there. The entire purpose of barbie is that the doll is supposed to represent, in a way, the child playing with it. This means that the child is more susceptible to being influenced by the Barbie than other toys. Mattel changed the default body mold sometime when I was younger, if I remember correctly, and have all sorts of dolls with disabilities and specialized dolls, such as those with down syndrome or vitiligo. They're also actively attempting to correct mistakes the brand has made in the past, such as Computer Engineer Barbie. Look that up for some... fun.

This, however, doesn't mean that the entire intro sequence being essentially a superbowl commercial is excusable. There are also a lot of random brand placements that aren't throughout the movie, most notable of which being the birkenstock sandal that Barbie is forced to choose when she has to go to Reality. This is supposed to be a movie about being human, what it means, and female empowerment. The random product placement takes away from the viewing experience.

It also undermines the whole "Mattel CEO" plot line that they had. He said something to the effect of "you think I became a CEO just because I care about the bottom line? [money] I care about little girls and their dreams!" This is almost immediately undermined by the fact that he is instantly swayed on the mom's barbie because he was told it would sell really well. They really need to outline this guy's motivations- oh wait. They did. He just doesn't follow them. He's a plot convenient device that is the bad guy only when he absolutely needs to be, but who instantly redeems himself because Mattel can't look bad. And what was up with the box? Would it send Barbie back or not? Why does she remember a box?

The mom? And daughter? Yeah. Those two. Who were they again? The mix up between the two was an incredibly minor part of the story. Again, they were plot convenient. Slightly better than the CEO though. I don't remember the mom's name- did they give her one? Seems kinda important for a woman to have one in this kind of movie, right? Especially if her entire job is to "Bechdel Test" the other women. [After some research, her name is Gloria. They did give her a first name, but not a last name. Did anyone else miss her name?] She's dark and creepy and weird, right? But like not really. She just kinda is a woman. A normal human being. Who has cellulite. (They kinda made that a bigger deal then it needed to be, right??) And her daughter, Sasha. She sure flipped around quick. All of a sudden she loves her mom!! What happened to make her upset and tear others down?? The patriarchy? But that was rampant in Barbieland too. It seems like that would've been more of a "look, even a fantasy land can get corrupted" speech then a "ooh, I suddenly love my mom! Let's fix it!" Besides, what man hurt her? Her dad is demonstrated to be a bumbling idiot. She just kinda took up a cause? They really needed to flesh these characters out more, and maybe spend less time on "Hey Barbie!"

Honestly, it felt like they spent their money on pink paint and ran out of money for character development, except for Margot Robbie (I have nothing bad to say about Margot Robbie). This could've just been a Barbie movie. The feminist empowerment speeches felt like they were taken from the internet then edited by men to be screen friendly, they undercut every hearfelt moment with humor, half the characters were unnecessary, and the plot left you with a billion questions. What was the brainwashing? Where did the Kens sleep?

What does it mean to be a human (woman)? A toy company asks.

This movie definitely had its good parts and bad parts. For me, having seen all sorts of advertising and not really having been a huge Barbie or movie fan, I was still hoping it was really good. Of course, going in with that mindset, I was instantly disappointed when I saw rampant advertising and poorly fleshed-out ideas and characters. Ken's explanation of why he basically enslaved the Barbies at the end of the movie is unsatisfactory, and makes the audience wonder if that was the original plan, or if the marketing went so well that they had to redeem Ken last minute. He would've worked better as the lovesick sidekick that he originally was, instead of attempting to compare men in Barbieland to woman in Reality and then treating them like villians.

The movie split itself between the ideas of being a woman and being human- it characterized being a woman as an awful experience that one is wonderful for enduring, and being a human as wonderful in itself. The CEO of Mattel stood in the way of Barbie becoming human, and the person who played with Barbie, as well as her daughter, helped Barbie understand womanhood. Removing these two concepts, which needed tl be expanded on in a way the main plot of the movie didn't allow for, and allowing Barbie to discover womanhood and being a human as the same thing might have elevated the movie and allowed for some more of the contemplative moments that characterized some of the better parts of the movie. Barbie doesn't learn to love being a woman, supposedly the point of Mattel's Barbie line. Instead, she learns to love being human, in which the pains of womanhood come along with it. A better feminist movie would follow the lines of "love yourself first" that the Barbie movie simply does not.

But why then, is this movie rated so high?

Why have people been ranting about it online, drawing obsessively, buying tickets again and again?

This movie asks questions.

They show the tree leaves rustling, children laughing, a couple arguing. They show Barbie mirroring the emotions of the world around her.

They show Barbie, tears streaming down her face, turning to the old woman beside her and say, "You're beautiful".

The old woman laughs, "I know it."

She is beyond cellulite. She is beyond thoughts of death. She is beyond shame.

She is everything Barbie is afraid to be.

And yet as Ken drags her away, Barbie looks back, face red, eyes wet, not perfect.

There is a reason the content I have eagerly consumed has been positive.

Barbie in the Yellow Dress, on her way to becoming Barbara, is the prettiest I have seen her. I couldn't stop staring at Margot Robbie throughout the movie, as her eyes kept looking so uncannily painted on. But she looked so human right there. Something you rarely see in movies. The red in her face- the blood flowing under her skin. Her watery eyes. The locket sitting against her throat, a sign of memories, of feelings, of caring. Not to mention, the outfit she wore the most throughout the movie was the cowgirl one, which had a bandana covering her throat. Having it exposed now was a sign of vulnerability. Humanness.

The ending, too. We all assumed she was off to get a job. But no, she was going to the gynecologist! At first thought, this was a tacky way to end a beautiful sequence, and the movie itself.

But this ending has layers. It not only recognizes her newfound humanness by acknowledging her... new lack of smoothness, but gynecologists are mostly females. This also is a job that wouldn't exist in Barbieland. A very quick search reveals no gynecologist Barbies, and I couldn't see Mattel making one due to the age range of their target market. I wouldn't be suprised if she wanted to become one, seeing as it's very human. And she'll accomplish something! What she always wanted was to be something important. And here she won't be copying anyone she used to know. She'll be Dr. Barbara Handler, and she'll get used to correcting men and saying it's Doctor Handler, actually, not Ms. or Mrs., and I'm not interested in becoming a Mrs, thank you. Or maybe she'll find something else or someone else.

That's the glorious part of being human.

#barbie #barbie spoilers #barbie movie #Margot Robbie #Ken

[lasarcasticpanda]

something that i thought was very well done in Barbie (besides yanno all of it) is how Margot's Babrie doesn't think she's smart, because she has been labeled as "stereotypical Barbie".

like, multiple times in this movie, she has moments of very well articulated and intelligent comments, which have excellent comedic timing, but serve a wider purpose of showcasing how women tend to be given a Trait and that is your thing. she mentions how she wishes Smart Barbie was here or to wait for Leadership Barbie to swoop in because she's Stereotypical Barbie, she's not smart, she's not a Leader, she can't do this.

at some point after childhood, women get pigeonholed into a category, right (sometimes even in childhood if I'm honest)? weird, smart, hot, pretty, ugly, bitchy, innocent, prudish, slut, nice. at most, you get two of these traits for your peers and friends to label you.

and its hard to see that when it happens! it's only as we go on and start having complex relationships and experiences and interacting with people outside of our space that we start seeing that and start putting a name to the feeling of constriction that we've been having for, what feels like, forever.

