#barbie movie review

[panda-noosh]

the barbie movie made me want to hug my grandmother

i went to see the new Barbie movie yesterday.

honestly, despite the hype of this film, i wasn’t all that interested in seeing it. barbies were never something i played with, and i’d never seen any of the other barbie films, and i had no idea how much of a message this movie would hold - so i just kind of. . . skimmed past it anytime it showed up on my feed.

but my two best friends were ecstatic, and because i love just being in the presence of people i love and appreciate, i decided to come along too. so i bought a ticket, got my popcorn - i even wore pink! we got our seats, and the movie began.

and right from the get-go, i knew this wasn’t a film to be messed with.

it sounds so dramatic, but it was just so good. i usually hate the cinema (autism, don’t ask...), but i sat through this film like a rock, honest to god. not once did i check the time to see when i could get up and leave. not once did i think it was dragging. i was genuinely so involved with this film as i was watching it, that it was a surprise when the end credits started rolling. i wanted more. i could have sat there, living in barbieland, forever. 

it’s a very feminist film, as i’m sure everybody knows by now. the way it was done was also perfect; i’m kind of getting sick of these ‘feminist films’ where the message is so. . . subtle. it’s one scene of a woman becoming CEO in a big name company, or a Mum finally getting the chance to live her life! don’t get me wrong, that’s always so lovely to see, but Barbie wasn’t subtle about the feminism in the slightest. our greta was not afraid to show the ugly truth of a woman’s world. she wasn’t afraid to hurt the feelings of men. she wasn’t being careful. in a fun and respectful way, she was able to illuminate the daily struggles of women all over the world, how desensitised we have come to the horrendous ways we have been treated over the years, the expectations set upon us that we don’t even question anymore. it showed women appreciating women, women being successful, women living for themselves. it was just fantastic, and it didn’t take itself too seriously, and it was beautiful.

i knew it was a good feminist film when my best friend reached over and held my hand for the last half of it. for no reason that i could pinpoint, she just reached over our drinks and took my hand in hers, just two women living in solidarity, struggling through the same patriarchal world. it was the type of film that made me want to go hug my grandmother. it made me want to compliment every single woman i encountered on the way back to my car. it reminded me that i am indeed a woman, and i am indeed living under the thumb of men in more ways than i was ever able to recognise, because it was just so normal. i’m so guilty of lowering my standards for men sometimes. i’m so guilty so letting them get away with things, because they’re men! they don’t know any better! i’m so guilty of giving into the patriarchal system, half my head on my own goals whilst the other half stays dead set on keeping everyone else happy. this movie reminded me that i - and everyone else - needs to find who they are without the influence of anyone else’s opinion or presence. 

so, overall, this movie was ten out of ten. one of the only ten out of ten films i’ve seen this year. i was in absolute awe of how a piece of media could be so funny yet so enlightening at the same time. 

thank you, greta gerwig. you created yet another masterpiece. 

[sunlightbender]

A Somewhat Scathing Barbie Review (from a Barbie lover)

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE BARBIE MOVIE

Okay, okay, PLEASE don’t skin me alive for saying this, but I thought the Barbie movie was mid at best. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible, but I’ve been seeing people all over the internet praise it as the greatest cinematic masterpiece of our generation and it’s just... not.

As a positive opening, here’s what I liked:

Set design

Costuming

Acting

(Controversially) The narrator

The music

It’s obviously a gorgeous movie. It’s got so many references to actual Barbie sets and outfits, and as a Barbie fan it’s so much fun to see real people in replicas of Barbie clothes. It’s also super funny, and the music is really enjoyable. With so many positives, it might seem odd that this is titled as a scathing review, but for me, the most important factor in any movie is the story, and well... Barbie’s kind of sucks.

Look, I don’t want to ruin anyone’s perspective on a movie they enjoyed so I’d suggest stopping here if you really liked it. 

The storyline was so heavily lacking. My first biggest qualm: this movie isn’t feminist, it’s sexist, dressed up in feminist frills. Disclaimer: I’m a feminist, hardcore, my family teases me about it all the time. From the very opening of the movie, where they mention that the Barbies see themselves as having made a feminist impact in the world, implying that Barbie as a brand HASN’T done that... eugh. Sasha’s opinion on Barbie is very heavily hinted to be the ‘correct’ one, where Barbie hasn’t positively impacted real women. Gloria’s suggestion at the end, to make an ‘ordinary’ Barbie backs this up - the energy of “We need a realistic Barbie, not the silly, pretty, blonde bimbos of the past”, if you will. 

