#barbieland is restored but none of the barbies take accountability

[hazelrose3637]

A Semi-Rant About "Barbie"

My mom, sister, and cousin all really love Barbie (2023), and I wanted to love it, too. I was ready for a feminist movie that was really fun.

Well, it was fun. But it also felt meh. Like, they introduced lots of cool concepts, but then didn't go anywhere with them:

-breaking stereotypes

-equality is not "eye for an eye" or "you need to suffer, too" (in regards to patriarchy and "matriarchy")

-generational bonding, especially between mother and daughter

-capitalism

I was also bummed that they didn't include other characters in the Barbie-verse, like Stacey, Kelly, Teresa, or Nikki. (I'm glad there were WOC in the movie, but why couldn't any of them be Teresa or Nikki?)

And then hearing other critiques about it, like the indigenous people comment and how that was tasteless.... Yeah, it was. I'm not gonna defend the director on that. Especially when it was super easy to solve the Barbie/Ken patriarchy conflict and, you know, there's still genocide going on today.

And the "savior" comment from the daughter? Extra yikes.

But then other blogs are saying how the message is so good, but... idk I didn't get that from the movie. I know what it was trying to say, but again, it got lost in the execution. The daughter just embraces Barbie-ness without any character development. She just goes from "Barbie is a fascist" to "okay, this is cute."

And I get Ken is mistreated by Barbie, but the movie made him almost an incel. He tried to force a kiss on Barbie more than once, she makes it clear she's not in love with him but he still pursues her... If they wanted to explore how women and men treat each other, don't make Ken a creep that ignores the word "no."

And why were the corporate guys there? They provide two and a half minutes of conflict, and that's it. The rest of the time, they're a running joke, and a boring one at that.

It has good music ("I'm Just Ken" is a bop), and the visuals are good. But the movie fell flat, like it slowed to a stop right before the finish line. It acted like it was telling a deep and important story, but it was shallow.

Sorry to anyone who loves the film. I really wanted to give "Barbie" a chance. But the cool toy clothes and dances just can't save the half-hearted message.

More ranting in the tags.