THEN you have to contend with the reality that you are so much more than even all of those things and that's scary! you cannot fit into these small boxes, humans were never made to fit into boxes, you have to throw it out even as others play tug-of-war with you in the rain and insist the soggy, tearing box is so important and where would we be without it? you have to constantly face that and insist that no, it's not, and we'd be right where we are now, arguing over a wet box in the rain when the only thing either of us wants is to be warm inside.

and you have to learn when to pick and choose to just let go and leave the box and the person in the rain and when to keep fighting, even if you're so tired and cold.

and this just! HAPPENS! like there isn't a manual, there isn't a magical age you turn where this becomes clear to you! it's different for everyone and some don't ever have that and some have it so young and others not until they're old! it's such a lonely thing sometimes!

but then you meet other women, different women, so many women with so many unique experiences to add. trans women, women of color, nonbinary women, disabled women, women of every differing religion, ALL have these unique experiences with this phenomon, some have more boxes to throw out in the rain, some have to try and throw out wooden or stone boxes in a hurricane, the danger they face in doing so is sometimes so much more than what others experience.

but that moment of realizing women all have this undertone of understanding and dealing with this gives us the courage to join and hopefully make the tug-of-war easier, to make sure we all get inside to be warm. it's hard to pull that stone box by yourself, but if we join behind you, maybe we can win.

this movie encapsulates that so incredibly well? that speech from Gloria about how tiring it is to see herself and other women feel this way and be made to feel this way and to buy into ourselves is just! that moment of looking every woman in the eyes and telling them they're seen and their struggles are seen and it is so unfair!

and then Barbie says something else smart and, for the first time, acknowledges she did. "Oh I can't believe that just came from me" it has the whole time, can't wait for you to realize that you were always human, and look forward to seeing you in the rain and for hot cocoa afterwards.

#barbie spoilers #barbie #its so late and im not feeling good so i have no idea if this is coherent lmao #but! that was so interesting to me! #it was her acknowledging the smart thing she said near the end of the movie that drew my attention #because i remembered two other distinct lines where she showed this level of intelligence and i was momentarily confused #as to why the script drew attention to THIS one and not the others #and its because barbie was made to feel like an object and like she was ONLY Stereotypical Barbie in the real world #in Barbieland youre everything all at once and you can do anything honestly #in childhood youre everything and can be whatever you want #and at some point you leave that and the world throws labels on you as if theyre dressing you for war #and you have to find a way to get back there and eventually realize you cant so now you have to bring it here #and its not the same and its inconsistent but! youre not alone! #theres defo this for the kens too btw but im zeroing in on Barbie here

[anthraxplus]

the cultural phenomenon of barbenheimer has taken over my mind

i did barbenheimer with a friend yesterday and it really got me thinking.

first off - it was so weird having my local theatre be so busy. it's usually the theatre you can bet on being able to sneak anything into, and while we still definitely did sneak in a buttload of snacks, they had people actively waiting in the wings as ticket checkers. so it kinda sucked that we couldn't just do the whole thing for free. but that's a bit beside the point. the theatre was the busiest ive seen it in nearly 10 years. and i'm not gonna lie, seeing a "cultural event" happen in front of me was more jarring for that reason. and as the day went on, that image in my head stuck with me. the image that all these people showed up to watch barbie and oppenheimer.

we saw oppenheimer first, in a nearly empty theatre. we sorta did this by design - we started at 10am and picked oppenheimer first because less people would choose to be that insane. i was high and trying to get myself into an impartial mindset (even though i didn't think i would end up liking it). and i think all i should really say about oppenheimer is that it's 3 nearly endless hours that doesnt give anyone any time to breathe and ends up saying a bunch of confusing, disappointing, and outright false things. seriously, the amount of times the movie brushes off the fucking truth of the situation is absolutely disgusting. obligatory linking of shaun's video on hiroshima and nagasaki. i think everyone in the movie should be forced to answer why theyre proud of making 3 hour bland ass shit boring nuclear bomb apologia. this isn't even getting into how the famous oppenheimer quote is introduced by a manic pixie dream girl (who in reality was a stanford graduate and psychiatrist, neither of which i believe are ever touched on or expanded in the film) who hops off his dick mid-fuck, walks over to a bookshelf, picks the bhagavad gita off the shelf, opens it to the exact page and verse of the famous quote, asks him to read, and slides back on his dick between "now i am become death" and "destroyer of worlds." this movie released to critical acclaim. some are calling it a masterpiece.

after some burritos for lunch, my friend and i went to barbie. this was a packed theatre and mostly everyone was wearing pink. the red in my hair has faded to a pink, so i felt like i was part of something. kinda. anyway. some little kids were loud in the front but it wasnt much of an issue. i kept thinking of them whenever the movie would say something about the struggle to find identity in a world that hates you no matter what you do. did those little children listen to margot robbie say that she doesnt have a vagina? did they parse that? it was a great movie, if a bit scattershot. it shouldve been longer, if only to fully flesh out a couple ideas and help the movie feel a little less cramped. but they would never make a 2.5 (let alone 3) hour barbie movie that talks about not just what it means to be a woman, but what it means to be human in a world that is so often contradictory hostile and praising of you. what happens when the Other we defined ourselves by isn't static? do we become different as well in relation to them? do we stay the same? do we do both? what are women supposed to do in the world when everything they do is wrong but they're never allowed to stop doing anything? how do men develop their own identity when they are so often raised into mindsets where their individuality is replaced by similarly contradictory standards and a definition that only exists in relation to women? what did ken mean when he said he had "all the genitals?" barbie is far from perfect, but it manages to ask more honest and thought provoking questions (and offers its own interesting answers) about the nature of reality than oppenheimer does.

i'm struck by the dichotomy on display here. barbie may be the more financially successful of the two films, but it is not treated the same critically. for all barbie says, it seems to get overlooked for its (still impressive) design and acting. its metacommentary is mentioned but never discussed. its "witty meta humor" is listed as a huge selling point. oppenheimer, in contrast, is a vain and shallow film that says nothing and looks somewhat cool doing it. i wonder if there are any parallels here.

i worry for what this means for movies. a nearly empty theatre for a self-important movie that lists itself as its reason for existing is treated as if it says anything at all, and a packed theatre for a movie with a script similarly packed with commentary on our very state of being gets boiled down to "cute sets and witty banter." what did the audience members take from their barbenheimer experience? my area is not very progressive, and in my experience not very invested in growth of any kind. when america ferrera delivers one of the many theses of barbie in a tear-inducing frustrated monologue on how she's never seen as good enough no matter what she does, did the audience members feel seen? did they feel understood? or did they want her to stop talking so they could go back to looking at the cool barbie dream houses? when oppenheimer breezes through the discussion of which innocent cities to burn in an unholy fire with all the tact and deliberation a group of friends has when deciding where to have lunch, did the audience feel slighted? disgusted? or did they just want to see einstein on screen again like he's an iron man cameo?

i dont know where we go from here. it feels like a tipping point for what we want from movies, and i'm not sure audiences learned anything from the past 10 to 15 years of set-ups, tie-ins, and spin-offs. i want to believe something will come of the fact that so many people are seeing barbie. maybe, hopefully, something in it sticks with people and inspires some sort of change. just the smallest amount of evolution. right now i too feel like barbie when she sits in a park and looks around at everything the human experience has to offer, and starts crying from both joy and sorrow. a woman who is so often seen as disposable and empty understands the human condition in a way she cant express, and is overwhelmed by the crushing beauty and fragility it all rests upon. she is a human before she knows she is. she doesnt know who she is, but she knows she still Is. existence is confusing and no one knows what to do about it, and the least we could do is support each other as we figure out who we've always been. i hope this is what sticks with people instead of some half-audible dialogue about how hiroshima and nagasaki were justified. time will tell, though.

#more like 'i am beCUM death' am i right?

[svynakee]

1 serving of feminism, societal change not included: a critique of Barbie's conflicted storytelling and feminist message

Really enjoyable movie. I don't see the point in actually reviewing the movie itself as a movie. I would recommend it. Watch the trailers if you're on the fence. If you like what the trailers show, the movie is basically that, but more.

Unfortunately, whatever the movie tries to say about girl power keeps getting undermined by itself for sassy jokes about The Patriarchy. And it doesn't have much to say.

Spoilers ahead.

I'm going to spoil the whole ending here so seriously, last warning.

