#and it put working class skills on the same level as doctors and execs

[darkfrog24]

When Ken shows up in the real world, he’s bombarded by imaging that says men rule society. He finds that just being an adult male + showing up gets him some level of respect and admiration. Only when he tries to participate with any depth does he find out that no it’s not enough to be a man; he has to be an accomplished man. The movie stops short of saying it, but he’d have to become more like a Barbie to be the kind of man he wants to be.

Instead, he retreats. The world tells him “no,” so he absorbs toxic literature and takes it back to other naive boys. He glosses over the role his own lack of skills, education, and substance played in his failure, and he creates an imaginary patriarchy based on hollow performances.