Let me state this: Barbie is, and has always been, a feminist. Barbie has represented strong women for ages. Barbie, in her pink and glittery glory, has had hundreds of careers, dozens of friends, is loved by all, lives life on her own terms, and has Ken as an accessory. She’s gorgeous and fun and smart and powerful and capable. She has ALWAYS been feminist, and any girl who grew up with Barbies will tell you that playing with them has only helped them imagine “what if I could be-”, in the best possible way. As a woman in STEM, I remember playing with Barbies as a kid, and knowing that I could really do anything, because Barbie could too. 

To build onto this, Gloria’s suggestion that an ‘ordinary’ Barbie be made is ridiculous - I’ve always viewed most Barbies as ‘normal’ people! Are they incredible? Of course! But they’re normal people - that’s the whole POINT of Barbie - she can be anything, she can do anything, she’s incredible because women as a whole can be anything, do anything, and are incredible. To have an ‘ordinary’ Barbie that women can relate to is to imply that ordinary women aren’t capable of being vets, engineers, lawyers, environmentalists, businesswomen, etc. It’s almost as if the movie struggles to differentiate Barbie, the brand, from Barbie, the character. Can any one person have 200+ jobs? No, of course not, but Barbie, the character, has NOT done all of those - it’s just all different fields that Barbie could be capable of - because Barbie, the brand, represents everything that women as a whole can accomplish.

Next, the Kens. Oh god, the Kens. I LOVED the start of the movie. Himbo, accessory Ken is incredible. I love him. I finally understood why straight women loved Ryan Gosling. Then he became a misogynist. Ken’s whole arc is so rushed and muddled. Ken was miserable and bitter even before things started going wrong. In the perfect Barbieland, why should Ken be bitter? It doesn’t make logical sense - before Barbieland was falling apart, you’d think the Kens would be okay with their position in the world. And if not, then is the implication that Barbieland was never perfect? That didn’t come across to me. Let’s be frank, in a perfect Barbieland, there’d either be perfect equality where nobody was upset, or everyone would be 100% okay with the inequality in the world. 

He was so obscenely sexist that the funny movie became genuinely uncomfortable to watch, and for the conclusion to be for Barbie to APOLOGIZE to him despite him stealing her house and brainwashing the country...????? And then the main issue was never even resolved - the hardcore matriarchy continues to exist - just everyone saying “I am Ken” is not going to prevent another Ken uprising, and if Barbieland is perfect, I reiterate once more, KENS DESERVE TO BE TREATED FAIRLY TOO. Also, it seems a little anti-feminist to make the Barbie movie essentially a Ken movie with Barbie crying in the back. The plot was SO Ken-heavy that it didn’t feel like a Barbie movie at all. A really feminist movie would’ve made Ken a background, barely-important character, but he runs the show.

I won’t go on and on, but it’s really uncomfortable. Including the forced almost-kiss. 

Lastly, my big qualm is that Barbie becomes a human. Come on, is humanity not over ourselves already? Why do we make everyone in movies obsessed with us? It’s not enough that aliens should want to live on earth, or that princesses should dream to be common, or that robots wish they were human, Barbie herself has to long to dress in beige and be called Barbara. It was implied that the feminist out here is that Barbie has to escape Barbieland, to become her own person, but Barbie, the idea, has already been feminist! It was important for her to be Barbie, the idea, and there’s no sense to why she should want to be human. Why can’t she stay a perfect stereotypical Barbie, another cog in the perfect, plastic Barbieland machine? What’s wrong with that?

Then, all the dropped plotlines:

Gloria and Sasha’s relationship

The CEO

Ken’s still miserable

Barbie’s impact on the women of the world

Brainwashing apparently is fixed by one cheesy speech?

I think it’s a huge case of target audience. I only realized today, three days after the early screening day when I watched it, that it was not made for Barbie fans like me, who watched every piece of Barbie media, who’ve loved the brand for years. It’s made for people who played with the dolls in the 90s, relegated it as “for kids” and were waiting for a socially acceptable excuse to watch a pink movie again.