The final thesis of the movie seems to be "allow women to embrace human flaws instead of demanding perfection from them", or something along the lines of how women have the burden of keeping within a very narrow set of standards just to be acceptable. This is delivered by Margot Robbie's Barbie choosing to become human, embracing old age and eventual death. No longer Stereotypical Barbie, but Barbara Handler. Which is a powerful ending and a logical one to a journey that started with Barbie thinking about death, i.e. deviating from the plastic perfection of Barbieland towards self-realisation. Her individual journey as a character and how that journey relates to the feminist message works well.

The issue is that the rest of the cast and the setting doesn't seem to follow. It's like watching one of the movie's many group dance sequences, but the background dancers are moving at an entirely different tempo to Barbie's lead.

At the beginning of the movie, the narration says that the Barbies believe they've fixed gender inequality because of their female empowerment, the tone clearly sarcastic. It's laying out to the audience that Barbieland as a whole is naive and misguided, but well-meaning. If we think of Barbieland as a character itself, then the arc is pretty clear: Barbieland will have a rude awakening via Margot's Barbie, learn the error of its ways and take a more nuanced approach to feminism.

The actual arc that happens is that Ryan Gosling's Ken learns about patriarchy, brings patriarchy (or his parody of it) to Barbieland, which causes all the Barbies to become brainwashed. Margot's Barbie, which has been to the real world and seen (real) patriarchy, becomes the only Barbie capable of resisting the brainwashing and has to educate the other Barbies about their self-worth to undo their subservience to the Kens.

Firstly, some interesting conceits that the movie completely avoided exploring:

If Barbieland's empowered female leaders could be so easily brainwashed by a version of patriarchy that's "give men beers and listen to everything they say", it raises questions about how shallow that empowerment was. The Barbies completely forgot their self worth and autonomy because a guy told them men and horses run the world. Does this mean their plastic version of feminism is inherently fragile and centred around male perception? Or a reflection of how Mattel (in the movie) is company controlled by men who manipulate the idea of gender equality/female empowerment to protect their power? Really mad this isn't addressed beyond "the Barbies have no self defence against patriarchy, like a disease". I'd like to think that a woman raised in a matriarchal society would have some, if not more, resistance to the ideas of patriarchy.

Barbieland's normal culture: all the Barbies had careers and lead society, the Kens were background decoration. Margot's Barbie even says she doesn't know where the Kens live (my theory: they sleep on the beach). She refuses to let Ken stay for girls night at her house, which is reversed when Ken takes over and hosts a boy's night at her house. But it's not a complete reversal: Ken invites her to stay as his wife or girlfriend. He offers her what he was denied, albeit conditionally. And we see other Barbies in the house during the boys night. In Barbieland, Kens are second class citizens, excluded from most activities besides choreographed dances (I think one of the nurses might have been a Ken?). In the Kendom, Barbies are second class citizens...but they are included in the normal activities because Kens need to mansplain and play guitar at them. They need to hand Kens beers, so they are interacting with the Kens. They don't need to demand attention from Kens the way the Kens had to in Barbieland, doing flips and saying "hi Barbie". Both societies are flawed...but Barbies have more value in the Kendom than Kens had in Barbieland.

"It's like a spa day for your brain". That's what the former President Barbie says to Margot's Barbie when asked why she agreed to do patriarchy. This actually fits in with the movie's message about the demands placed on women to always be role models, always excel. That's apparently a demand borne of patriarchy, but this one line of dialogue shows that in the Kendom, Ken's patriarchy offers a relief from that. But all Barbies are 'freed' from patriarchy by being reminded of their achievements and self worth. This line of dialogue just sits there, like a big fat fly in the pudding. At the end the Barbies return society to the same as before, but with a few Kens in minor government positions and an acknowledgement of Weird Barbie and the other discontinued outcasts. So the choice for women is to stay in Barbieland and chase perfection, or be ordinary and human and die? There's no in-between, where a normally high-achieving turbo-empowered woman can decide "today, I'm going to read a cheesy romance novel where the man has galloping abs and a hazy idea of consent". All Barbies must be what their label says. President Barbie must always be President Barbie, even during sleepovers. She can never play guitar badly at someone on the beach, or do a shitty drunk podcast about horses. She can't be goofy and fail a flip on the beach. A Barbie can't do Ken things.

The outcasts. Weird Barbie is the only one who is acknowledged at the end, where President Barbie apologises for calling her weird behind her back and also to her face. Weird Barbie responds with something like 'it's fine because I like being weird'. But she's not the only outcast of Barbieland (and the Kendom). Growing Up Skipper, Sugar Daddy Ken, Magic Earring Ken, Midge the pregnant doll, Videogirl Barbie and even Allan form the group of discontinued dolls, who don't really have a place in their society. Like the movie's initial critique of Barbieland's feminism, the plastic nature of it means its inflexible. It does not acknowledge those that cannot perform their roles: girl power* (*terms and conditions apply). I hate how that's handwaved with an apology and the spokesperson of the weirdos saying "no problem sis". That's not how it works. Except it is; if you're a minority you've seen it. It's the "I have a black friend so I can say it", the "my nephew is autistic so I can argue about autistic issues", the "there's a gay comedian who said it wasn't offensive to the gays". It's so poorly handled. No, it's not okay because Weird Barbie doesn't mind being Weird. That's not the issue. The issue is that Weird Barbie was excluded from society because she was weird. The problem isn't her weirdness, it was Barbieland's attitude to it, and that CANNOT be fixed with an apology to ONE MEMBER of the community. Weird Barbie gets to join the government though so yay big win for the weird girls out there, really feeling the love and empowerment here.

Overall the issues regarding women's rights or whatever that the movie raised felt very stale, which led to several scenes falling flat for me. Most notably the big cathartic rant by America Ferrera's character, a human woman and mother who works for Mattel, just completely failed to land. I think the idea is that she's giving voice to all the frustrations faced by women daily under our society but I've heard all these talking points 10 years ago by female comedians. It didn't make me feel Seen and Valid, nor did it raise new points that made me think. In my life, women are already talking about these things, and the frustrating thing is that we can't seem to agree on how to address them. The fact they exist is old news. The one point I actually liked during the rant is the acknowledgement that women do turn on other women for being "too high achieving", I feel like mainstream girlpower movies usually avoid talking about that.

Maybe it's because I'm queer POC in STEM so my exposure to feminist discourse is different from the mainstream (American?) audience Greta Gerrig was aiming for but those scenes just bogged the movie down. It said nothing, and I felt nothing. I guess I felt a bit bored. I'm not saying that I expected the Barbie Movie to solve feminism, but I do feel like if that's the big climatic moment the movie's building towards, I needed to hear more than "stuff my coworkers rant about during lunch break". And we do say it in front of our male and nonbinary colleagues. They don't care. It's old news. They've heard it before too.

Also this rant is apparently the key to fixing the patriarchy-brainwashed Barbies. The movie washes its hands of Barbieland with the line "the Kens will eventually have as much power in Barbieland as women do in the real world" which I felt was really cynical and completely fails the message for a cheap final dig at patriarchy.

If Barbieland started out as a naïve, inaccessible, unrealistic, inflexible, shallow and corporate idea of feminism/gender equality...where does it end up? Where does that line, delivered by the all-powerful narrator, leave it? Barbieland thought it was an inspiration to little girls, empowering them to be strong and successful women. It wasn't. So that means it can never achieve that? Is the message of the movie that Barbieland is always fated to be a mere reflection of ours, with all its limitations and prejudices, except men and women have swapped places? Maybe that is Gerrig's message but holy shit is it a dark one.

The ending I would have actually liked to see is something like this:

We return to the beach. The volleyball court has mixed teams of Barbies and Kens playing, with 2 cheerleader Kens and a cheerleader Barbie. One of the Barbies playing is Doctor Barbie, who gets hit with the ball. The ambulance rushes over and Doctor Ken (possibly Magic Earring) helps her. Doctor Barbie says its nice to be the one being treated for once.

