I was WAITINGGG for this. You said it all, especially towards the end - you can like the movie while still recognizing its limitations, with the blatant white feminist and consumerist messaging. I will also add that I found the movie to be pretty tokenizing. How does a movie so diverse end up feeling so white? Like... why does Stereotypical Barbie freak out about cellulite if fat Barbies fully exist in Barbieland lmao?? All the diversity felt like an afterthought.
you laid out exactly how i feel. specifically, the part about America's monologue feeling a lot like a tumblr post from 10 years ago. That's what the whole political angle felt like for me, just very on the nose opinions that have been said 45 million times already. I also thought maybe this was supposed to be so on the nose so it can appeal to younger minds but you're right, I think Greta and Noah probably just think on this surface level of feminism. Did you see that clip of Greta and Margot being asked about feminism themes in the movie and they automatically answered with: "People think feminism doesn't include men, it does"... why do men even need to be brought up in this topic anyway? all this to say thank you for not mentioning ken... i've seen enough!
Prior to seeing the movie I had heard about America Ferrera’s monologue and had some pretty high hopes for it but it fell so short. The movie ultimately said nothing new or thought-provoking that I hadn’t already read at 13 in the recesses of Tumblr.
You're so right. I also don't think the movie's comparison of "Kens are to Barbieland what women are in the real world" really holds up beyond a surface comparison. And while the theme of how fast misogyny can spread is true, the reason is not exactly reflective of men's actual relationship with the patriarchy at all, it felt too much like the vube of the "masculinity crisis" panic. Also the big monologue feels to me a bit too much like "we teach girls to shrink themselves..."
Excellent piece and you’ve hit on a great point near the end about the weird reaction to critical engagement with a media made for “women” having this seemingly feminist exhaustion about “women creatives can’t do enough to be well liked unlike men creatives” which is strange and doesn’t seem like reality at all.
I was WAITINGGG for this. You said it all, especially towards the end - you can like the movie while still recognizing its limitations, with the blatant white feminist and consumerist messaging. I will also add that I found the movie to be pretty tokenizing. How does a movie so diverse end up feeling so white? Like... why does Stereotypical Barbie freak out about cellulite if fat Barbies fully exist in Barbieland lmao?? All the diversity felt like an afterthought.
brilliantly said
you laid out exactly how i feel. specifically, the part about America's monologue feeling a lot like a tumblr post from 10 years ago. That's what the whole political angle felt like for me, just very on the nose opinions that have been said 45 million times already. I also thought maybe this was supposed to be so on the nose so it can appeal to younger minds but you're right, I think Greta and Noah probably just think on this surface level of feminism. Did you see that clip of Greta and Margot being asked about feminism themes in the movie and they automatically answered with: "People think feminism doesn't include men, it does"... why do men even need to be brought up in this topic anyway? all this to say thank you for not mentioning ken... i've seen enough!
Prior to seeing the movie I had heard about America Ferrera’s monologue and had some pretty high hopes for it but it fell so short. The movie ultimately said nothing new or thought-provoking that I hadn’t already read at 13 in the recesses of Tumblr.
You're so right. I also don't think the movie's comparison of "Kens are to Barbieland what women are in the real world" really holds up beyond a surface comparison. And while the theme of how fast misogyny can spread is true, the reason is not exactly reflective of men's actual relationship with the patriarchy at all, it felt too much like the vube of the "masculinity crisis" panic. Also the big monologue feels to me a bit too much like "we teach girls to shrink themselves..."
Excellent piece and you’ve hit on a great point near the end about the weird reaction to critical engagement with a media made for “women” having this seemingly feminist exhaustion about “women creatives can’t do enough to be well liked unlike men creatives” which is strange and doesn’t seem like reality at all.