Was it a terrible movie? No, I suppose not, but frankly, the movie was muddled, corny, bland, and everything that the movie tried to do has been done better by Barbie’s animated movies and show. If you haven’t watched them, I’d suggest starting with Big City, Big Dreams. It’s a short, easy watch about being competitive without being toxic. The Dreamhouse Adventures series also has a lot of great messages. And then, my personal favorite, the Princess and the Pauper, has an awesome message about women supporting women. Now the men in THAT movie really ARE side characters.

One final comment: Barbie doesn’t give kids eating disorders. Adults telling kids they should look like Barbie gives kids eating disorders. And if you’re blaming Barbie for that, well, please also look at Disney, which pretty exclusively has their fat characters be villains, or toxic teen movies from the early 2000s which called people at size 2s fat. Take it from a woman who’s had multiple eating disorders.

What a rant, huh? And that’s WITHOUT getting into the lack of queer rep in a movie that marketed itself as being very camp - Hari Nef aside (she was wonderful!). If you enjoyed the movie, please don’t let me ruin it. It was definitely a lot of fun, but for me, the story really broke the movie. I’ll give it a 6/10 for enjoyability, and a 4/10 for objective quality.

[linasrant]

How Barbie Changed the Way I See My Relantionship With My Mum and Myself

It's been a long time, isn't it? But here we are, back talking about the movie of the year, the one made for girls, guys, and gays.

Welcome to my review of "Barbie," a movie by Greta Gerwig!

Note: It contains some spoilers!

I need to start by saying that Barbie may seem like a superficial movie from the first trailers we got, with Margot and Ryan just having some fun around Barbieland and showing us the movie's scenario. But no one prepared us for its actual content and true meaning because when Barbie starts malfunctioning, it's when we start questioning what Barbie is really about.

Her whole journey to the "Real World" to help the little girl playing with her doll seems like a fun trip, but once she figures out that the so-called Real World is a soul-crushing place for women, where our dreams are barely thoughts and only a few of us really have the chance to live them, it's when the true world doesn't seem so funny to her anymore. Greta did an amazing job with subtle criticisms of machism and misogyny, and the message behind Ken's arc, where he was so supportive of feminism, but when he sees that outside of Barbieland, men are considered ""superior,"" it's like seeing a little boy growing up and losing his innocence, turning into a man who ends up thinking so little of women.

Barbie's journey is so relatable to us women of all kinds, the feeling of growing up and having to step into big roles, facing the problems of a society that thinks every girl needs to be perfect but without exceeding the limits. But what is the real limit here? America Ferrera's (Gloria) monologue about girlhood is so true and deep; it's a feeling of recognition and understanding, to see our thoughts being voiced out.

"We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they have come."

She made me realize that my mom is nothing more than a girl at her core, that she has dreams, but she also stopped living for her own so she could help me live my dreams.

The whole movie was amazing; Greta really did a fantastic job with everything. Margot and Ryan fully stepped into their roles, giving us the best performance we could have had. This movie will be remembered forever for how good and meaningful it is.

“Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever.”

Thank you Greta and thank you Barbie for everything. Please go watch this masterpiece in the cinema!

[thecynicalcinephile]

So, About The Barbie Movie (2023),

All brand movies need to be made by independent directors from now on. This is what you can get when you take your IP and put in the hands of someone who actually has a creative vision for it, instead of someone who just wants to cash the check, and give them real creative control.

Rather than just being a soleless cash grab, this film actually delves into the nuances of the source material, using it as a lense to discuss relatable real world issues while being absolutely hilarious at the same time. My whole theater was laughing, but I was genuinely moved by the ending.

Speaking about the ending, spoiler alert. Skip this paragraph if you don't want to know the ending. You've been warned. The creation of Normal Barbie and having Stereotypical Barbie become human, and thus eventually die, obviously symbolizes how we have to move on from perfect ideas. Life isn't perfect, and that's what makes it beautiful. Life should not be some endless pursuit of being constantly perfect and constantly young and never making any mistakes ever, life should be life because anything else would be a tragedy.

And the really beautiful part of this whole movie is, that's just one of many crucial & beautiful messages seeded throughout. If you watch this film, there will be at least one scene, one moment, one message that resonates with you, no matter where you are in life.

Go out and see this one in theaters. The trailers were right. If you love Barbie, this is for you. If you hate Barbie, this is for you. This is a real film for the whole family.

[ladylilacshyne]

This makeup was inspired by the flowers on Rapunzel's room in Barbie as Rapunzel. I really like the aesthetic of her room, it seems really dreamy and enchanting especially the way the flowers and vines drape and curl across the room.