Reprise of the award show. Gosling's Ken is receiving an award for being 'dedication to Beach'. Midge and Skipper are also in the seats, ready to receive awards. A Barbie receives an award for something completely mundane, because ordinary women are supposed to be celebrated too.

President Barbie gets a brewski?

The movie left me with the impression that the story about womanhood, motherhood and surviving as a woman in modern society was at odds with feminist talking points. I couldn't tell if it wanted to critique or support modern feminism, whatever its idea of modern feminism is. The character's journey would sometimes just hit a pause button to Educate about Discourse, but without actually saying anything meaningful enough to educate. That detracted from the impact of the character's journey and took away some of the interesting points about the setting.

I felt like Gosling's Ken had a much better storyline, it was compact and tied up neatly. Maybe because it's a woman's take on a male narrative ("what if the GENDER ROLES WERE REVERSED? and men were OPPRESSED? ooOOOooHhh"), whereas the "being a woman is hard under patriarchy" story is something I've seen too many times. Or maybe Ken's struggle with self worth is simpler than Barbie's struggle with existential dread. I almost feel like Ken's subplot should have been cut, if its sacrifice would have allowed more focus and polish on Barbie's narrative.

#barbie #barbie 2023 #barbie the movie

[the-real-lilac-elf]

got tumblr again just because I have thoughts abt barbie movie. gonna be super messy but I gotta get all my thoughts out. spoilers spoilers spoilers you've been warned watch the movie before reading this

also I talk abt women and girls a lot but like gender complicated some of it also relates to any afab ppl, some of it to anyone feminine, so keep that in mind reading it

it was fun it was entertaining it was visually super well done (the sets and the costumes oh my godddd) and yet I am SO CONFUSED

okay okay so like there were just so many things crammed in, so many plot points and like so many ideas and so much POTENTIAL and I liked the setup they had for so much of it but it never felt fully expanded on!! I honestly would've watched ten hours of this movie if only😭😭

stereotypical barbie, her journey throughout the movie could definitely be seen as a story about a young girl growing up and seeing what the world is like. she starts out in "barbieland", where everything is a perfect fantasy and life is beautiful and fun and thst could all be seen as like childhood. and then as she starts "malfunctioning" and eventually sees the real world, that's her starting to grow up, and her at the end choosing to be human and live in the real world is like her becoming an adult.

I'm not sure how I feel abt this way of seeing the movie?? like it's kind of cool, since that is what a lot of girls go through growing up. I heard when I was a kid that things used to be bad for women, but now it's all getting better and women can be whatever they want to be and blah blah blah. then you grow up and realize it's not true, that things haven't changed much.

and barbie being a person who sees the real world and decides she wants to live in the real world as a real woman is kinda cool, it's definitely got some beautiful synbolism abt growing up and living in the world proudly as a woman despite misogyny

on the other hand, I don't know if that's really an applicable journey for barbie herself. there was this suggestion throughout the movie that barbie was "an idea". idk if I like the movies ending, that barbie becomes human and like... isn't barbie anymore?? it just felt kind of strange and out of nowhere to me

I think if they'd made the themes of her "growing up" more explicit, then her leaving barbieland at the end would make more sense, but there's kind of a tension between her being an idea and a concept versus a person with agency, like within the reality of the movie. I made another long post abt the lore of barbieland but the summary is that it's like a magic idea space where mattel products are created. so it's kinda weird to have stereotypical barbie fully choosing to leave that world. the concept of barbie like deciding not to be barbie anymore kinda sucks, because she is THE stereotypical barbie, and her leaving barbieland would imply that they like aren't making any stereotypical barbies anymore?? which I don't think is what the movie meant to imply but like ahhhhhhh

also idk what I would've preferred the ending be, it rlly depends on what the focus of the rest of the movie was, cuz if I could change things abt this movie I'd have way more focus on a few points and one or two subplots rather than what the movie was actually about

so there were (basically) three subplots they were working with: Gloria and Sasha, the Mattel ceos, and the kens. it felt like too much time was split between them all and there was never a satisfying conclusion from any of it. I feel like each of those plot points could've done more and could've communicated a particular theme

the themes I think they were trying to communicate were:

1. basically being a woman is hard - and being a woman is contradictory and difficult, women shouldn't have to be perfect and they're held to too high a standard, growing up and learning abt misogyny is hard, patriarchy is bad and it exists in lots of ways in the world

2. gender equality - women shouldn't be an idea or an object their ideas should be valued and they should be subjects, womens stories should be told, women should be in positions of power as much as men, feminine interests and aesthetics are as important as masculine ones (not rlly one the movie explicitly made but probably the most important one imo, like look at the movie)

3. men?? - men shouldn't be entitled to women, men shouldn't define themselves by their relationships, patriarchy hurts men

personally I wish the movie had focused less on the kens and men in general cuz I wanted this to be as much as possible an unapologetically feminine movie and as focused on female characters as possible, but if they were gonna focus on that i have some ideas abt how they could've done it differently.

personally, I also hoped it would have more focus on queerness, on how boys are discouraged from playing with barbie and by extention some theme of like femininity isn't just for girls, but honestly it already had way too many themes it was trying to address and I'm asking for too much here, would've been cool but it's okay that there were only small nods to queerness. at least there was earring ken, weird barbie and allen

so I think it would've been rlly lame if the Mattel corporation was the main subplot focus. maybe barbie meets Gloria and gets to actually see what her life is like in the workplace. maybe at the end she or Gloria or both work as higher ups in the company and get to be a part of making new barbie ideas. idk honestly, I think having them as a small part of the movie was ideal and they could've been an even smaller part.

Gloria and Sasha should've been the main focus of the movie imo. they both could've been such compelling characters if they'd had more screentime and they could show two completely different perspectives on barbie. more couldve been shown of glorias life cuz we don't rlly know much about her and I wish we did. it's never rlly shown why Sasha stops hating barbie by the end of the movie, it's kinda just brushed over; maybe she could've been shown to realize that even tho barbie can promote negative body image stereotypes and is owned by a massive corporation and encourages consumerism, she also means a lot to a lot of women and the stories and love they have for her means something despite everything wrong with her. and her mom was the perfect example of this!! and I think this is what the movie was going for and I wish this had just been made more of a focus!! and the relationship between Gloria and Sasha definitely definitely should've gotten more attention, they're shown to be distant at the beginning and it's changed by the end, but WHY!! why is Sasha distant at the beginning, why are her and Gloria closer by the end?? it would've been a great thing to actually explore it, maybe to show how playing with barbie used to bring them together or how Sasha realizes all the stuff she's realizing abt the world, how it's misogynistic and messed up, her mom already knows and she's not ignoring it she's just learned how to live with it. god that could've been such a beautiful point to make a scene with Sasha and Gloria connecting and learning to understand each other would've made this movie for me honestly. and maybe barbies ending is she chooses to stay in barbieland and keep being an idea that celebrates femininity, maybe her ending is she realizes that's the good she's doing for people when she sees Gloria and Sasha realize that too

the kens are interesting cuz I get why they're in the movie and I like 50 percent get the point they're making but I could've done with way less of them or more of them. the plot line abt Ken bringing patriarchy to barbieland wasn't my favorite and if it hadn't been there and there'd been more time for Gloria and Sasha I'd be happy. at the same time I wish they'd gotten more into patriarchy and how it affects men, or how being dependent on someone affects you, or how feeling like you need to be dating a woman is harmful to men and to women. personally, I would've been absolutely obsessed if Ken went to the real world, saw how patriarchy existed, thought it was cool, and then saw how it negatively affected women - specifically, saw how it made women think they needed men to be whole and how women were often only portrayed in stories as love interests. and he saw himself in that, and maybe even bonded with some woman in particular who was also dependent on a partner or felt like she needed a partner, and that was what inspired him to be separate from barbie and wear his "I am kenough" hoodie and all that good shit. I'm biased cuz I saw Ken and I was like ooooh a storyline abt dependency?? hell yea and I wish that had gotten more emphasis honestly. or maybe ken couldve seen how in the real world women are harmed by being excluded from "masculine" stuff and he couldve gone back to barbieland and made the kens realize what they really wanted was to be included in feminine stuff, not to be left out of girls nights and dances and everything, i think that couldve made a rlly interesting subplot. ultimately I don't hate the Ken story we got, I just feel like it could've been a lot of different things and I kinda wish if it was gonna be a focus that they'd done it a little differently.

in conclusion I loved this movie and it had a lot going for it, but it was also kinda confusing and messy and packed with ideas. I can't blame it for being messy and complicated cuz gender is messy and complicated and they couldnt possibly address everything. instead i wish it'd been a little more focused, given a little more attention to some of the ideas, made it's points a little more clear. but whatever, it's still great and has so much raw potential and so many ideas that ik people are gonna have so much fun expanding on those ideas and interpreting it all and that's beautiful

#barbie #barbie movie #ahhhhhhhhh #gloria and sasha deserved more screentime #mypost

[jugaflugg]

Barbie Movie Review

You know the drill, below the line is spoiler-land!

