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So I loved this movie.
It's not often we get "wake up Neo" genre movies with so much tongue and so much cheek that it made me question a shit ton.
I'm I reading too much into it? And/Or the sheer creativity of opinions and agendas (bar the main one) just created this beautiful pink mess but in a relatively right script. They got away with so much simply because all the plot threads were resolved in Barbie land.
One example: A lot of people are annoyed at how power was portrayed and think this movie is a tantrum. But that was well addressed in the film. E.g. that the Barbies took back control from the Kens reverting power back in the feminist hands. If you have an issue with that, you need to look at history and go wait a minute, that's what happened to women! Almost as if power corrupts and no one is immune. But as a counter point, they had the message of "don't let your ego or hurt drive you to make 'powerful' decisions". Then to add to that, everything went back to the status quo which was "perfect" and no one else really questioned things.
It was so powerfully self aware that either it was brilliant or I'm severely deluded and reading too much into it. Anything you are mad at, can be resolved by simply holding a mirror and asking "if I flipped the roles, does it not make sense?".
Some people find it interesting that so much time was spent on Ken's development. It was so cleverly done. He went from " I exist only in relation to X. My sense of worth is derived from X and no matter how hard I try, I can't get enough attention from X".. to a nice "You don't need X to be powerful, you can simply exist and create your own meaning". I wonder why that's a topic they spent so much "feminism movie" time on.
It feels the only way you can critique it is where the mirror doesn't apply. Like how the mother daughter relationship could have been a little more developed. Like how Barbie so quickly developed her sense of self. I can excuse those because they had to make choices and it wasn't their story.
One critique was: this wasn't even a successful feminist movie as they didn't change anything in the "Real world". It was just a feel good celebration of women and solidarity which didn't actually do anything of consequence. That was the point? Like the monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey, the invention of Barbie to represent women back in the day. It simply was.. and it made you question everything. Here is a movie with a core message (it was, fight me) of "awaken and look around", "please allow yourself to feel" and finally "you have power, don't be mean". That was the core message... there really isn't much else. Hero with a hundred faces but this one wore pink. The hero was Ken. The hero was Ugly Betty. The hero was her daughter. The hero was Alan? (Alan was perfect, fight me).
Little moments of shared awakening and they changed "their" world with what "little" power they had. Not a bad message to handle the "real world".
I think you aren't reading into it enough, like look at your analysis here: "this wasn't even a successful feminist movie as they didn't change anything in the "Real world". It was just a feel good celebration of women and solidarity which didn't actually do anything of consequence. That was the point?"
But consider that in the final scenes of the movie, an old lady shows Barbie a dream sequence of how good life could be if she entirely rejects the current system. Barbie then eagerly does so. The old lady represents Luxemburg, Barbie entering the real world represents revolution, Barbie becoming human represents the reunification with the human species being that is only possible under communism. This is a revolutionary communist movie.
The fact that the Kens win nothing but aesthetic changes by the end of the movie is a representation of the reality of third wave feminism and other types of reformism.
Thank you for your insight.
I realize I was being ambiguous with that paragraph. I (mostly!) agree with you. The wording should have been "One critique *that I hear from others...".
To add to your last point, I loved the line from the narrator: "[Now that Barbies have reclaimed power..] Maybe over time, the Kens will achieve the same power in Barbieland that women have achieved in the real world". Brilliant.
Sharing an interesting review I came across (which isn't clouded by misogyny): https://youtu.be/RToUZJ0l7Pk
On recollection, the movie couldn't have been more feminist as that would have actually affected Mattel's bottom line... But I'm still glad it's adequately provocative.
What an amazing review, it really helped me navigate the “feeling off” I have had since the movie (even though I loved it)