Movie review/critiques: As much as I like this movie and love love love the ending, I think that there are a few things that could improve it. One issue for me is the animation, specifically the lack of consistency in background details in between scenes. For example Rapunzel's room is full of items and colours, there are paintbrushes and pots, canvases and highly decorated furniture. This is a room that looks lived in and it really helps to make her character more three dimensional. We move from this room full of life to the village which looks so bare and stiff but it's not animated to show something in the story like the village being poor but instead it conveys a sense of laziness from the animators that makes the world feel flat and shallow. When Rapunzel speaks to the baker in town the faces of the background characters are never shown; they always have their backs to the viewer and they don't interact with each other or anything on screen, they just walk in a straight line. I feel if more care to detail was taken in this scene and similar ones the world would feel richer and it would make us care more about the villagers and the conflict affecting them if they didn't feel like cardboard cutouts.

[dat2ndaccount97]

I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I gasped, this movie had it all. The Barbie movie is INCREDIBLE! GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! I highly recommend it! Will probably talk about it more when I get home.

[silveragelovechild]

What about Midge?

Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” movie has become a cultural phenomenon. It’s projected to make between $75 million and a whopping $140 million on it first weekend.

But is it good? I don’t think any movie can live up to the hype that has been generated. I thought it was interesting and odd.

Warner Brothers has released so many clip from the movie that the first third involves connecting all the dots of Barbie’s bubble gum pink world.

The second third is your classic fish out of water story - Barbie’s rude awakening that women (and girls) are not empowered in the real world. But more importantly, it sets up the villain of the last third of the movie - Ken as the villain.

Until now Ken has been treated as an “also ran”. Barbie barely acknowledges him despite his professions of love. So when he sees men control the power structure of the real world - he brings that back to BarbieLand.

This section of the movie is very existential with Barbie trying to understand her place in the world. There’s lots of talking about empowerment.

What I thought was odd, was how easily and quickly the Barbies of BarbieLand turned over their power to the Kens. Is there an underlying message?

The movie is fun and bright (and has a terrific dance number by the Kens) and it’s also thought provoking. BUT little girls (and boys) who actually play with Barbie Dolls won’t have a clue about what’s going on. And their mother’s might be shocked when Barbie proclaims, “I don’t have a vagina.”

Margot Robbie is great, both as Stereotypical Barbie and as Dazed and Confused Barbie. Ryan Gosling is terrific as Ken and he really committed to the role. Can an actor win an Oscar for portraying a plastic doll?

I also enjoyed Simu Liu as Ken’s rival Ken#2. I think it will be a long time before we see the sequel to Marvel’s Shang-Chi so it was nice that he had screen time.

With all the talk about empowerment and discovering who you really are, I was surprised the movie shamed Teenage Pregnancy. Mattel created Midge in 1963. She was supposed to be Barbie’s best friend. They gave her a boyfriend too - Allan, played by Michael Cera. In 1988 Mattel released a pregnant Midge (with a small baby doll in her belly). It created a bit of a controversy and the line (and Midge) was discontinued.

In the film, Pregnant Midge appears a few times - but always in the periphery of the scene, and when someone notices her, they proclaim, “I thought we cancelled her!”

In the 21st Century I thought we had grown beyond shaming Pregnant Teenaged Girls.

By the way, it was fun seeing cameos by 1993’s Gay Ken (check out his necklace). And 2009’s Sugar Daddy Ken (He has a dog named Sugar, and he’s the dog’s “daddy”.)

NOTE: The entire subplot involving Will Ferrell was pointless and unnecessary.

[misschimotosuwa-blog]

Just got finished watching the Barbie Movie

My overall review --

Very refreshing not being able to predict every plot twist

Very fun use of product placement

Very funny ideas/quips

Very sweet sentimental plot twists/developments

Unclear overall message, but had good messages throughout

(everyone else watching loved it and thought it was genius, I believe there were a lot of good ideas and again, very nice that it's not at all a typical story setup. But in the end, I myself did not enjoy this movie anywhere as much as the others around me.)

[dittobooty]

My spoiler free barbie review:

This movie speaks to female experience (and honestly can even be pushed forward to a broader experience of being a minority). It speaks a lot about toxic masculinity and how even men are hurt by it. It has existential dread and self discovery and explorations of what it means to be human, what it means to be a mom too. And also the jokes just hit like a truck I haven't laughed like that at a movie in a while. They were not kidding when they said this movie was for Barbie fans and non Barbie fans.