Barbie is a fascinating film, and one that I think is a good start in educating people on modern feminist issues. Do I think it's without issue? Absolutely not. But it's a fun, feminine romp, and does well at putting forward some problems that have long-plagued women in the modern world. So, let's discuss.

We follow Barbie as she begins to experience more human issues, away from the idyllic utopia of Barbieland - these issues brought about by Gloria who, in the Real World, has been facing the struggles of motherhood.

Barbie travels to the Real World in an attempt to solve these issues, meeting Gloria and bringing her back to Barbieland in an attempt to release her from the stresses of modern womanhood. Gloria's relationship with her daughter, Sasha, is strained: Sasha doesn't understand her mother, rebuffing her attempts to connect.

I think that Sasha's role in the story is overlooked - she is a representative of the young radical feminist, using harsh language to get across her anger. She looks at her mother as someone who has given into the patriarchal machine, and only at the end of the film, when her mother expresses just how acutely she feels the weight of society's misogyny, does she begin to understand how united in womanhood they are.

Barbie struggles, as any woman does, to understand her place in the world - especially in the real world, where she is looked on as ornamental, exactly as the Kens are in her world. I do not think that Barbieland is meant to be understood as the perfect answer to the Real World - rather, it is meant to demonstrate how the world would look if the roles of men and women were reversed. At the end of the movie, it is noted that the Kens will someday have as much representation in governmental institutions as women have in the Real World - that is to say, a minute amount.

Barbieland is a radical way of perceiving how women may be served justice after lifetimes of existing in a misogynist society - but it is evident through Ken's subplot just how damaging any society without equality can be.

I enjoyed Ken (that is, Ryan Gosling's Stereotypical Ken) the most out of any other character in the movie. At first, I was a little disappointed that this was the case, however I am able to recognise that despite him being my favourite, that does not mean that I did not understand, or did not accept, the feminist perspective of the film.

Ken's story indicates just how poorly a patriarchal society cares about all of its aspects, including men who live in it. Ken clings to the power that the patriarchy gives him, but ultimately it cannot fulfil him any more than it can fulfil the women subjugated by it.

I think that, with a film so ardent in its feminist viewpoint, and certainly one that has been propagated as "a feminist movie", people are under the impression that every movement, every action taken by the characters, is in aid of this theme. However, I believe it is integral to our understanding of the film that we remember that each of the characters is their own person, not necessarily a part-player in advancing the feminist perspective.

Barbie chooses to become a human at the end of the film, as is her prerogative as an character with independent thought. Her choice can be perceived as inherently feminist: it is the action taken by a woman for her own benefit and her own happiness. She is not without fault, nor is she without mistakes - recognising this rounded out her character, and the role she has in modern society.

I think that the film was lacking in a few areas, particularly in its representation of intersectional feminism. Despite the presence of lesbian actress Kate McKinnon, and transgender actress Hari Nef, the film adhered very much to the binary of gender representation, as well as barely touching on the struggle of queer women. This same criticism can be held for the film's representation of minorities in general. The homogeny of the feminine experience in the film is not beneficial to educating viewers on the breadth of experience - but then, I suppose we can only take one step at a time.

I would also like to comment on the commercialisation of the film - or rather, on Mattel's advertising power over it. Undoubtedly, the film also functions as a large advertisement for Mattel's flagship product, buying into the ever-present terror of capitalism. Capitalism has forever functioned as a way of benefiting the rich, and often excludes minorities, as well as being inherently patriarchal. There is a certain dissonance between these facts in the film's presentation of the product - one that feels barely touched upon by an otherwise self-aware script. When it was done so, however - for example, the Mattel boardroom being comprised of entirely by men - it did so well.

This film is a great starting point for the feminist conversation, and whilst it does not say anything new, it does speak about some of these age-old issues a lot louder than previously done so by prominent media. I'm interested to see what is next from Greta Gerwig, who is fast becoming one of the most celebrated female directors - and a personal favourite.

And remember: You are Kenough.

#barbie #spoilers #review

[watchinglikeafangirl]

So, i finally watched the Barbie movie. It was pretty entertaining and I am so surprised to see the political statements this movie just puts out there. Of course, it's feminism at its highest. Since the beginning when it's said how divers Barbie has become, because she's a lawyer, a doctor, a writer, a mom, it already shows how much Barbie as a toy was downgraded to a political message. It needed to be a toy with a meaning, it suddenly had a social purpose since children should learn the diversity of humanity and society while playing with a Barbie. The movie already addresses this matter but in a subtle way.

Later on, the message is extremely obvious when Barbie sees the real world and how much women are suffering. Nothing is pink and it leads to depression. She's not used to society and all its struggles and laughters. She takes Ken with her and Ken discovers toxic masculinity and how much power his gender alone can hold. He sees all the higher ups who are men and he thinks he can adapt these rules to Barbieland. The women aka Barbies are opressed and forced to leave their houses and jobs and dreams. I would say this could also be interpreted as a metaphor to assimilation. The western world tries to show other countries and societies how their way works best while ignoring the different traditions and mindsets of another country's population. There are definetly parallels and I found that a very strong and scary turn of events while it felt extremely real.

Of course, the mission is to win Barbieland back and restore the old ways which is where the film lost me because in one scene we see how much Ken realized he could have more to life than just the job "beach" and "being Barbie's boyfriend". He was reduced to these two characteristics alone and he wanted to be more in Barbieland since he saw he could be more outside of it. Both worlds, Barbieland and the real world, should idialistically establish equality everywhere. For me, that would mean a 50:50 distribution. It shouldn't be one gender reigning over the other. Barbie felt opressed and suffocated because there were no women among the higher-ups but once she gets back, she starts to bring back the old tradition of "all Barbies rule over Barbieland" which honestly rubbed me the wrong way. Ken tells her he feels just the same way she did outside Barbieland but she still chooses to not let Ken have any political power.

That ending ruined the movie in my eyes because the message they were trying to send got lost in the end. I thought they were trying to show how strong woman can and need to be while all Barbies and Kens reach a level of respect where they can exist as equals and live in equally nice villas and all of that. For me, this movie was about equality but it didn't end with equality. It ended just like it started besically, so what happened? What changed and what have they leraned? Barbie learned being human is more her thing and that humanity is more beautiful. She discovered her purpose but politically, nothing changed. Barbieland stays the same and it's a big disappointment for me. It's like sexism only exists in one direction, like it's only the women and men can't be victims...?

Maybe I totally didn't get the ending, maybe I got it all wrong but I didn't interpret the ending as change. Ken asks if there could be Ken's in the court and he gets a no...for me, that's not progress and it means nothing changed for him. But if I did get it wrong, feel free to discuss.

#barbie #barbie movie

[mk-wizard]

Feminine Media: Manly men can be fans of it too

Now that I’m calmer, I want to explain myself a bit better because I am both a woman webcomic author and the mother of a son.

