#and Barbie being implied aroace was so wonderful and I thought it was done really really well

[ravenpureforever]

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

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

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

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

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

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