Basically if I hadn't already had top surgery, Barbie would have blown my tits clean off

[abookisafriend]

the woman behind me said, "I can't believe they were allowed to make this movie."

ok, i know i said i would do non-book reviews on fridays but i want to put this one up fresh.

i decided to go see the barbie movie. it's going to be hard to review because there is a LOT going on.

this is not really a movie for kids. the humor in the opening sequence depends on your having seen a movie from the 1970s, for crying out loud. (it was when i saw that scene previewed in the trailers that i knew i wanted to see the movie. for me, the humor REALLY lands.) that didn't stop the theater from running all ads for kids during the trailers.

this is the first movie i can recall seeing in a long time that explicitly addresses the social problem of patriarchy and sets out to examine, dismantle, and critique it. it's a comedy, but it doesn't hold back on the work. they also have Cock Ring Magic Ken (TM) ("he could plausibly be fisted in the corner of a sex club").

barbie is a movie that does the work. it's playful (and edging toward the outright psychedelic), but it starts on the note of what barbie was meant to be -- a doll that offered girls a toy representing the Adult world in a time of omnipresent baby toys: a toy that offered girls (starting in an era where women couldn't own their own credit cards) visions of the independent, competent, self-possessed women they could become. the tension between that vision and the world as it is -- including the downsides of barbie, the criticisms of her unrealistic physical appearance and the disparity between barbie's "accomplishments" and the struggle of actual women -- becomes the main theme of the movie.

i did wonder whether the plot veered too hard into telling the story of ken. he's a major part of the movie -- less so at the beginning, but centrally toward the end. i felt that the story at one point became too much ken's story when the movie should really be about barbie -- should be about women and womens' stories. but the woman with whom i saw the movie disagreed, so -- your mileage may vary.

america ferrera plays a major role in the part of a human in the real world whose story connects with barbie's, and she does fantastic work. her character is pivotal in the crisis that disrupts barbieland after they make contact with the real world, and her character adds a much-needed dose of realness to the story. speaking of realness, i can't write this review without plugging the final scene. it's almost worth watching the movie just for that.

i know it's a two-hour toy advertisement, but there's a lot going on in the barbie movie. i think it's worth seeing. enjoy.

[please-someone-give-me-love]

Well, about Barbie...

I think it was a good movie, but just nothing more, it didn't leave me with anything I didn't know? I don't know, because I really like everything but at the same time I just enjoyed in an okey level.

My favorite things were:

Barbie existencial crisis.

I feel the whole arc of Barbie feeling human was really beautiful, Barbie was able to feel human in every way you could think, in both, positive and negative ways because there's not a middle term.

Her scenes crying feeling the emotions, thinking about the death and questioning her body was really great.

Ken's character arc

For people hating him, I did really understand his character a lot and (please don't call me pick me), even I feel a little relatable to some of his questions.

I think a lot of people just kinda ignored his character arc in order to reduce the morality and just put a good vs bad debate but they don't realize that Ken wasn't just like that since the beginning, he felt frustrated for living in a world were his presence was dismished and reduced to look for a female approbation, the same with the patriarchy does with the woman, Ken was living in the same way.

He didn't know who he was because they have always assume they should be accesories and nothing more, without personality or interests.

When he came to the real world, he got so excited to see him being respected and taking account that he started doing the same in resentment towards the barbie.

I think that's why Barbie apologize to Ken (even that I also think Ken should apologize as well) but she realize that Ken wouldn't do that if they just took him account since the beggining.

Matriarchy vs Patriarchy

Talking about the same, I like the way the movie told us that none of these systems are good or healthy. It pushed both of the genders of certain expectations that ended up hurting everyone.

I don't understand how some men were so upset when it's clearly that the movie talks about both of these system.

In both system you are reducing the other gender ignoring their thoughts, feelings and persona, which create social resentment and will end up bad.

For the matriarchy, it pushes to the Barbies being 24/7 perfect.

For the patriarchy, it pushes the Kens to be emotional represses.

That's what the movie is mocking as well, the toxic masculinity due to trying to always win in the system they create.

Another thing that I didn't understand why men were so upset. The movie made clear that you need habilities and capacities to do things, it's not just enough with being men, you need to study, work and effort as well but it's their own system that benefits them more for doing the same thing that women do as well.

The originality in direction.