Women have been making opinions on men’s media for years and still are. We have even come to accept that a lot of these women are genuine fans of the medias like Transformers, He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robocop and more, so when they make an opinion now, it is heard out and respected. Yes, some sexist people still dismiss our words, but the norm is that we are allowed to say what we want about anything we want. Heck, even when we do run into sexist backlash, people defend us including other men.

Why do we not give men the grace and the same faith when they form opinion even negative ones about women’s media or when they feel put down by a media? When I was growing up, I was side by side with a lot of anime fans who adored shows like Sailor Moon because it made them laugh and they genuinely loved the characters and storytelling. And this also extends to North American media like the Disney princesses, Jem and Holograms, My Little Pony and Barbie when she’s animated. And not just because the girls were hot. In fact, that was secondary. It was because the media was fun to watch. Even now, a lot of boys like Minnie’s Bow-Toons because it’s fun, colourful and makes them laugh. Yes, it is clearly feminine, but so what? Batman’s blatant masculinity didn’t stop girls from enjoying his comics. And you know what else? So what if the boys find the fictional girls hot? Do we shame girls for finding fictional men like Vegita, Ryu, Superman or Solid Snake hot? No. It’s human and it doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate the character in the ways that matter.

With that said, men have every right to form an opinion on female media and that includes a negative one just as women have on male media. It’s not only a human right of theirs, but it is also essential in making the media better. Women bringing the sexism of male media of the past to the attention of creators helped make it better, so if give the same grace to men, I know we can make female media better because it is about equality and inclusion. I mean, just look at the opinions on the Barbie film. Yes, some of these opinions are really just sexist drabble, but a large majority of men are saying the same negative points about the movie that other women are. If anything, the fact that the opinions of both men and women match is a sign of not only how gender equal is society has progressed, but also how men have grown and have become better thanks to feminism.

A man who knows how the real Barbie should be, what she stands for and wants her characterization to be respected just as much as Superman’s, Batman’s or any other male hero’s is a social victory to me, but instead, these men are being told to keep their mouths closed while being accused of misogyny.

We keep claiming that fiction should be enjoyed by anyone regardless of gender, but when it comes to the subject of giving opinions, it seems that only girls have complete and total free speech without judgement. And this is wrong. This is not equality and this not feminism. If we girls can like boy stuff and be taken seriously for it, then so can boys for girl stuff and they should be taken just as seriously. Hear out the male fans. You would be very surprised at what they have to say and even pleasantly so when you come to realize that even their most negative opinions of feminine media have a great amount of love for women behind them.

In short, equality starts with letting boys and girls play nice together in any game or fiction of their choosing while being able to speak freely about it.

#equality #support women #support men #good men #feminism #feminism includes men #positive feminity #positive masculinity

[nibbonbon]

observational review of the Barbie 2023 Movie

Disclaimer

This is my first ever written review and the first one I publish online, I am fully aware of only being a beginner in this craft, as I intend to learn from it and progress throughout the years. I want to address the observed character's personal development and growth throughout their story. Feel free to provide me with critique as it would help me greatly to improve from there, as I am free to learn something new. The picture is taken with VLC's Snapshot feature.

Summary, quoted from IMDB

"Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans."

From what I have observed

The main character, Barbie, is portrayed by Margot Robbie, and is shown to be 'the original perfect Barbie'. She is perfect in all ways you can imagine and think of and is completely flawless. Until suddenly she asks about death itself, which shocks her surroundings. No one is flawless, though, no one is perfect, not even Barbie. I am not perfect either, I am full of flaws that I often fail to see in the moment and won't know of it if nobody tells me about them.

This is where I first observe that Barbie is doubting her 'perfect-ness', as she begins to doubt herself, she becomes more ordinary and normal. Already making it noticeable how she identifies with being absolutely perfect, through and through. (She even has flat feet and develops cellulite, basically a usually normal human experience of not being perfect and being full of flaws, whether inward or outward.) This doubt continues to trouble her even after she finds the girl who is playing with her (Gloria). Due to her incessant belief in being absolutely perfect, she is torn between the imperfection of humans and the perfection of a doll.

Having moments of self-reflection and actualisation I empathised with her not being sure where to belong to. I felt the self-doubt she was having as it is very comfortable to be in a familiar identity. Going through a sort of identity crisis myself, not knowing for sure if my beliefs or thoughts are being heard and understood. Then being pulled to the other side, drawn to it basically, because it sounds like an optimal escape, but where to go? This is what I noticed in Barbie, she was always thinking of others, other destinies, fates and stories, but it was difficult for her to imagine herself. If everyone gets to have their destiny and fate decided, why can't she? And I mean destiny and fate decided not by other people, but by themselves, something that the movie doesn't really mention... did everyone really get to choose their own thing in the end? Is everything really a choice oneself makes or do others make them for you? I am unsure, if self-made choices are even possible, especially considering the research recently conducted on determinism about free will, whether we humans act upon our own free will or determined by others?

Barbie was able to grow and develop her character, because she found a direction, not because she found it herself, yes, it started with herself (technically), but the implementation of Ruth Handler (portrayed by Rhea Perlman) showed her the way by saying she never intended Barbie to be 'the perfect woman', neither particularly influence any woman, girl, whatsoever.

Barbie starts to understand that, this is my favourite scene, where she just starts to go on her mighty way, on her own. Of course, with the help of newly made friends, Gloria, Sasha and Gloria's unnamed husband (I am still curious what his name is, besides 'Dad'). Barbie is no longer "Barbie" but "Barbara Handler".

I keep thinking about the fact she went to a gynaecologist. Something so normal to do nowadays, but it gives a perspective of the privilege of even choosing to go to one. Even being able to know it exists boggles my mind. Imagine how it was different for people who don't know of one, people from wayyy back. This marks Barbara's newly starting life. Even if the real world is so much more daunting than Barbie world. I would also say, notice how her is slightly messy? And Sasha now wears pink? I bet I am not the only one who noticed this.

Yes, I just made this to portray I give 7 out of 10 stars for the observed character growth and development. It is good but some things are lacking, which I find unfortunate.

#barbie 2023 #barbie the movie #barbie #margot robbie #ariana greenblatt #review #movie review

[plasticheartss]

# ʙᴀʀʙɪᴇ !

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY ( main verse . )

Takes place prior to the events of The Barbie Movie 2023, before she sets off for The Real World. Only sometimes thinks about dying! Canon divergent. Will base her character heavily off the movie's canon, with some headcanons sprinkled in.

HUMANS ONLY HAVE ONE ENDING

After the events of The Barbie Movie, Barbara has become a goal-driven, assertive, kick-ass career woman in The Real World. Even still, she is stuggling to find her place amongst other women. She just can't quite get a hold of actually being alive. Yet.

# ryan gosling's ᴋᴇɴ ᴄᴀʀꜱᴏɴ !

FEEL MY KENERGY ( main verse. )

Takes place prior to the events of The Barbie Movie. Ken is happy and content in Barbieland ( at least, whenever Barbie decides to grace him with a glance ) , doing what he knows best : beach. He's kenning all over the place. Heavily based off the movie's canon, with some headcanons sprinkled in.

KEN IS ME

Post Barbie Movie. Ken is trying so hard to embrace his Kenergy, to find his purpose outside of beach, outside of Barbie... but it's hard. Internally, he's a hot mess. Externally, he's still hot. But on edge.

I'M GREAT AT DOING STUFF

No, no he isn't. Ken has decided to move on from Barbieland, to find himself, and it was going to be so great and... he has absolutely no idea what he's doing. The only reason he came was because Barbie made it seem lime such a great idea, and old habits die hard. He's following her lead yet again, landing himself in a bind with zero credentials and a stealing problem. ( not his fault. how was he supposed to know you can't just get a new wardrobe like back home? )

# simu liu's ᴋᴇɴ ᴄᴀʀꜱᴏɴ !

I'll BEACH YOU OFF ANY DAY ( main verse. )

Takes place prior to the events of The Barbie Movie. Ken is an absolute menace ( to Gosling's Ken ) , and a charming bastard to the Barbies. He is overconfident, choosing to flex his muscles or chat your ear off rather than, oh, I don't know, pick up a book. His dumb, pretty boy masculinity takes him pretty far because he manages to never say anything that bad. Based off the canon, heavily filled with personal headcanons.