I really liked the whole direction of the movie, the narrator, the way some jokes were complementate by the direction as well like that mattel advertisment about barbie beinf depressed, the transition and toy style.

I found it pretty great and new to see and also realky funny.

The music.

Well, there's nothing more to say, pretty good in everything. My favorite was What I was made for by Billie Eillish, grea song and great timing.

The good and bad in Barbie.

I really like the way aknowledge both senses, since the part of creating stereotypes, consumism and parody that a feminist doll is directed by a bunch of white men was a great and brave step but also to the part of inpiring millions of kid to be what they want to be no matter what other said.

Now the things I wasn't a big fan.

I wish Barbie would stayed more in the real world.

I feel they could use the opportunity to talk more about the social issues aside from the parodies or the speeches. Like the initial harrasment that Barbie had to went through was really fast and for them talking about this topic leave me with a feeling that the movie should take itself a more serious cases and explored more the world.

The scene when the mom gave her speech to Barbie and they started taking every Barbie with them and giving them little speech to recover them. I think they could do better if the mom just did a whole big speech to the whole Barbieland and they wake themeselves up and started supporting and turning against the kens by their own, I think it would mean that even with men around us, that doesn't mean we can't have a personality with ideas and thoughts and it would gave a stronger empowerment scene.

Ken's lack of apology, he also had to apology.

I feel they explored the topics in a really superficial way, not only that but mostly of the characters with tje exception of Ken and Barbie does not have a character arc, especially the mother and daighter, I think they could explore more their character and they did a little with the mother but not with the daughter.

Now, my personal opinion.

My family told me I was expecting too much nd maybe they were right because the whole debate and publicity, I was expecting more. It's not a perfect movie but it's not bad either.

At the beggining I thought we were going to talk about a sexual harrasment case were the kid modificate her Barbie because of that and barbie crying in sadness understanding those feelings was something really makes me feel sad.

Obviously that didn't end up like that but i create false expectations from a couple of scenes so that was my fault lol hahaha

About the white feminist, I am gonna try to just ignored because it's Barbie and Mattel what can we expect in a movie about a doll but I just want people to stop putting it as a good thing. POC and minorities shouldn't have to be a minimun topic to talk and explored in a little way, we shouldn't have to be conformed with so few okay?

I am gonna ignored but I am not forgetting that some of these women that right now are taking about sorority and girls supporting girl, before they were attacking another POC women just because they dislike their races and bodyshamed other women in the same way.

Criticism, validation of opinions and sorority.

I get a lot of men are basically stupid and making stupid mysogistic comments but some criticsm are valid, Barbie is not a perfect movie, accept criticism, especially if another women is making it.

Because I had seen people attacking anyone, including woman, that said that the movie is not perfect and that's literally the completely opposite meaning of the movie.

How do you think y'all are looking like when you tell another women they didn't understand the movie and that their opinions and experiences are invalid because they just didn't like a movie?

You are doing the same shit the men do when they are mansplaining, so please stop doing it and respect people's thoughts.

I did understand the movie, I did feel related in some aspects as well, but that doesn't mean that define my personal taste and opinion, so please don't reduce me for that.

[confessionsofarefashionista]

I am absolutely thrilled with this adorable Barbie refashion! Check out how I refashioned a frumpy vintage housedress into the perfect pink outfit to see the Barbie movie + my honest review too! 🌸

[podcastingjamaican]

Well, this was UNEXPECTED. Watching Babylon and Barbie over these past couple of months I've noticed some similarities. This is part 1/4

[imustbeamermaidrango]

Tonight I saw Barbie.

I think people are going to be watching this movie, talking about it, finding inspiration in it, arguing about it, loving it, hating it, thinking about it, studying it, and in some way engaged by it, for decades to come. It is possibly the most existentialist-themed film to come out of Hollywood in a long while.

Yes, it’s a feminist film too. That much is obvious going in. The “It is literally impossible to be a woman” speech needed to be there, even if it’s not an especially new message— some variation of it has crossed my social media stream almost every day for many years.

I get that that message needs to continue to be said until the people who need to get it finally get it.

But I think the existentialist theme is the more interesting one. At the beginning of the film, Barbie is an object. She’s so perfect, that she isn’t even interesting. She lives in herself, but not *for* herself. And Ken is an object, too: in fact he wants to be an object, for as the narrator tells us he feels entirely unfulfilled unless Barbie is looking at him. He lives neither in himself nor for himself. So far, Barbie-land is fine, if a little weird. And then, Barbie drops the existential question: “Any of you guys ever think about dying?”

At that point, I felt able to settle into my seat in the cinema and enjoy myself, able to ignore that I was the only guy in the cinema who had gone to see it alone. Don’t believe me? I’ll photograph my ticket for you. But then, wouldn’t that be a Ken-ish thing to do? That is, to need to be seen as something, and to feel that need so deeply as to feel empty and angsty without it?

(Whoa, I think I just had an out-of-movie experience.)

I love that Barbie’s quest is a quest for realisation, a quest for the real. I love that Barbieland is Plato’s Cave. That the real world is messy, complicated, and a little dangerous. That Ken craves Barbie’s gaze so deeply, he organizes a patriarchal takeover of Barbieland in order to get it— and then he doesn’t get it, because he finds himself neck deep in a Hegelian master-servant dialectic. I love that Weird Barbie is a shaman. That Allan sees both early-film Barbieland, and the Ken kingdom, for the dead ends that they are. I love that Barbie accidentally finds herself on a quest for God— that is, Ruth Handler, her creator. And most of all, I love that Barbie decides what she wants is “to be part of the people that make meaning, not the thing that is made.”

That’s what I want too, Barbie. That’s why studied philosophy.

In fact I love something else about this film more than that. I love that all over this planet, millions and millions of girls are going to watch this film, thinking that they’re in for a semi-escapist, feminist-themed, family comedy film, about nothing more consequential than a toy. And on one level they’re going to get that film. But they’re *also* going to get an introduction to several of the most important and influential ideas in existentialism and phenomenology. They’re going to learn about the patriarchy. And Plato’s Cave. And Sartre and de Beauvoir’s Le Regard, and Le Regard Masculaine. And Hegel’s Dialectic. And the social construction of identity. And Hume’s Bundle Theory. And Heidegger’s being-towards-death. And Brechtian meta-theatricality. They’ll even get a touch of Marxism— but not too much, as Barbie is still a corporate IP, and the film is full of product placements. They’ll see an homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey. And Pinnochio. And the goddess Innana. And they’ll get a demonstration from Barbie, Ken, and Gloria, of what speaking from the heart, and from a place of pain, can look like, and how it can be healing.

And on most of these themes, the film doesn’t just “ask the question”. It takes a stand. It picks a side. It builds the argument. And it’s too busy dancing to care if you disagree.

I hope that a generation of boys will watch this film, and see how absolutely ridiculous Ken looks when he’s running his Ken kingdom. (Aside: in that phase of his story, he looked, moved, and spoke like all the bullies who made my life miserable in primary school and high school.) I hope that in watching this film, they’ll see there are ways to be a man that don’t involve perpetuating the patriarchy. And it’s up to us to find them. Although I worry that some of those boys watching this film will grasp that self-aware Barbie, living both in herself and for herself, doesn’t need Ken. And then they, too, might throw a patriarchal temper tantrum, as Ken did for a while. Perhaps they’ll tape a Bible to a baseball bat, and trash a Barbie dollhouse with it?

Oh, I see. That happened. Oh dear.

Incidently, I was not the only Ken in the cinema tonight. But all the others who I could see, were there with their kids, and they looked like they were fulfilling a family duty and very uncomfortable doing it. One of them was in a hurry to leave, when the credits rolled. But credit to them, for showing up anyway, for their kid’s sake if not for their own.

As for me, I’m glad I saw this film. And I’m glad I saw it in a cinema. I think that I have work to do, now. People with whom to relate to better. And meaning to create. Also, questions to ask, concerning what it means to create meaning.

All right, those are my off-the-cuff thoughts for tonight. Let me know what you think, too. And if any of you know someone in the cast and crew, thank them for me, please.

~ Brenden Myers, post from the 'Science Fiction' Facebook group

[so-what-then]

I can't be the only non-conservative who hated the Barbie movie.

It was genuinely bad, except for Ryan Gosling and set design. Too disjointed to be an immersive fantasy and too corporate shitlib to be clever, it ends up just serving cringe. Hardly anyone in my theater laughed.

The only reason the right hates it so much is because leftists love it, and leftists only love it because it pisses off the right, and the right gets pissed off because its shallow feminsim (which it absolutely is), that in turn encourages more shallow feminism - and round and round we go in circles.

Why has this become the metric for determining whether a movie is good or not?

[dualredundancy]