[coolfire333]

Thoughs on the Barbie movie:

Once again I am not a film critic and also I don't really have a strong connection to Barbie in general so take this with a grain of salt or whatever, this is just my opinion.

Alright. This movie did get a few laughs from me, and visually speaking it was very pretty. It was refreshing to see a movie as visually fun and well-designed as Barbie was, and the acting was surprisingly good too. The doll-logic gags at the start of the movie where Barbie is getting ready for her day and exploring the town are really clever, and I seriously wish the movie focused more on those because they're very cartoony and clever.

It was also cool to see different dolls being featured in the movie. I wasn't a Barbie kid by any means, but I remember commercials from my childhood and it was nice to see some of the dolls I remember seeing when I was younger. It was pretty nostalgic.

However, that's pretty much all I have to say on why I liked the movie. I think that going for a more self-referential commentary on Barbie was an interesting choice, but I don't think it was handled well at all for several reasons.

Firstly, it leans way too far into the whole "men stupid" bit for my tastes at least. It's funny to have the Ken dolls be airheaded, but why are the human men equally as useless and silly? I think it takes away a lot of the seriousness of the message the movie was trying to send about the structure of the real world being patriarchal when all the men are just bumbling idiots instead of having some of them be genuinely cunning and intelligent and using that intelligence to work against women.

It makes it seem like oppressing women is just something that men stumbled upon instead of it being something that some men choose to participate in on purpose because they know how to work the system in their favor. Also, I think punching up at men is only fun when the men in question are really dislikable, and the main men in the film (Ken and the human corporate men) are moreso bumbling rather than malicious, so it's hard to hate them, and making fun of them near-constantly sometimes comes off as unnecessarily mean.

Also, the fact that the status quo both in Barbieland and in the real world never really changed in the end really left a bad taste in my mouth. The film constantly presents Barbieland as a reverse parallel to the real world, a matriarchy where men are less influential than women, as opposed to the real world where men are in charge of everything.

In this sense, the Ken dolls have the status in Barbieland that women do in real life, so by having them attempt a revolution, fail, and get relegated back to second-class status is concerning if it's supposed to be a reverse mirror of the real world because it implies that the same thing will happen to women in the real world, and there's nothing much women can do about it.

I also disliked the ending they gave Barbie. Barbie has human emotions now and therefore doesn't want to be a doll anymore? Interesting idea, but I think it actually sends the message that Barbie is supposed to be perfect and to be imperfect is to be human. Which sounds good on paper but I'm not sure the filmmakers intended to sell the idea that Barbie is perfect and if she isn't then she must be human. I think it would have been much more poignant if she stayed in Barbieland as a more human-like, flawed doll, but hey, that's just me.

The plotline with the little girl being against Barbie at first was really interesting, but they just sorta swept it under the rug? I mean, I used to hold the same viewpoints on Barbie when I was around the girl's age and I don't think that meeting Barbie and going to Barbieland would immediately cause me to drop that attitude like "oh I guess she's fine now."

I think the thing that made me become more at peace with Barbie and other "girly" things as a grown woman was realizing that not all women have the same values, so something that's uplifting for one woman might also feel derogatory for another, and that's ok. It's ok to say "I think Barbie is sexist" because there's also another girl who probably is inspired by her.

The film was more about the girl's mother, which, ok, sure, but they never had a one-on-one between Barbie and the girl where the girl honestly explained why she disliked Barbie outside of schoolyard insults. Like she could have been like "your image/what you represent hurt me personally for xyz reasons" and Barbie then could have argued against that with the whole "Barbie can represent any little girl" schtick and I think that having a genuine serious conversation between just the girl and Barbie would have been very moving.

I don't think that the girl in the film would have completely changed her views on Barbie, I think it would have been more realistic and moving to show her being like "I still dislike you but I've come to terms with you because I see how you help uplift other children, but at the same time I'm not one of those kids." But if they wanted to go the "forgiveness and acceptance" route, maybe the girl could have been like "I thought you were sexist but I understand now that that is a corruption of your image and in reality you were always supposed to just be something that girls could express themselves with" which also looks good on the brand.

Speaking of the brand, it was weird how the movie took jabs at mattel because it also was so blatantly a promotion of mattel's ideas and products. I really don't think that critiquing consumerism in the very surface-level ways Barbie did and making meta jokes about it being a Barbie movie absolved the movie of the blatant advertising. I dunno how to describe it but its commentary on advertising as well as on society seemed really ham-fisted to me.

Like ok they were making reasonable points about society and sexism but man they were also just hammering you over the head with their ideas instead of trying to go a more subtle route. I'm not saying it had to be so subtle you couldn't see it, but maybe try to get the audience to think about it more instead of just saying "here it is!!!" and explaining it all the time.

They could have used Barbie as a naive figure representing childlike wonder and have her interactions with the real world clash with how real women are expected to act, but they didn't really play up that part as much as I felt they should have, and instead they had Barbie react very humanly to situations in the real world.

I dunno, I'm having a hard time articulating what I mean but I don't think the movie handled the more serious themes well at all. They glossed over a lot of details and when they did show serious elements it felt so obviously played out and stereotypical it was uncomfortable to watch.

Overall it wasn't unpleasant to watch Barbie for the most part, but I probably wouldn't watch it again if I had a choice. I'd give it like a c- on a good day, but once again that's just my opinion.

#text post #talking #long post

[black-quartz-sphinx-judge-my-vow]

The Sandman Audio Book Chapter #16 Lost Hearts

And then she woke up.

What a powerful episode, and what hard work done to earn that line. “I suppose there are worse endings.” There truly are, Rose could have died! But beyond that despite being cheated out of an entire life Unity did get to wake up, and find her family, and be around people who cared for her at the very end. Plus she got to save one of those people. How sweet.

Gilbert going to save save rose!!!! I die! “I don’t think I can save her, but I can hope and pray.” RIP Fiddler’s Green. A beautiful display of love him teller her to sleep under his trees. I hope we get more of Gilbert, but I really liked this beautiful location appearing in the Dreaming.

I also like that the Raven was like “okay I’m in.” And went with Gilbert to help.

Morpheus got some good play in this episode. The VA really got to play around with his regret for what he has to do. Last episode I wasn’t so much mad with Morpheus as I was with Neil, but he clearly regrets fucking up and losing an entire planet once. So him killing Rose is duty, and we get it. Everyone in the scene gets it, no one really tries to stop him…

Except Unity Kinkaid!

May I just say, what a ass pull. Is there any foreshadowing at all that Unity was supposed to be the vortex? Did the witches say something about it, did Desire in his castle? I can’t think of anything. Which is not to say I hate it, I like Unity saving Rose, being young in her dream, and saving the day. It was a bit anticlimactic. “Ah…wut happen!”

“You died, everything is saved.”

“Dope.”

I love her just saying. “This is a dream, it doesn’t have to make sense.” So true.

I’m sure when I read this issue in a few minutes it’ll be visually satisfying, but the audio of the moment was a little weak, and this is a review of the audio book. At least put a little music in there.

Rose her mother and her brother move into a house. She decides to write her own happy ending to her story rather than wallow in the strife of the universe, I love that… we’ll see how long that lasts. Rose doesn’t know she’s a comic book character. Gwen Stacy has been dead for like forty years and still hasn’t found any rest.

We also get to hear Dream’s philosophy on himself and his family. Which is that they serve humanity. Eh, we’ll see.

We get this insight because he too thinks Unity being the vortex came out of nowhere and he accuses desire of being the person who raped sleeping Unity, and that Rose is their blood. The melodrama is in full swing now!

Ken and Barbie split. The spider ladies buy the house from Hal who moves out west. Probably good for the drag queen to escape Florida while the gettings good. At least he found someone!

Barbie goes weird? Read as: Barbie will return in the future.

Random Thoughts:

I just want to say how good the voice acting is in this ep. Especially the exchanges between Gilbert and Dream. It’s a tense exchange and everyone is great.

Rose’s mom was born in England, raised in Seattle, lives in Boston, has a Jersey accent. A woman of the world.

Rose is friends with the freaking girl from the dinner, I want to die. As if that chapter wasn’t traumatic enough, now we get to see how it’s traumatized the loved ones of the event as well. What fun. That is my favorite chapter of the story so far, and I’ve really been wanting some kind of closure to it. Hoping that this is a hint of some kind of healing.

My big swing for the fences prediction:

Desire mentions a lost sibling, and an abandoned domain. Rose is now revealed to be on the endless family tree. I suspect she becomes an endless at some point and becomes the ruler of that real. Discipline? Duty? Diaries?

Only time will tell.

In the end great, touching chapter. Well worth the anguish I felt over the last one. In the end our lives change just as much as our dreams. These pains and nightmares are out of our control, but we can choose how we deal with the pains, and how we decide to think about our stories. And if we’re lucky we get to wake up from them, even if it’s only long enough to make a single connection.

#the sandman

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So more on the Beauford Swan AU, how do you think Alice and Rosalie's relationships with him are different? I assume Rosalie doesn't compare herself to Beauford the exact same way she compares herself to Bella, and Alice's Barbie Bella dream probably doesn't translate directly into a Ken Beau. How would that effect their initial relationships and the eventual family dynamics (Let's just assume this is the Beau Gives Up and Asks Carlisle to Turn Him version)?

Ooooh, interesting question anon.

For reference the Beauford AU: one, two, and three.

Specifically, we're in post number three, where Beauford survives Edward (huzzah for Beauford).

Rosalie

Rosalie's relationship with Beauford is a rollercoaster of weird.

At first, Beauford is a nothing special human. Rosalie's a little amused the girls are going wild for him, and she sees the appeal if you're into sensitive pretty boys (not Rosalie's type), but it has nothing to do with her.

As you point out, Rosalie doesn't have that conflict with her own beauty and comparison to Bella. Just per being a man, Rosalie will not compare herself to Beauford constantly.

Then Edward has his Biology breakdown and becomes increasingly weird.

Rosalie probably still suggests they kill off Beauford for nearly being crushed by a van. While Rosalie did have inner conflict over Bella, most of what informed that was Rosalie's lack of desire to move, that wouldn't change because of Beauford.

She probably wonders what the hell Edward's deal is, why is he obsessed with this guy, and then she has her "oh" moment.

Edward is gay.

Edward has always been gay.

Suddenly everything makes sense. The fact that Edward has shown 0 interest in Rosalie, that he showed 0 interest in Tanya who was practically throwing herself at him, that he shows 0 interest in any woman period.

Rosalie never suspected as much before, or at least, never put two and two together. But of course Edward is gay, it all makes sense now.

Edward doesn't like that idea, not at all, and accuses Rosalie of being a jealous shrew who is so offended by the idea that Edward isn't attracted to her that she accuses him of homosexuality.

Rosalie never said a word of this out loud.

The family has the biggest fight they've ever had. And, somehow, it's not over the murder of Beauford, but Edward's sexuality. No definitive conclusion is reached, but if you ask Edward, he is most definitely a heterosexual hot blooded man. Now, if you excuse him, he's going to go sneak into Beauford's room to crush the spiders that might sneak onto his pillow.

But back to Rosalie and Beauford.

Rosalie becomes increasingly exasperated as Edward romances Beauford without admitting he's romancing Beauford. He also does ridiculous things like adamantly refuse to turn Beauford into a vampire.

Rosalie tries to point out that he and Edward have no future like this. Edward doesn't care, he'll nobly leave Beauford anyway, as soon as he has the strength to. Rosalie tries to point out that a man doesn't take another man to a romantic Italian dinner (where he can't even eat anything) unless he's romantically interested. Edward tells Rosalie that she's never been as beautiful as she thought she was!

Rosalie decides, "fuck it", and she will be a part of Beauford's welcome committee when Edward invites him to meet the family. She's only given a few hours notice, but she just feels so bad for this guy. Edward's stringing him along, but is too in love with his own closet to ever have a real relationship.

She has no idea what Beauford thinks about it, but she's just dying of secondhand embarrassment. And yes, she thinks that Beauford should probably live a human life, and that Edward should either leave him alone or turn him, but at the very least she has to explain that her brother's an idiot.

Well, turns out, Beauford is also an idiot. And he's weird.

Rosalie finds herself meeting the most sensitive, womanly, man she's ever seen in her life. This guy is a delicate flower, she feels like if she breathes on him he might shatter into a thousand pieces.

He's very polite, very charming, but she watches as he does things like cry at Edward's piano playing and then let Edward eat his tear.

What the fuck?

Rosalie throws her hands in the air. There's no helping these two, they deserve each other, Rosalie out. Well, the baseball game happens, which turns into a disaster and a half.

Rosalie still likely gives her "Why are we risking our own deaths over this guy we don't even know" and Beauford assumes that Rosalie hates him (not helped by Rosalie giving him "are you crazy" looks all the time as well as Edward telling Beauford that Rosalie is jealous of his beauty and Edward's very platonic affections for him).

That summer Rosalie barely sees Beauford. When she does, he and Edward are cuddling on the couch. She asks if Edward's admitting he's gay yet, the answer is always no. She rolls her eyes and leaves to work on her cars.

New Moon happens, Rosalie doesn't know what to think anymore, but she supposes this is a decent outcome. Beauford gets to live a normal, human, life and move on.

They're back six months later.

Fast forward a bit and Beauford is turned by Carlisle. Rosalie sits down to think about it, Carlisle makes it clear why this happened, and she's back to feeling bad for Beauford.

Edward treats him like trash, he's downright vicious to Beauford, and Beauford looks like he's about to cry constantly. Rosalie reaches out and the pair have a good long talk about life, the universe, and her Pig Brother Edward.

Rosalie assures Beauford that Edward will get over it, he'll forgive Beauford eventually, and someday he'll stop being an ass. Beauford is comforted, but Edward never stops being an ass.

Rosalie and Beauford end up best friends instead.

They have nothing in common.

Alice

Alice still makes Beauford her Barbie Beauford, but with a slightly masculine twist.

She buys him fabulous clothes, so that his closet is filled with blazers, turtlenecks, and very tight pants. She still throws him a sweet sixteen eighteen, only instead of a million pink candles the candles are now blue.

Beauford is still utterly mortified.

She gets him a tux for Prom and Beauford ends up going with Edward though neither Edward nor Beauford realize they're in fact going to Prom together as a couple.

Alice still sees Beauford as her best friend and is absolutely ecstatic for his and Edward's "friendship". As Alice never sees the pair having sex, she is absolutely fine with the platonic label and fully agrees with Edward that theirs is a very platonic relationship.

Alice is still the best friend Beauford ever had because he has no friends and doesn't know what friendship is. Though he kind of wishes she'd stop buying him clothes.

Their relationship goes down the drain after Beauford is turned.

As Beauford and Edward's relationship falls apart, he looks to Alice for comfort, but she has none to provide. She doesn't see him and Edward working out any time soon and, well, glad you're a part of the family?

Alice realizes that her and Beauford's friendship isn't going to work out either. She's upset about this, but doesn't see any way to salvage it without completely alienating Edward. Alice will choose Edward.

Alice ponders over might have beens and wonders when the future shifted but quietly watches as Beauford becomes closest with Rosalie.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #beauford swan #bella swan #edward/bella #anti edward/bella #edward/beauford #anti edward/beauford #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #rosalie hale #alice cullen #anti alice cullen #meta #headcanon #opinion